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App icon design research and guides, backed by the icons we track.

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Twelve real one-letter app icons, including Vimeo, Malwarebytes, Busuu, Webex and GoDaddy, next to the title Lettermark logos
·9 min read

Lettermark Logos: What 4,060 Real App Icons Show

What a lettermark logo is, how it differs from a wordmark or monogram, and what 4,060 real one-letter app icons show about letters, color and standing out.

App icon designDataExamples
Real Google Play icons such as Duolingo, Canva, Airbnb and Dropbox cut into circle, squircle and teardrop shapes, with the title Android adaptive icons
·8 min read

Android Adaptive Icons: Layers, Safe Zone and Real Data

How Android adaptive icons work: 108 dp layers, the 66 dp safe zone, themed icons and the XML, plus what 7,708 real Google Play icons get wrong.

App icon designAndroidData
A grid of real 3D app icons: mascots, brooms, airplanes, gemstones and glossy symbols, with the title 3D App Icons
·8 min read

3D App Icons: 1,109 Real Examples and How to Make One

What 3D app icons look like in the App Store and Google Play today: where they're common, what they show, real examples, and how to make your own.

App icon designDataExamples
A bar chart of the 12 most common app icon colors, each bar built from real app icons of that color, from light blue to lime green
·8 min read

App Icon Colors: What 18,410 Real Apps Actually Use

The most common app icon colors on the App Store and Google Play, overall and in 22 categories, from 18,410 real icons. Plus how to pick yours.

App icon designDataColor
Real app icons that skip their category's usual symbol: a sleeping astronaut, a deer in glasses, a gemstone, a pangolin and a holographic vinyl record
·5 min read

App Icon Ideas: What 9 App Types Use (and How to Stand Out)

App icon ideas for 9 kinds of apps, from sleep to VPN: the symbol most of them use, the colors they pick, and real icons that did something else.

InspirationApp icon designData
Twelve app logos in two rows, each the final frame of a logo animation: AI Translator, ParlayPlay, AllTrails, TonePerfect, Sawa, NexShort, RhyTempo, Qume, Shuttlers, Lenme, HealthForceGo and Soloscore
·7 min read

Logo Animation: 12 Real Examples and How to Make One

Logo animation ideas from 12 real app logos, how long a logo animation should be (data from 90+ animations), and three ways to make one.

AnimationLogoLottie
How to make an app icon: twelve real app icons in flat, letter, mascot, gradient and 3D styles
·7 min read

How to Make an App Icon: 6 Steps Backed by 18,000 Real Icons

How to make an app icon, step by step: what icons in your category use, how many colors to keep, which styles stand out, and how to test and export it.

GuideApp icon designHow to
Six frames of a logo animation from 0 to 2.1 seconds: a dot appears, then the mountain logo draws itself
·5 min read

Animated Splash Screens with Lottie: Android and iOS (2026)

How to add an animated splash screen to your app in 2026: what Android 12+ and iOS allow, where a Lottie animation fits, code for each platform, and timing tips.

GuideSplash screenLottie
Chart of how many words real app brand names use: half are a single word
·5 min read

App Name Ideas: What 15,825 Real App Names Teach Us

How real apps are named, from 15,825 App Store and Google Play names: length, patterns, the most overused words, and a 6-step way to name your own app.

GuideApp namingResearch
App Store screenshot sets from NordVPN and Plant Parent side by side
·4 min read

App Store Screenshots: Sizes, Rules and 9,830 Real Examples

The App Store and Google Play screenshot sizes and rules for 2026, plus what 9,830 real iPhone screenshot sets actually do: how many, which size, and examples.

GuideApp Store screenshotsASO
Before and after app icons of Spotify, SoundCloud, Firefox, Vimeo, Grammarly and Photoroom
·4 min read

We tracked 4,812 app icons for two years. 30% got a redesign.

We compared the App Store icons of 4,812 apps in September 2024 and October 2026. Nearly one in three changed. Here is what changed: more glass, more depth, and fewer flat icons.

ResearchApp icon designLiquid Glass
The same app icon at 1024, 512, 192, 180, 48, 32 and 16 pixels
·7 min read

App icon sizes for iOS, Android and the web (2026 cheat sheet)

Every app icon size you actually need in 2026: iOS and iPadOS, macOS, Apple Watch, Android launcher and adaptive icons, Google Play, favicons and PWA icons, with the rules that get icons rejected.

GuideApp icon sizesiOS
A grid of app icons in different styles: flat, glass, 3D, clay, gradient, letter, illustration and skeuomorphic
·4 min read

The Best App Icons of 2026: 48 Real Examples by Style

48 of the best app icons in the App Store and Google Play right now, picked from 18,000+ icons we track and grouped by style, with what makes each one work.

InspirationApp icon designExamples
A background layer and a glass foreground layer combined into an AppIcon.icon file and compiled by Xcode 26
·6 min read

Apple Icon Composer: how to use it, and how to make a .icon file without a Mac

A practical guide to Icon Composer, Apple's tool for layered Liquid Glass app icons: where to get it, how to prepare artwork, the settings that matter, adding the .icon file to Xcode, and what to do if you don't have a Mac.

GuideIcon ComposerXcode