Application icons

iOS launch images

The following table lists the icon sizes used on each mobile platform:

Icon size	Platform
29x29	iOS
36x36	Android
40x40	iOS
48x48	Android, iOS
50x50	iOS
57x57	iOS
58x58	iOS
72x72	Android, iOS
76x76	iOS
80x80	iOS
96x96	Android
100x100	iOS
114x114	iOS
120x120	iOS
144x144	Android, iOS
152x152	iOS
512x512	iOS
1024x1024	iOS

Specify the path to the icon files in the icon element of the application descriptor file:

<icon> 
    <image36x36>assets/icon36.png</image36x36> 
    <image48x48>assets/icon48.png</image48x48> 
    <image72x72>assets/icon72.png</image72x72> 
</icon>

If you do not supply an icon of a given size, the next largest size is used and scaled to fit.

Icons on Android

On Android, the icons specified in the application descriptor are used as the application Launcher icon. The application Launcher icon should be supplied as a set of 36x36-, 48x48-, 72x72-, 96x96-, and 144x144- pixel PNG images. These icon sizes are used for low-density, medium-density, and high-density screens, respectively.

Icons on iOS

The icons defined in the application descriptor are used in the following places for an iOS application:

A 29-by-29–pixel icon— Spotlight search icon for lower resolution iPhones/iPods and Settings icon for lower resolution iPads.
A 40-by-40–pixel icon— Spotlight search icon for lower resolution iPads.
A 48-by-48–pixel icon—AIR adds a border to this image and uses it as a 50x50 icon for spotlight search on lower resolution iPads.
A 50-by-50–pixel icon— Spotlight search for lower resolution iPads.
A 57-by-57–pixel icon— Application icon for lower resolution iPhones/iPods.
A 58-by-58–pixel icon— Spotlight icon for Retina Display iPhones/iPods and Settings icon for Retina Display iPads.
A 72-by-72–pixel icon (optional)—Application Icon for lower resolution iPads.
A 76-by-76–pixel icon (optional)—Application Icon for lower resolution iPads.
A 80-by-80–pixel icon— Spotlight search for high resolution iPhones/iPods/iPads.
A 100-by-100–pixel icon— Spotlight search for Retina Display iPads.
A 114-by-114–pixel icon— Application Icon for Retina display iPhone/iPods.
A 114-by-114–pixel icon— Application Icon for Retina display iPhone/iPods.
A 120-by-120–pixel icon— Application icon for high resolution iPhones/iPods.
A 152-by-152–pixel icon— Application icon for high resolution iPads.
A 512-by-512–pixel icon— Application icon for lower resolution iPhones/iPods/iPads). iTunes displays this icon. The 512-pixel PNG file is used only for testing development versions of your application When you submit the final application to the Apple App Store, you submit the 512 image separately, as a JPG file. It is not included in the IPA.
A 1024-by-1024-pixel icon— Application icon for Retina Display iPhones/iPods/iPads.

iOS adds a glare effect to the icon. You do not need to apply the effect to your source image. To remove this default glare effect, add the following to the InfoAdditions element in the application descriptor file:

<InfoAdditions> 
    <![CDATA[ 
        <key>UIPrerenderedIcon</key> 
        <true/> 
    ]]> 
</InfoAdditions>

Note: On iOS, application metadata is inserted as png metadata into the application icons so that Adobe can track the number of AIR applications available in the Apple iOS app store. If you do not want your application to identified as an AIR application because of this icon metadata, you must unpackage the IPA file, remove the icon metadata, and repackage it. This procedure is described in the article Opt-out of AIR application analytics for iOS.

iOS launch images

In addition to the application icons, you must also provide at least one launch image named Default.png. Optionally, you can include separate launch images for different starting orientations, different resolutions (including high-resolution retina display and 16:9 aspect ratio), and different devices. You can also include different launch images to be used when your application is invoked through a URL.

Launch image files are not referenced in the application descriptor and must be placed in the root application directory. (Do not put the files in a subdirectory.)

File naming scheme

Name the image according to the following scheme:

basename + screen size modifier + urischeme + orientation + scale + device + .png

The basename portion of the file name is the only required part. It is either Default (with a capital D) or the name you specify using the UILaunchImageFile key in the InfoAdditions element in the application descriptor.

The screen size modifier portion designates the size of the screen when it is not one of the standard screen sizes. This modifier only applies to iPhone and iPod touch models with 16:9 aspect-ratio screens, such as the iPhone 5 and iPod touch (5th generation). The only supported value for this modifier is -568h. Since these devices support high-resolution (retina) displays, the screen size modifier is always used with an image that has the @2x scale modifier as well. The complete default launch image name for these devices is Default-568h@2x.png.

