Menu
To fix this, you need to reset the icon cache. In our previous article, we covered how to reset icon cache using a third party tool or with a restart of Explorer. Here is a better way to save your time and reset the icon cache instantly. Here is how the broken icon cache looks in action. For my Firefox Nightly browser, Windows 10 shows a blank. Dec 07, 2017 Click on the Erase icon in Disk Utility's toolbar. A panel will drop down. Set the Format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Apply button, then wait for the Done button to activate and click on it. Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu. Select Install OS X.
App Icon
Beautiful, compelling icons are a fundamental part of the macOS user experience. Far from being merely decorative, icons play an essential role in communicating with users. To look at home in macOS, an app icon should be meticulously designed, informative, and aesthetically pleasing. It should convey the main purpose of the app and hint at the user experience.
Consider giving your app icon a realistic, unique shape. In macOS, app icons can have the shape of the objects they depict. A unique outline focuses attention on the object and makes it easy to recognize the icon at a glance. If necessary, you can use a circular shape to encapsulate a set of images. Avoid using the rounded rectangle shape that people associate with iOS app icons.
Design a recognizable icon. People shouldn’t have to analyze the icon to figure out what it represents. For example, the Mail app icon uses a stamp, which is universally associated with mail. Take time to design an engaging abstract icon that artistically represents your app’s purpose.
Embrace simplicity. Find a single element that captures the essence of your app and express that element in a simple, unique shape. Add details cautiously. If an icon’s content or shape is overly complex, the details can be hard to discern, especially at smaller sizes.
Provide a single focus point. Design an icon with a single, centered point that immediately captures attention and clearly identifies your app.
iOS icons
macOS icons
If you’re creating a macOS version of an iOS app, design a new version of your app icon. Your macOS app icon should be recognizable, but not an exact copy of your iOS app icon. In particular, the macOS icon shouldn’t use the same rounded rectangle shape that the iOS icon uses. App Store, Maps, Notes, and Reminders provide icons for macOS and iOS that are recognizable, yet distinct from one another. Reexamine the way you use images and metaphors in your iOS app icon. For example, if the iOS app icon shows a tree inside the rectangle, consider using the tree itself for your macOS app icon.
Use color judiciously. Don’t add color just to make the icon brighter. Also, smooth gradients typically work better than sharp delineations of color.
Avoid mixing actual text, fake text, and wavy lines that suggest text. If you want text in your icon but you don’t want to draw attention to the words, start with actual text and make it hard to read by shrinking it. This technique also results in sharper details on high-resolution displays. If your app is localized, prefer fake text or wavy lines over actual text in a specific language.
Avoid including photos, screenshots, or interface elements. Photographic details can be very hard to see at small sizes. Screenshots are too complex for an app icon and don’t generally help communicate your app’s purpose. Interface elements in an icon are misleading and confusing. If you want to base your icon on photos, screenshots, or interface elements, design idealized versions that emphasize specific details you want people to notice.
Don’t use replicas of Apple hardware products. Apple products are copyrighted and can’t be reproduced in your icons or images. In general, avoid displaying replicas of devices, because hardware designs tend to change frequently and can make your icon look dated.
Perspective and Textures
Design an icon with appropriate perspective and a realistic drop shadow. In general, an app icon should depict an object as if viewed through an imaginary camera that’s facing the object, positioned just below center, and tilted slightly upward. This camera should be positioned far enough away that the icon is nearly isometric, without appearing distorted. To achieve a realistic drop shadow, imagine a light source that’s also facing the object, but is positioned just above center and tilted slightly downward.
Rotation
Consider tilting your icon after rendering it. A small amount of rotation can help people distinguish your app icon from documents and folders. A rotation of 9 degrees tends to work well.
Use only black in your icon’s drop shadow. In some contexts, such as Cover Flow view mode in Finder, app icons are displayed against a dark background. If an icon’s drop shadow uses colors other than black, the drop shadow can appear more like a glow.
Portray real objects accurately. Icons that represent real objects should look like they’re made of real materials and have real mass. Realistic icons should accurately replicate the characteristics of substances like fabric, glass, paper, and metal in order to convey an object’s weight and feel. For example, the Preview app icon incorporates glass effectively in its magnification tool.
Consider adding a slight glow just inside the edges of your icon. If your app icon includes a dark reflective surface, such as glass or metal, add an inner glow to make the icon stand out and prevent it from appearing to dissolve into dark backgrounds.
App Icon Attributes
All app icons should adhere to the following specifications.
