How to Add App Icons in React Native (Android and iOS)
Tags: reactnative, android, ios, mobile
Published: 2023-08-14 16:53:58

Before we launch a mobile application for users, adding a custom app icon is an important aspect. A professional and eye-catching icon not only represents your app’s identity but also improves user recognition. In this guide, I will share the process of adding app icons for Android and iOS in React Native.


## **1. Understanding App Icons**

First, Let’s understand the concept of app icons for Android and iOS. The requirements and guidelines for app icons are different for both platforms.

**Android App Icon:**
Android app icons are represented by PNG files and are available in various sizes for different screen densities. The standard sizes include mdpi, hdpi, xhdpi, xxhdpi, xxxhdpi. React Native automatically handles the selection of the appropriate icon size based on the device's screen density.

**iOS App Icon:**
iOS app icons are also represented by PNG files but have different size requirements compared to Android. iOS app icons need to be in specific sizes for different devices like iPhones, iPads, and App Store icons.

## 2. Preparing App Icons

First, we need to prepare our app icons in the required sizes for both Android and iOS. You can use design tools like Adobe Photoshop, Sketch or you can use online tools that generate app icons based on a single image. Here, we need to make sure icons are in PNG format. 

Here are some popular websites that were widely used for generating app icons for both Android and iOS platforms.
- [App icon Generator](https://www.appicon.co)
- [App Icon Maker](https://appiconmaker.co)
- [Make App Icon - powered by Oursky](https://makeappicon.com)
- [Icon Kitchen](https://icon.kitchen/)
- [Icon Slayer](https://www.gieson.com/Library/projects/utilities/icon_slayer/)

Always make sure to review the generated icons and make any necessary adjustments to match your design requirements before implementing them in your React Native project.

## 3. Adding App Icons in React Native

Now, let's go through the step-by-step process of adding app icons for Android and iOS in a React Native project.

**Step 1: Adding an Android App Icon**

Navigate to the android/app/src/main/res directory in your React Native project. Here you will see subdirectories called mipmap-mdpi, mipmap-hdpi, mipmap-xhdpi, mipmap-xxhdpi, and mipmap-xxxhdpi.

Place the corresponding app icon PNG files in each of these folders with the following dimensions (in pixels):
• mdpi: 48x48
• hdpi: 72x72
• xhdpi: 96x96
• xxhdpi: 144x144
• xxxhdpi: 192x192

Now, your Android app icons are set!


**Step 2: Adding an iOS App Icon**

Navigate to the ios/{YourAppName}/Images.xcassets/AppIcon.appiconset directory in your React Native project.

Replace the default icon files in this directory with your custom app icon PNG files. Ensure that you have the following icon sizes (in pixels) for iOS:
- 20x20
- 29x29
- 40x40
- 60x60
- 76x76
- 83.5x83.5 (for iPad Pro)
- 1024x1024 (used for the App Store)

Make sure to update the Contents.json file in the same directory to include your custom icon file names.


**Step 3: Linking the Icons**

For Android, there's no additional linking required. React Native will automatically detect the icons and use them based on the device's screen density.

For iOS, we need to make sure the correct icons are added in the project settings. Check it in the xCode project (located in the ios/{YourAppName}.xcworkspace directory).

Clean and rebuild your iOS project in Xcode to ensure the changes take effect.


## 4. Testing the App Icons

It's essential to test your app icons on actual devices and simulators/ emulators to ensure they appear correctly.

Run your React Native app on different Android devices and iOS devices/ simulators to verify that the icons display correctly in the app drawer and on the home screen. 

**Troubleshooting Tips -**
- If your icons don't display as expected, double-check the image filenames and file paths.
- Clear the build caches and rebuild the app to ensure your changes take effect.

## 5. Conclusion

The app icons are the face of your application, which represents your app's identity. So, invest some time and effort in creating a professional, eye-catching icon to stand out in the crowded app stores.

By following the above steps, I hope you have easily added the app icons to your React Native app.

Happy Coding !!!