Generate iOS App Icons with AI

Why iOS App Icons Are Annoying to Get Right

Apple requires a specific set of sizes — not just one image that gets scaled. Each size serves a different context: the home screen, Spotlight search, Settings, notifications, the App Store itself. Miss one and Xcode gives you a build warning. Miss the 1024x1024 and App Store Connect rejects your upload outright.

On top of that, iOS applies a superellipse mask (the "squircle") to every app icon. You cannot include this shape in your source image — Apple clips it automatically. Your source file must be a full square with no rounded corners, no transparency, and content that extends to all four edges.

Complete iOS Icon Size Reference

These are the 12 sizes Xcode expects in a universal app that supports iPhone, iPad, and Mac Catalyst. Point sizes and scale factors determine the actual pixel dimensions.

Installing in Xcode

The download from Iconello includes an AppIcon.appiconset folder with all icon files and a valid Contents.json manifest. Installation takes about ten seconds:

1. Open your Xcode project and navigate to Assets.xcassets in the project navigator.
2. Delete the existing AppIcon set (right-click > Delete).
3. Drag the AppIcon.appiconset folder from the Iconello download directly into the asset catalog sidebar.
4. Xcode reads the Contents.json and maps every file to the correct slot. All slots should show the icon — no yellow warnings.
5. Build and run. The icon appears on the home screen and in the Settings app immediately.

What's in Contents.json

Contents.json tells Xcode which image file corresponds to which size/scale/idiom combination. Writing this by hand is tedious and error-prone. Here is what a typical entry looks like:

{
  "images": [
    {
      "filename": "icon-20@2x.png",
      "idiom": "iphone",
      "scale": "2x",
      "size": "20x20"
    },
    {
      "filename": "icon-60@3x.png",
      "idiom": "iphone",
      "scale": "3x",
      "size": "60x60"
    },
    {
      "filename": "icon-1024.png",
      "idiom": "ios-marketing",
      "scale": "1x",
      "size": "1024x1024"
    }
  ],
  "info": {
    "author": "iconello",
    "version": 1
  }
}

The idiom field specifies the device family: iphone, ipad,mac, or ios-marketing (the App Store icon). Get the idiom wrong and Xcode silently ignores the image — it will show up in the file list but the icon slot remains empty.

iOS 18 Dark Mode Variants

Starting with iOS 18, users can switch their home screen to dark mode or tinted mode, and app icons adapt. Apple introduced two new appearance modes for icons:

What Iconello Handles for You

• Generates all 12 sizes individually (not just downscaled from 1024)
• Fills the canvas completely — no transparency, no alpha channel
• Writes a valid Contents.json with correct idiom/scale/size mappings
• Packages everything in an AppIcon.appiconset folder ready for drag-and-drop
• Optionally generates dark mode and tinted variants for iOS 18
• Premium users get 4 unique design directions per prompt

Frequently Asked Questions