Use of 64pt and 68pt iOS App Icon Sizes

Hi there!

Back with Xcode 14 and iOS 16 there were two new app icon sizes introduced to iOS:

  • 64pt @2x (128x128px)
  • 64pt @3x (192x192px)
  • 68pt @2x (136x136px)

What are those icons used for?

Neither the Xcode 14 release notes nor the Human Interface Guidelines are mentioning those sizes and what they are used for.

In previous Xcode versions the asset catalog had labels for each icon size. As Xcode 15 still doesn’t bring that feature back I’m still puzzled when those icon sizes are visible to the user.

Best! – Alex

You're not the only one to wonder about this size and a few others: https://useyourloaf.com/blog/xcode-14-single-size-app-icon/

Even after the WWDC 24 announcements, I can’t find the sizes in the HIG specifications or anywhere else for that matter.

As of iOS 18 beta 1 and Xcode 16 beta 1 my measurements show that the new small and large icon modes use the following icon sizes:

iPhone 15 Pro

  • Normal/Small: 60pt
  • Large: 71pt

iPad Pro 11-inch

  • Normal/Small: 60pt
  • Large: 76pt

iPad Pro 13-inch

  • Normal/Small: 68pt
  • Large: 83.5pt

(The sizes are all in @1x size and apply for their respecting device size categories)

Interestingly the previous iPad icon sizes are now used for the large icon mode. The large mode on iPhone uses a totally new size, that we can’t even define directly.

At least that shows what the 68pt icon is used for (iPad Pro 13-inch small mode)! Which makes sense, because we can’t define a @3x size which is only available on iPhone.

Use of 64pt and 68pt iOS App Icon Sizes
 
 
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