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I recently started using Xcode 4.2 and the iOS 5 simulator. When I update an older version of my app pre-installed in the simulator, it updates the app just fine but the app icon is not updated. Even with cleaning and building the app ahead of time (sometimes a couple of times) this seems to be the case. Is this a bug or am I doing something wrong?

EDIT: Still the same problem, but when I quit the simulator and start it again (NOT deleting the app), the icon is updated. That's a little encouraging at least. Has anyone else experienced this?

chown
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SAHM
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    That sounds like a bug. Probably easier just to report to Apple. Anyhow, how does this affect your app? Is it a problem when it is deployed? – nmagerko Oct 16 '11 at 22:06
  • It's just a problem if the icon doesn't get updated on the current users' versions. Not an end-of-the-world kind of problem, but I would like to keep one standard icon for my app if possible. A lot of my testing is just to make sure that all will go as expected with updates for current users. – SAHM Oct 16 '11 at 22:08
  • @nmagerko I believe this is a bug, as you said. I wanted to close out the question - would you mind posting your comment as an answer so that I can accept it? – SAHM Apr 03 '12 at 15:37
  • No problem; see below. Good luck! – nmagerko Apr 03 '12 at 20:30

6 Answers6

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I've had this problem for a while and cleaning the project didn't work either. I finally found a trick to do this. It works at least in iOS 6, I'm not sure in previous versions. The trick is to simply move the app to a folder. The moment you move it there it should display the new icon, and then you can move it out again.

José Manuel Sánchez
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    That's a nice tip, thanks. If you're pushing out an upgrade to users and want the icon to change instantly, the only thing I've found works is to actually use a new file name for your icon. – Carlos P Feb 04 '13 at 14:46
  • Thanks for the folder tip, and the icon name tip. I am still seeing the issue a year later on iOS 6.1.3 on iPad. That springboard/backboard icon cache is not flushing even when I change the icon name in the info.plist and in the build output directory. I know the new icon is deployed though, because the folder trick works. I can't seem to reconcile how techniques like http://www.merowing.info/2013/03/overlaying-application-version-on-top-of-your-icon/ and https://github.com/bejo/XcodeIconTagger work at all given this manual folder refresh req.There must be something to isolate here... – mattorb Jul 29 '13 at 22:24
  • Great workaround! Did the trick on 6.1.4 (real, not simulator). @CarlosP I assume this is only a problem in development, surely the icon is correctly updated from an App Store update? – William Denniss Aug 06 '13 at 08:45
  • @WilliamDenniss Actually that wasn't the case for me, users did not see the new app icon until they rebooted. However, I believe this has been fixed in more recent versions of iOS. – Carlos P Aug 07 '13 at 10:56
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Despite others' answers, it would appear that your problem is a bug.

It would probably be wise to report this. Otherwise, try making a new project and trying again.

Hope all goes as planned.

nmagerko
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Theres a new category in the plist file called Icons Files (iOS 5.0). Try adding those file names to your target info like so:

iOS 5.0 Icon Files

In this tab:

Target Info

The names and size much also be exact. See this Apple Technical Q&A #1686:

57x57      -  Icon.png
114x114  -  Icon@2x.png
72x72      -  Icon-72.png
50x50      -  Icon-Small-50.png
29x29      -  Icon-Small.png
58x58      -  Icon-Small@2x.png

chown
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  • thanks. That's a good piece of info to have. It didn't solve the simulator issue for me, but if it's there, I'm sure it's important to include! – SAHM Oct 16 '11 at 23:26
  • @JPK Also, check to make sure the names are exactly as they are in [this Apple Technical Q&A About Icons](http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#qa/qa1686/_index.html) – chown Oct 16 '11 at 23:34
  • @chowney Thanks chowney, they are. When I restart the simulator everything shows up just fine. Have you tried "upgrading" between two versions of your app with different icons in the simulator for iOS 5? I am thinking it is probably a bug like nmagerko said.. but let me know if you find otherwise – SAHM Oct 16 '11 at 23:40
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I ran into a similar problem after renaming the app and adding the Icon files category as described in one of the other answers. No icon would show up in either simulator or device. Tried a clean build as well as restarting simulator and Xcode, no success

The solution for me was to drag the icons from my Resources to the two empty wells under App Icons located under Targets -> Summary. After that my icons showed up in both simulator and device. I´m running Xcode 4.3.1

salund
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this works for me. In iOS Simulator :

iOS Simulator -> Reset Content and Settings

Be aware that it removes all things from the simulator to the trash... but it does work.

clankill3r
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0

Make sure of icons sizes are right at the Image Asset folder

nahlamortada
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