Create Custom App Icons On Your Jailbroken iPhone

Posted Feb 4, 2011 at 3:57PM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: Hacking and Jailbreaking Tags: apple, ios, jailbreak

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Winterboard has many functions that you can use to customize the appearance of your iPhone (or iPad), one of which is creating custom icons.  In case you were wondering these custom icons won't get rid of the original images and you can turn them on or off using Winterboard.  Another thing worth mentioning is that in most cases the icon is part of a theme.  Any icons that are from applications that you got from the App Store are automatically skinned by most of these themes.  Also, iOS apps like Settings, Photos and Compass won't be auto skinned and need to be specifically done for each theme.  Similarly, any apps from Cydia (jailbreak apps) will also not be automatically skinned and they will need to be customized to fit your theme. I'm sure you're probably ready to see what you need to do so here are the steps to take. The first thing you need to do is SSH into your iPhone and make sure you've got Winterboard installed.  It's not an absolute requirement but is recommended to have SBSetting and iFile.

Step 1 - Create Your Theme

• Go to: /private/var/stash/Themes
• Make a new folder labeled “Custom Icons.theme”

Within that folder make another and name it “Bundles” – This is where all of your icons will go and will Winterboard to skin them appropriately.

Step 2 - Locate the Icons to Skin You can find this information online but as apps and icons are regularly updated, this method shows you how to locate them on your own. One good way to do this is use SBSettings and on the "More" icon.

• Select “App Folders”
• Choose the app you want to skin and make a note of the folder name.

• Now use the SSH browser or iFile to go to the location of the folder you noted.
• Within that folder resides a sub folder that normally contains the app with ".app" at the end.  Open that folder.
• Open Info.plist.  Look for “CFBundleIdentifier” and the string directly below it.  Make a note of the bundle name listed in that string.  It should be something similar to  “com.company.appname” This is the name of your bundle folder that you will create.
• In the folder that you found Info.plist locate the icon you want to update.  Be patient because this step can get a bit tricky and it may take you a few tries before you locate the correct file name.  Normally the icon is called Icon.png or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if it happens to be retina quality.  Keep in mind you need to keep the file name case sensitive.
• Navigate back to the Custom Icons.theme/Bundles folder and create another folder labeled with what you found to be the CFBundleIdentifier (i.e. “com.company.appname”). This is where you want to put your icon.  Now that you've got both the the icon name and the bundle name, you are ready to make an icon.

Step 3 - How to Make the Icon

• Retina display icons can be 118×120.  Non-retina display should be 59×60. Adobe Photoshop is good to create icons from images you find online.  The size of the original icon doesn't matter but the device you are on does.  You can skin a non-retina quality (59×60) icon with a retina quality (118×120) icon.

• After you've got your icon, you need to label it exactly like the icon you are skinning, and remember it's case sensitive.
• Put the icon in the newly created bundle folder.

Step 4 - Implement the Theme with Winterboard

• Open Winterboard and confirm the Custom Icons Theme is checked and above all other themes, as the theme which is listed on top gets priority.
• Now your iPhone will respring and your icon should be there. If it's not you should make sure the icon and bundle name are exactly the same as the ones you have created.

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