Don't provide app icons in ICNS or JPEG format. Add de-interlaced PNG files in the app icon fields of your Xcode project's asset catalog.
App Icon Sizes
Your app icon is displayed in many places, including in Finder, the Dock, Launchpad, and the App Store. To ensure that your app icon looks great everywhere people see it, provide it in the following sizes.
Simplify your icon at smaller sizes. There are fewer pixels to draw as icon size decreases. In your smaller icons, remove unnecessary features and exaggerate primary features so they remain clear. Even when a high-resolution size matches the pixel dimensions of a standard size, you should still consider simplifying the smaller rendered image. For example, the 128pt × 128pt @2x icon appears smaller onscreen than the 256pt × 256pt @1x icon, even though both icons have the same number of pixels. Visually smaller icons shouldn't appear drastically different from their larger counterparts, however. Any variation should be subtle so the icon remains visually consistent when displayed in different environments.
Keep high-resolution and standard-resolution artwork consistent. For example, the 256pt × 256pt @1x and 256pt × 256pt @2x images should look the same. Some people use multiple displays with different resolutions. When they drag your icon between their displays, the icon's appearance shouldn’t suddenly change.
When creating a macOS or iOS app a very important part of the process is the actual coding of the application but once that is completed an almost equally important task arises: designing the graphics of your app. An app can have a great engine but without some gorgeous graphics nobody will want to buy it. Nowadays the graphical design of an app is equally important to the way it works. So for this you will need to hire a graphics designer which will cost a lot of money and a lot of time wasted on your part trying to explain to him the design you want for your app icon and graphics. But that is not the only way. In this article I will be talking about how this simple yet powerful macOS app can make your life a lot easier when it comes to generating icons and graphics for your iOS and macOS apps.
Changing App Icons Macos Only Adds Paper IconsHow do I create an icon on my Mac?
Maybe the most important part of the graphical design of an app is its icon. This is the first thing that a potential customer sees and it must create a big impact. It must be pleasant on the eye but it also has to accurately depict the entire functionality of the app. For this you will need a powerful tool that lets you adjust even the smallest details of your icon. Icon Plus is such a tool. It basically allows you to select any image on hard drive and provides you with the tools you need to turn this image into the perfect icon.
64BitApps Bundle - 18 Premium Mac Apps for only $19.99 (75% OFF)!
Let’s say for example that you need to create an icon for a macOS app called Diet Tracker. You would need to select a background color and shape for your icon, maybe add a border and some shadow and you would also need to be able to position the central image of your icon with accuracy. Icon Plus lets you do all that and more as you can see in the video below:
But maybe you need an icon for an iOS app, which is a bit different from the icon of a macOS app. The icons of iOS apps are usually square, they use a color gradient as a background and have a flat design. Icon Plus can handle all these requirements with ease as you can see in the video below:
How do I create a logo on my Mac?Changing App Icons Macos Only Adds Paper Icon FreeChanging App Icons Macos Only Adds Paper Icon Download
There are other graphic elements that you may want to create in addition to the app icon. For example you may need to create a product logo that you can display on your website or use it in ads on other websites. If that is the case, then you are in luck because Icon Plus can also help you create beautiful logos for your iOS or macOS apps. Check out the video below that shows how you can create a stunning logo design in less than two minutes:
How to generate correctly resized iOS app icons
If you are an iOS developer then you know very well that Apple’s XCode requires you to provide the app icon in certain sizes. Manually resizing your app icon so that you can cover all the sizes that Apple requires can be a tedious and time consuming task. Luckily for you, Icon Plus does that automatically every time you export your icon, as you can see the videos above. But maybe you already have an icon and you just want to generate all the required sizes without modifying the design in any way. No problem. Icon Plus can also act as a simple icon resizer if that is what you need. Simply load your icon in Icon Plus and export it in all the sizes that XCode requires.
Changing App Icons Macos Only Adds Paper Icon Windows 10Powerful iOS and macOS app icon generator
So if you are looking for a reliable app that can help you generate your iOS or macOS app icons and graphics but you do not want to break the bank for this, then Icon Plus is the perfect solution for you. With a simple and intuitive user interface and a powerful graphics engine, Icon Plus will enable you to create both iOS and macOS icons with ease. You can also resize existing icons and create stunning logo designs in just a matter of seconds with this powerful graphics generator. So purchase Icon Plus today and for only $4.99 you will never need to hire a graphics designer again.
Comments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |