App icon compliant — 1024×1024 with no alpha channel (iOS), no misleading badges
Why it matters
Apple's binary validation runs before any human reviewer sees the app. A 1024×1024 marketing icon with an alpha channel fails binary validation immediately — the submission is rejected with a cryptic asset error, not a guideline violation, which means no appeal pathway. Badge overlays ('FREE', '#1', 'Award') violate Apple Guideline 2.3.6 and trigger rejection during human review. Shipping the default Expo or React Native framework icon signals an unfinished product, increasing the likelihood of rejection on subjective 'minimum functionality' grounds. On Android, a missing ic_launcher_round.png causes visual corruption on adaptive-icon-capable devices running Android 8+.
Severity rationale
Medium because the failure mode is a blocking submission error rather than a security or data integrity issue, but it halts every release cycle.
Remediation
Create a 1024×1024 PNG with zero transparency. Verify with ImageMagick before submission:
identify -format "%[channels]" assets/icon.png
# Must NOT show 'rgba' or 'alpha'
For Expo, ensure app.json has both icon and android.adaptiveIcon.foregroundImage set and pointing to files that exist in the repository. Do not pre-round icon corners — Apple applies rounding at render time. Remove any badge, text, or ranking overlay from the icon asset itself. Store production icon sources in src/assets/icon/ with a README noting the no-alpha requirement.
DetectionPro
The detection method for this pattern is part of AuditBuffet Pro.
The full method (what to look for, pass and fail conditions, and how results get reported) ships inside the App Store Metadata & Listing Audit. The pattern definition, severity rationale, and remediation remain openly licensed under CC-BY-4.0.
External references
- external · apple-guideline-2.3.6 — Apple App Review Guideline 2.3.6 — App Icon Requirements
Taxons
History
- 2026-04-18·v1.0.0·Initial import from app-store-metadata-listing·automated