Ahead of Apple’s iOS 7 launch (presumably alongside the new iPhones in September), Apple seems to be asking developers to submit larger app icons. As part of iOS 7’s dramatic interface changes, the Home screen icons have been slightly enlarged compared to the iOS 6 icons.

For example, as shown in the image above, the non-iOS 7-optimized Netflix icon has a small white border compared to Apple’s icons.

In order to avoid this interface issue, developers will need to include larger icons in their applications. iOS 6 icons on the iPhone come in at 114 x 114 pixel resolutions, while iOS 7 icons are slightly larger at 120 x 120 pixel resolutions. For the iPad, iOS 6 icons are at resolutions of 144 x 144, and on iOS 7 they come in at a resolution of 152 x 152:

Invalid Image – For iOS applications, icons included in the binary submission must be in the PNG format. If your application supports the iPhone device family, you must include square icons of the following dimensions: 57×57 pixels and 120×120 pixels.

If your application supports the iPad device family, you must include square icons of the following dimensions: 72×72 pixels, 76×76 pixels and 152×152 pixels

Hinting at the imminent launch of iOS 7, Apple is now telling developers, who have incorrectly submitted app icons, that their icons should be at the new iOS 7 resolutions.

Apple does not explicitly mention iOS 7 in the email, but the resolutions match iOS 7’s requirements. Since the submitted app is an iOS 6 app, it appears that the new icon sizes listed in the email were provided in error. Nonetheless, the mistake seems to indicate that Apple is ramping up its preparations for iOS 7’s debut. Apple will certainly make the new icon sizes are requirement when it opens up iOS 7 app submissions.

In addition, the corner radius of iOS 7 icons have changed. This is something developers will likely also want to take into consideration when designing new icons.

When iOS 7 launches next month, in addition to the new design, it will include Control Center, AirDrop file sharing functionality, new sharing options, iTunes Radio, and a redesigned Safari browser. AppleCare employees, earlier this week, started to learn about the iOS 7 changes in order to assist customers during the launch. Thanks, Sascha!

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