Dynamic App Icon API
Switch between alternative app icons at runtime in your iOS WebView app — triggered from your web app.
This API allows the users of your app to change the app icon with the click of button. WebViewGold allows up to three alternative app icons from your default app icon. Whenever the app icon is dynamically changed, the user will be notified upon successful completion:
If you wish to change the app icon of your app on behalf of your users, you can do so by publishing a new version of your app with the new app icon installed. See how to change your app icon on WebViewGold here.
To dynamically change the app icon, just link to one of the following URL formats:
<script> // Change to Alternative App Icon 1 window.location.href = "changeicon://icon1" // Change to Alternative App Icon 2 window.location.href = "changeicon://icon2" // Change to Alternative App Icon 3 window.location.href = "changeicon://icon3" // Revert to the Default App Icon window.location.href = "changeicon://default" </script>
View a demonstration and testing page for this API here.
To set your alternative app icons, open your app files in Finder and navigate to WebView-Swift/WebView/ApplicationIcon/AppIconAlternate.
In this folder, you will see template app icons for all of the required app icon sizes in iOS (iPhones and iPads), for each alternative icon:
The default names of each alternative app icon are: "AppIconAlternate1", "AppIconAlternate2" and "AppIconAlternate3".
If you like, you can change the default names by editing the alternativeAppIconNames variable in the Config file:
Each app icon (for example, 'AppIconAlternateX') requires five different sizes, which are described by the file name suffix:
- For iPhones:
- AppIconAlternateX (60x60 pixels)
- AppIconAlternateX@2x (120x120 pixels)
- AppIconAlternateX@3x (180x180 pixels)
- For iPads:
- AppIconAlternateX-ipad@2x (152x152 pixels)
- AppIconAlternateX-ipad@3x (167x167 pixels)
When replacing these template app icons with your own, make sure they follow the same file name format (with the suffixes listed above) with the correct image size.
View a more detailed guide on app icon specifications here.
To activate this API (also for App Store Review), please open Info.plist as source code (right-click on the file and select "Open As" -> "Source Code" from the contextual menu): Within Info.plist, search for
<key>CFBundleIcons</key> <dict> <key>CFBundlePrimaryIcon</key> <dict> <key>CFBundleIconFiles</key> <array> <string></string> </array> <key>UIPrerenderedIcon</key> <false/> </dict> </dict>and replace it with
<key>CFBundleIcons</key> <dict> <key>CFBundleAlternateIcons</key> <dict> <key>AppIconAlternate1</key> <dict> <key>CFBundleIconFiles</key> <array> <string>AppIconAlternate1</string> </array> <key>UIPrerenderedIcon</key> <false/> </dict> <key>AppIconAlternate2</key> <dict> <key>CFBundleIconFiles</key> <array> <string>AppIconAlternate2</string> </array> <key>UIPrerenderedIcon</key> <false/> </dict> <key>AppIconAlternate3</key> <dict> <key>CFBundleIconFiles</key> <array> <string>AppIconAlternate3</string> </array> <key>UIPrerenderedIcon</key> <false/> </dict> </dict> <key>CFBundlePrimaryIcon</key> <dict> <key>CFBundleIconFiles</key> <array> <string></string> </array> <key>UIPrerenderedIcon</key> <false/> </dict> </dict>Moreover, search for
<key>CFBundleIcons~ipad</key>
<dict>
<key>CFBundlePrimaryIcon</key>
<dict>
<key>CFBundleIconFiles</key>
<array>
<string></string>
</array>
<key>UIPrerenderedIcon</key>
<false/>
</dict>
</dict>
and replace it with
<key>CFBundleIcons~ipad</key> <dict> <key>CFBundleAlternateIcons</key> <dict> <key>AppIconAlternate1</key> <dict> <key>CFBundleIconFiles</key> <array> <string>AppIconAlternate1-ipad</string> </array> <key>UIPrerenderedIcon</key> <false/> </dict> <key>AppIconAlternate2</key> <dict> <key>CFBundleIconFiles</key> <array> <string>AppIconAlternate2-ipad</string> </array> <key>UIPrerenderedIcon</key> <false/> </dict> <key>AppIconAlternate3</key> <dict> <key>CFBundleIconFiles</key> <array> <string>AppIconAlternate3-ipad</string> </array> <key>UIPrerenderedIcon</key> <false/> </dict> </dict> <key>CFBundlePrimaryIcon</key> <dict> <key>CFBundleIconFiles</key> <array> <string></string> </array> <key>UIPrerenderedIcon</key> <false/> </dict> </dict>This is the default setting regarding alternative app icon names and amount of alternative app icon files.
SDK-style implementation notes
Treat this feature as a native capability exposed to your web layer: keep your production website or PWA as the source of truth, then use the documented WebViewGold configuration flags, URL commands, and JavaScript bridge calls to opt in to native iOS behavior only where it adds value. This approach keeps your codebase maintainable because the same web application can serve browsers, WebViewGold for iOS, and the other WebViewGold platforms with minimal conditional logic.
For reliable results, prefer HTTPS endpoints, stable route names, explicit success/error states in your UI, and small JavaScript helper functions that wrap native calls. For example, a web app built with jQuery Mobile, Lovable, Base44, Bolt, WordPress, Bubble, a custom React/Vue/Angular stack, or static HTML can expose a single button or event handler that triggers the native WebViewGold API while still showing a graceful browser fallback.
- Recommended integration pattern: detect the app context, call the WebViewGold API, then update your web UI after the native callback or route change.
- Testing checklist: validate the feature on a real device or packaged build, verify permissions and store review text, and confirm that browser-only users still receive a useful fallback.
- SEO benefit: keep feature pages, route titles, and structured content indexable on your website while WebViewGold delivers the native app shell for iOS users.