How to resolve None of the input catalogs contained a matching stickers icon set or app icon set named AppIcon in iOS app

Jan 28, 2025

Problem

When setting up app icons for an iOS app, you might encounter the following error:

/Users/bswen/XcodeProjects/testapp/testapp/Assets.xcassets:1:1:
None of the input catalogs contained a matching stickers icon
set or app icon set named "AppIcon".

Environment

iOS programming
Xcode 11.3
Swift 5

Reproduce the Error

To reproduce the error, we use this free iOS app icon generator to generate app icons as follows:

python /path/autoExportAppIcon.py /path/image.jpg

After execution, the following files are generated:

These files are then copied to the iOS project’s ./Assets.xcassets directory. When building and running the app, the error occurs:

/Users/bswen/XcodeProjects/testapp/testapp/Assets.xcassets:1:1: None of the input catalogs contained a matching stickers icon set or app icon set named "AppIcon".

Reason

The error occurs because the app icons and the content.json file are not placed in the correct location within the Assets.xcassets directory.

Solution

Let’s walk through the steps to resolve this issue using a new empty iOS project.

Step 1: Create Another Empty iOS Project

Open the project in Xcode, click on the Assets.xcassets directory, and you will see the following in the right pane:

Step 2: Drag One Icon to the Right

Drag one icon from the generated icons into Xcode’s AppIcon, overwriting the default 40x40px icon.

Step 3: Open the AppIcon in Finder

Step 4: Copy and Replace the Files with the Python-Generated Files

The final directory structure should look like this:

The final Assets.xcassets/AppIcon.appiconset/contents.json file should contain:

{
  "images" : [
    {
      "idiom" : "iphone",
      "size" : "20x20",
      "filename" : "[email protected]",
      "scale" : "2x"
    },
    {
      "idiom" : "iphone",
      "size" : "20x20",
      "filename" : "[email protected]",
      "scale" : "3x"
    },
    {
      "size" : "29x29",
      "idiom" : "iphone",
      "filename" : "AppIcon29x29.png",
      "scale" : "1x"
    },
    {
      "size" : "29x29",
      "idiom" : "iphone",
      "filename" : "[email protected]",
      "scale" : "2x"
    },
    {
      "size" : "29x29",
      "idiom" : "iphone",
      "filename" : "[email protected]",
      "scale" : "3x"
    },
    {
      "size" : "40x40",
      "idiom" : "iphone",
      "filename" : "[email protected]",
      "scale" : "2x"
    },
    {
      "size" : "40x40",
      "idiom" : "iphone",
      "filename" : "[email protected]",
      "scale" : "3x"
    },
    {
      "size" : "60x60",
      "idiom" : "iphone",
      "filename" : "[email protected]",
      "scale" : "2x"
    },
    {
      "size" : "60x60",
      "idiom" : "iphone",
      "filename" : "[email protected]",
      "scale" : "3x"
    },
    {
      "idiom" : "ipad",
      "size" : "20x20",
      "filename" : "AppIcon20x20.png",
      "scale" : "1x"
    },
    {
      "idiom" : "ipad",
      "size" : "20x20",
      "filename" : "[email protected]",
      "scale" : "2x"
    },
    {
      "size" : "29x29",
      "idiom" : "ipad",
      "filename" : "AppIcon29x29.png",
      "scale" : "1x"
    },
    {
      "size" : "29x29",
      "idiom" : "ipad",
      "filename" : "[email protected]",
      "scale" : "2x"
    },
    {
      "size" : "40x40",
      "idiom" : "ipad",
      "filename" : "AppIcon40x40.png",
      "scale" : "1x"
    },
    {
      "size" : "40x40",
      "idiom" : "ipad",
      "filename" : "[email protected]",
      "scale" : "2x"
    },
    {
      "size" : "76x76",
      "idiom" : "ipad",
      "filename" : "AppIcon76x76.png",
      "scale" : "1x"
    },
    {
      "size" : "76x76",
      "idiom" : "ipad",
      "filename" : "[email protected]",
      "scale" : "2x"
    },
    {
      "size" : "83.5x83.5",
      "idiom" : "ipad",
      "filename" : "[email protected]",
      "scale" : "2x"
    },
    {
      "size" : "1024x1024",
      "idiom" : "ios-marketing",
      "filename" : "AppIcon1024x1024.png",
      "scale" : "1x"
    }
  ],
  "info" : {
    "version" : 1,
    "author" : "xcode"
  }
}

Step 5: Build and Run the App

After completing the above steps, build and run the app. The app icon should now be installed correctly.

Summary

This post demonstrated how to resolve the “None of the input catalogs contained a matching stickers icon set or app icon set named AppIcon” error in iOS apps. The key steps involve correctly placing the app icons and the content.json file within the Assets.xcassets directory. By following the outlined steps, you can ensure that your app icons are correctly recognized and displayed in your iOS project.

Final Words + More Resources

My intention with this article was to help others who might be considering solving such a problem. So I hope that’s been the case here. If you still have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask me by email: Email me

Here are also the most important links from this article along with some further resources that will help you in this scope:

👨‍💻 autoExportAppIcon GitHub repository

Oh, and if you found these resources useful, don’t forget to support me by starring the repo on GitHub!