App Icons on iPad and iPhone

Q:  How are the icon files in my application bundle used on iPad and iPhone?

A: How are the icon files in my application bundle used on iPad and iPhone?

Below are guidelines for handling icon files for iPhone-only apps, iPad-only apps, and universal apps.

iPhone-only Apps

Include the following in your application's Resources group in the Xcode project:

Table 1  iPhone-only apps icon requirements.

Image Size (px)

File Name

Used For

Required Status

Notes

512x512

iTunesArtwork

Ad Hoc iTunes

Optional but recommended

File should be in png format, but name it without the .png extension

57x57

Icon.png

App Store and Home screen on iPhone/iPod touch

Required

<None>

114x114

Icon@2x.png

Home screen for iPhone 4 High Resolution

Optional but recommended

<None>

72x72

Icon-72.png

Home screen for iPad compatibility

Optional but recommended

<None>

29x29

Icon-Small.png

Spotlight and Settings

Optional but recommended

<None>

50x50

Icon-Small-50.png

Spotlight for iPad compatibility

Recommended if you have a Settings bundle, otherwise optional but recommended

<None>

58x58

Icon-Small@2x.png

Spotlight and Settings for iPhone 4 High Resolution

Recommended if you have a Settings bundle, otherwise optional but recommended

<None>

Your Resources group should look similar to Figure 1:

Figure 1  Add files to Resources group

Except for iTunesArtWork icon, list the names of each of these files in the Icon files entry in the Info.plist, in the order shown in the table. Follow the steps in "Add Icon files in Info.plist" section below. See Figure 4.

iPad-only Apps

Include the following in your application's Resources group in the Xcode project:

Table 2  iPad-only apps icon requirements.

Image Size (px)

File Name

Used For

Required Status

Notes

512x512

iTunesArtwork

Ad Hoc iTunes

Optional but recommended

File should be in png format, but name it without the .png extension

72x72

Icon-72.png

App Store and Home screen on iPad

Required

<None>

50x50

Icon-Small-50.png

Spotlight on iPad

Optional but recommended

<None>

29x29

Icon-Small.png

Settings on iPad

Recommended if you have a Settings bundle, otherwise optional but recommended

<None>

Except for iTunesArtWork icon, list the names of each of these files in the Icon files entry in the Info.plist, in the order shown in the table. Follow the steps in "Add Icon files in Info.plist" section below. See Figure 5.

Universal Apps

Include the following in your application's Resources group in the Xcode project:

Table 3  Universal apps icon requirements.

Image Size (px)

File Name

Used For

Required Status

Notes

512x512

iTunesArtwork

Ad Hoc iTunes

Optional but recommended

File should be in png format, but name it without the .png extension

57x57

Icon.png

App Store and the Home screen on iPhone/iPod touch

Required

<None>

114x114

Icon@2x.png

Home screen for iPhone 4 High Resolution

Optional but recommended

<None>

72x72

Icon-72.png

App Store and Home screen on iPad

Required

<None>

29x29

Icon-Small.png

Settings on iPad and iPhone, and Spotlight on iPhone

Recommended if you have a Settings bundle, otherwise optional but recommended

<None>

50x50

Icon-Small-50.png

Spotlight on iPad

Optional but recommended

<None>

58x58

Icon-Small@2x.png

Spotlight and Settings for iPhone 4 High Resolution

Recommended if you have a Settings bundle, otherwise optional but recommended

<None>

Except for iTunesArtWork icon, list the names of each of these files in the Icon files entry in the Info.plist, in the order shown in the table. Follow the steps in "Add Icon files in Info.plist" section below. See Figure 4.

Add Icon files in Info.plist

To add the Icon files entry you will need to manually edit your Info.plist.

Open your Info.plist in Xcode, and locate the "Icon file" entry. Click on the plus (+) button at the end of the entry to make a new key entry. as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2  Add a new entry under "Icon file" key

Then, type "Icon files" in the key column (notice the "s" added), or choose "Icon files" from the drop down list, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3  Add "Icon files" key in Info.plist

Next, turn down the disclosure triangle on "Icon files" and add the entries for the icons for your application, as shown in Figure 4 and Figure 5:

Figure 4  Add icon file entries for iPhone-only or Universal apps.
Figure 5  Add entries for iPad icon files.