iOS App Icon Sizes: The Complete Developer Guide (2026)

iOS icon sizing is deceptively complex. You are not dealing with one icon at one size. You are dealing with a matrix of point sizes and scale factors that produce different pixel dimensions for different contexts: the home screen, Settings, Spotlight search, notifications, and the App Store itself.

This guide covers every size Xcode expects, explains the relationship between points and pixels, and shows you exactly what goes in your asset catalog.

Points vs. Pixels: Why iOS Has Two Unit Systems

iOS uses points as a logical unit of measurement. One point equals one pixel on a non-Retina screen (@1x), two pixels on a standard Retina screen (@2x), and three pixels on the Super Retina screens used by most modern iPhones (@3x). The operating system decides which scale factor applies based on the device hardware.

When Apple says an icon should be 60x60 points, they mean 60x60 on @1x (which no current device uses), 120x120 pixels on @2x (older iPhones), or 180x180 pixels on @3x (iPhone 12 and later). You need to provide separate PNG files for each scale factor your app supports. This is fundamentally different from web favicons, where a single file serves all contexts.

Every iOS Icon Size Explained

Here are all the icon sizes that Xcode recognizes for an iOS app. The point sizes define the logical dimension, and the scale factors determine the actual pixel counts.

Pixel Counts by Scale Factor

The difference in pixel data between scale factors is not linear. Going from @1x to @2x quadruples the pixel count. From @1x to @3x it is nine times. This chart shows total pixel counts (width times height) for each icon variant.

Required vs. Optional Sizes

Xcode 15 and later simplified things considerably. The only strictly required icon is the 1024x1024 App Store icon. Xcode will automatically generate all other sizes from this single source image. However, automatic generation downscales your artwork, which can produce blurry results at small sizes.

If you care about pixel-perfect rendering at 29x29 or 40x40, provide hand-tuned versions of those sizes. Simplify details, thicken lines, and increase contrast at small sizes. Xcode will use your custom asset instead of downscaling.

The 1024x1024 App Store Icon

This is the big one, literally. The App Store icon is shown at large sizes in the App Store listing, in search results, and in the Today tab. It must be a PNG with no transparency and no rounded corners. Apple applies the corner radius mask itself. If you bake rounded corners into your image, the mask will round them again, creating a visible double-radius artifact.

iPad-Specific Sizes

iPads use different point sizes than iPhones for the home screen. The iPad home screen icon is 76 points (152 pixels on @2x Retina iPads), while iPad Pro uses 83.5 points (167 pixels on the @2x Liquid Retina display). The half-point is unusual but intentional: Apple chose 83.5 so that @2x renders at exactly 167 pixels.

iPads also need their own notification icons (20pt) and Settings icons (29pt), though these use the same scale factors as iPhone. The Spotlight icon (40pt) is shared between iPhone and iPad. If you are also building for Android, the sizing system is completely different — see our Android adaptive icons guide for the density-based approach.

The Contents.json Format

Inside your Xcode project, app icons live in an asset catalog (Assets.xcassets) in a folder named AppIcon.appiconset. Each size variant is a separate PNG file, and a Contents.json file maps filenames to sizes and scale factors.

{
  "images": [
    {
      "filename": "icon-40x40@2x.png",
      "idiom": "universal",
      "platform": "ios",
      "scale": "2x",
      "size": "20x20"
    },
    {
      "filename": "icon-60x60@3x.png",
      "idiom": "universal",
      "platform": "ios",
      "scale": "3x",
      "size": "20x20"
    },
    {
      "filename": "icon-58x58@2x.png",
      "idiom": "universal",
      "platform": "ios",
      "scale": "2x",
      "size": "29x29"
    },
    {
      "filename": "icon-87x87@3x.png",
      "idiom": "universal",
      "platform": "ios",
      "scale": "3x",
      "size": "29x29"
    },
    {
      "filename": "icon-76x76@2x.png",
      "idiom": "universal",
      "platform": "ios",
      "scale": "2x",
      "size": "38x38"
    },
    {
      "filename": "icon-114x114@3x.png",
      "idiom": "universal",
      "platform": "ios",
      "scale": "3x",
      "size": "38x38"
    },
    {
      "filename": "icon-80x80@2x.png",
      "idiom": "universal",
      "platform": "ios",
      "scale": "2x",
      "size": "40x40"
    },
    {
      "filename": "icon-120x120@3x.png",
      "idiom": "universal",
      "platform": "ios",
      "scale": "3x",
      "size": "40x40"
    },
    {
      "filename": "icon-120x120@2x.png",
      "idiom": "universal",
      "platform": "ios",
      "scale": "2x",
      "size": "60x60"
    },
    {
      "filename": "icon-180x180@3x.png",
      "idiom": "universal",
      "platform": "ios",
      "scale": "3x",
      "size": "60x60"
    },
    {
      "filename": "icon-167x167@2x.png",
      "idiom": "universal",
      "platform": "ios",
      "scale": "2x",
      "size": "83.5x83.5"
    },
    {
      "filename": "icon-1024x1024.png",
      "idiom": "universal",
      "platform": "ios",
      "size": "1024x1024"
    }
  ],
  "info": {
    "author": "xcode",
    "version": 1
  }
}