The urischeme portion is the string used to identify the URI scheme. This portion only applies if your app supports one or more custom URL schemes. For example, if your application can be invoked through a link such as example://foo, use -example as the scheme portion of the launch image file name.

The orientation portion provides a way to specify multiple launch images to use depending on the device orientation when the application is launched. This portion only applies to images for iPad apps. It can be one of the following values, referring to the orientation that the device is in when the application starts up:

-Portrait
-PortraitUpsideDown
-Landscape
-LandscapeLeft
-LandscapeRight

The scale portion is @2x for the launch images used for high-resolution (retina) displays. (Omit the scale portion entirely for the images used for standard resolution displays.) For launch images for taller devices such as iPhone 5 and iPod touch (5th generation), you must also specify the screen size modifier -528h after the basename portion and before any other portion.

The device portion is used to designate launch images for handheld devices and phones. This portion is used when your app is a universal app that supports both handheld devices and tablets with a single app binary. The possible value must be either ~ipad or ~iphone (for both iPhone and iPod Touch).

For iPhone, you can only include portrait aspect-ratio images. Use 320x480 pixel images for standard resolution devices, 640x960 pixel images for high-resolution devices, and 640x1136 pixel images for 16:9 aspect-ratio devices such as iPhone 5 and iPod touch (5th generation).

For iPad, you include images as follows:

AIR 3.3 and earlier —Non-full-screen images: Include both landscape (1024x748 for normal resolution, 2048x1496 for high resolution) and portrait (768x1004 for normal resolution, 1536x2008 for high resolution) aspect-ratio images.
AIR 3.4 and later — Full-screen images: Include both landscape (1024x768 for normal resolution, 2048x1536 for high resolution) and portrait (768x1024 for normal resolution, 1536x2048 for high resolution) aspect-ratio images. Note that when you package a full-screen image for a non-full-screen application, the top 20 pixels (top 40 pixels for high resolution ) are covered by the status bar. Avoid displaying important information in this area.

Examples

The following table shows an example set of launch images that you could include for a hypothetical application that supports the widest possible range of devices and orientations, and can be launched with URLs using the example:// scheme:

File name	Image size	Usage
Default.png	320 x 480	iPhone, standard resolution
Default@2x.png	640 x 960	iPhone, high resolution
Default-568h@2x.png	640 x 1136	iPhone, high resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio
Default-Portrait.png	768 x 1004 (AIR 3.3 and earlier) 768 x 1024 (AIR 3.4 and higher)	iPad, portrait orientation
Default-Portrait@2x.png	1536 x 2008 (AIR 3.3 and earlier) 1536 x 2048 (AIR 3.4 and higher)	iPad, high resolution, portrait orientation
Default-PortraitUpsideDown.png	768 x 1004 (AIR 3.3 and earlier)768 x 1024 (AIR 3.4 and higher)	iPad, upside down portrait orientation
Default-PortraitUpsideDown@2x.png	1536 x 2008 (AIR 3.3 and earlier)1536 x 2048 (AIR 3.4 and higher)	iPad, high resolution, upside down portrait orientation
Default-Landscape.png	1024 x 768	iPad, left landscape orientation
Default-LandscapeLeft@2x.png	2048 x 1536	iPad, high resolution, left landscape orientation
Default-LandscapeRight.png	1024 x 768	iPad, right landscape orientation
Default-LandscapeRight@2x.png	2048 x 1536	iPad, high resolution, right landscape orientation
Default-example.png	320 x 480	example:// URL on standard iPhone
Default-example@2x.png	640 x 960	example:// URL on high-resolution iPhone
Default-example~ipad.png	768 x 1004	example:// URL on iPad in portrait orientations
Default-example-Landscape.png	1024 x 768	example:// URL on iPad in landscape orientations

This example only illustrates one approach. You could, for example, use the Default.png image for the iPad, and specify specific launch images for the iPhone and iPod with Default~iphone.png and Default@2x~iphone.png.

Art guidelines

You can create any art you’d like for a launch image, as long as it is the correct dimensions. However, it is often best to have the image match the initial state of your application. You can create such a launch image by taking a screenshot of the startup screen of your application:

Open your application on the iOS device. When the first screen of the user interface appears, press and hold the Home button (below the screen). While holding the Home button, press the Power/Sleep button (at the top of the device). This takes a screenshot and sends it to the Camera Roll.
Transfer the image to your development computer by transferring photos from iPhoto or another photo transfer application.

Do not include text in the launch image if your application is localized into multiple languages. The launch image is static and the text would not match other languages.