Definition

Maskable icons

Short definition

A maskable icon is declared with "purpose": "maskable" in the manifest icons array and must fill the entire square canvas with no transparent padding, keeping important content inside the central 80% "safe zone". Android then applies its own mask shape (circle, squircle, rounded square) on top without cutting off the logo.

Reviewed July 23, 2026

A typical entry looks like {"src": "/icon-maskable-512.png", "sizes": "512x512", "type": "image/png", "purpose": "maskable"}, kept separate from the plain "any" icon used on platforms without adaptive-icon masking.

Icons designed for "any" but reused as "maskable" usually look wrong once masked, because logos placed near the edges get cropped by whichever shape the launcher applies — this is the single most common icon bug reported after PWA installs.

You can preview how an icon survives circular, squircle and rounded-square masks with the community tool at https://maskable.app before shipping.

iOS and desktop Chromium ignore the maskable purpose and use the "any" icon instead, so both variants should be present in the icons array for cross-platform installs.

Related terms

icons (manifest field)

icons is a manifest array of objects like {"src": "/icon-512.png", "sizes": "512x512", "type": "image/png"}. Chromium requires at least a 192x192 and a 512x512 PNG for install eligibility; the browser picks the closest size for each surface (home screen, splash screen, task switcher) rather than scaling a single image.

WebAPK

A WebAPK is a small, real Android application package that Chrome generates and signs on the fly (via a Google-run server) when a user installs a qualifying PWA on Android. It gives the installed site a genuine entry in Android Settings > Apps, its own task-switcher identity separate from Chrome, and the ability to be the registered handler for its own scope's URLs.

name (manifest field)

name is a required-in-practice string field in the Web App Manifest that gives the full, human-readable title of the app. Browsers show it on the install dialog, the splash screen and in the OS app switcher. It can be up to 45 characters before some UIs truncate it.

shortcuts (manifest field)

shortcuts is a manifest array of up to (practically) four entries, each with name, url and optional icons, that appear when a user long-presses the installed app icon on Android or right-clicks it on Windows/ChromeOS. Example: {"name": "New order", "url": "/orders/new", "icons": [{"src": "/shortcut-new.png", "sizes": "96x96"}]}.

screenshots (manifest field)

screenshots is a manifest array such as [{"src": "/shots/home.png", "sizes": "1080x1920", "type": "image/png", "form_factor": "narrow"}] used to render a richer install UI with app previews, similar to a Play Store listing, instead of the plain one-line install banner.

id (manifest field)

id is a manifest field, for example "id": "/app-v1", used as the app's permanent identifier for the OS install registry. Unlike start_url, id is not meant to change; if it is omitted, the browser derives an identity from start_url instead, which means later changing start_url can register as a brand-new app.