The idiom field is set to "universal" in modern Xcode projects, meaning the same icons serve both iPhone and iPad. The platform field distinguishes iOS from macOS or watchOS icons if you have a multi-platform target. The size field is in points, and the scale field tells Xcode which resolution variant the file represents.

iOS 18 Dark Mode and Tinted Icons

iOS 18 introduced automatic and tinted icon appearances. Users can now switch their entire home screen to a dark appearance, and the system will attempt to adapt every app icon to match. You have three options:

First, do nothing. The system will apply a darkening filter to your standard icon. This often looks muddy, especially if your icon has bright colors or fine detail. Second, provide a dedicated dark mode icon variant in your asset catalog. Xcode 16+ lets you add a "Dark" appearance to your AppIcon set, with a separate 1024x1024 PNG. Third, provide a tinted variant, which is a monochrome version of your icon that the system colorizes to match the user's chosen accent color.

{
  "appearances": [
    {
      "appearance": "luminosity",
      "value": "dark"
    }
  ],
  "filename": "icon-dark-1024x1024.png",
  "idiom": "universal",
  "platform": "ios",
  "size": "1024x1024"
}

Common Mistakes

Embedding rounded corners in the icon image. iOS applies its own superellipse mask. If you pre-round the corners, the mask will clip into your already-rounded corners, leaving visible artifacts.

Including an alpha channel in the App Store icon. App Store Connect rejects any 1024x1024 PNG with transparency. This catches people who export from Figma or Sketch without flattening onto a solid background.

Using the same level of detail at every size. A logo with fine text or thin strokes looks great at 1024 pixels. At 29 pixels, it is an unreadable smudge. Design simplified versions for the small sizes, or let Xcode auto-generate and accept the trade-off. Our app icon design principles cover the technique of progressive simplification in detail.

Forgetting the 83.5pt iPad Pro size. The half-point trips people up. The pixel dimension is 167x167, which is not a neat multiple of anything. It is easy to miss, and some iPad Pro users will see a slightly blurry icon if you skip it.

Setting Up the Asset Catalog in Xcode

In Xcode, open Assets.xcassets and select AppIcon. Drag your PNG files into the appropriate slots. Xcode validates dimensions automatically and flags mismatches with a yellow warning. If you only provide the 1024x1024, Xcode generates the rest at build time.

# Check that all required sizes are present
ls -la AppIcon.appiconset/
# Expected files:
# icon-40x40@2x.png    (for 20pt @2x)
# icon-60x60@3x.png    (for 20pt @3x)
# icon-58x58@2x.png    (for 29pt @2x)
# icon-87x87@3x.png    (for 29pt @3x)
# icon-76x76@2x.png    (for 38pt @2x)
# icon-114x114@3x.png  (for 38pt @3x)
# icon-80x80@2x.png    (for 40pt @2x)
# icon-120x120@3x.png  (for 40pt @3x)
# icon-120x120@2x.png  (for 60pt @2x)
# icon-180x180@3x.png  (for 60pt @3x)
# icon-167x167@2x.png  (for 83.5pt @2x)
# icon-1024x1024.png   (App Store)
# Contents.json

Start with the highest quality 1024x1024 source and work down. Use PNG-24 without transparency for all sizes. If your icon has text or fine details, create hand-tuned versions at 29pt and 20pt where those details would otherwise become illegible.