I’m developing an iOS app, and I’ve noticed that when the user enables Accessibility → Display & Text Size → Color Filters → Grayscale, my app icon loses a lot of visual contrast. The original colored version looks fine, but in grayscale it appears “flat” and harder to distinguish, unlike a pure black-and-white design.
What I want to achieve:
Ensure the app icon remains visually clear and high-contrast even when iOS renders it in grayscale.
Ideally, provide an alternate “high-contrast” app icon version when grayscale mode is enabled.
What I’ve tried:
Increased color contrast in the original icon design.
Added outlines and stronger shapes.
Tested with grayscale filters in design tools.
Researched Asset Catalog and alternate icons, but found no documented API to detect or respond to grayscale mode.
Questions:
Is there any API in iOS that allows detecting when the system is in grayscale mode so that I can programmatically switch to an alternate app icon?
If not, are there Apple-recommended best practices for designing app icons that still look clear in grayscale?
Are there any accessibility guidelines specifically addressing icon design for grayscale or color-blind modes?
Additional info:
iOS version tested: iOS 17.5
Development in Swift + SwiftUI, using Asset Catalog for icons.
I am aware that iOS supports alternate icons via setAlternateIconName, but I haven’t found a trigger for grayscale mode.