Show HN: Replacicon – Create and customize app icons on macOS
40 points by simonp9 4 days ago | 18 comments
  • tolerance 4 days ago |
    This is great. Good job! Great looking website! Six bucks is tolerable for this utility. I would be more willing to purchase myself if the app was actually named “Replación” like I thought it was.
  • pietz 4 days ago |
    Can I also use this to create icons for my own apps?
  • mh- 4 days ago |
    (The following isn't a criticism, just questions that came to mind for me. Looks like a neat app at a reasonable price.)

    I'd recommend adding an FAQ.

    First train of thought that comes to mind for me (being vaguely familiar with macOS-isms) is how does it achieve the icon swap mechanically? Does it "tamper" with the contents of the package in /Applications?

    Assuming yes: are there apps that react negatively to this? Does this prevent you from doing it to system/bundled apps, like Finder or Notes? Does the app itself require disabling SIP or whatever it's called nowadays?

    On that note, what OS versions does it support?

    • danpalmer 4 days ago |
      Given the fact that most apps are signed and won't run if the signatures don't match, and that macOS has had built-in user customisation of icons without tampering for many years, I think it's safe to assume it's using the latter.
      • mh- 4 days ago |
        Probably? I've never customized icons on macOS. But this from their site made me curious:

        > Replacicon even watches for app updates in the background so your customized icons are not lost across app updates.

        edit: a quick google suggests this is just because some application updaters remove the old package entirely, so I guess it's what you said.

        • danpalmer 4 days ago |
          Yeah this is exactly it. When you delete and replace the app bundle macOS loses that customisation (understandably) and therefore you have to re-apply the customisation. This is why user customisation never works particularly well.
    • galad87 3 days ago |
      The icon is stored inside the app bundle, in a "Icon?" invisible file resource fork. It's allowed by macOS and it doesn't break the code signature.
  • WorldWideWebb 4 days ago |
    Easy enough to replace icons just doing a get info and a copy/paste, but will this app handle auto-replacing the icon again after an app update? Example: I dislike the stock VSCode icon, so I found another icon that I like better and replaced it. Easy peasy. However, every time there is an app update, that icon gets wiped out. If this app solves that, I’d gladly pay for it.
    • _HMCB_ 4 days ago |
      Yes it does.
  • vehemenz 4 days ago |
    Good idea for people that use the Dock. I can't speak for every single power user, but the first thing I do with a new Mac is hide it to get my vertical pixels back.
  • jedbrooke 4 days ago |
    nice! I've thought of building something like this many times, glad to see someone has finally done it. does it let you provide your own .icns files too?

    Also:

    > To help you quickly find legacy icons to replace your Mac, Replacicon relies on machine-learned models to tell which icons are most in need of an update.

    is slapping in machine learning really necessary here? just let users select which icons they want to change.

    • wingerlang 3 days ago |
      If I would guess, it was easy enough to train the model to recognize non-square-ish icons and float them to the top. I think it's a pretty neat and shows some extra level of care has gone into the app.
  • ayaros 4 days ago |
    How are the authors of each icon credited within the app?
  • 8mobile 3 days ago |
    Kudos for the great idea, sometimes I want to change the icon but I don't know where to start. What happens when apps update, the icons are restored? Thanks
    • lancesells 3 days ago |
      You can use use get info (command + i) on the application file and drag and drop a new icon. App updates would get rid of that though.

      Overall, this is affordable and easier if you really want to make a lot of changes.

  • aniforprez 3 days ago |
    Minor point, I'd appreciate some indication of the price on the page before taking me to the Stripe checkout. It's not that the price ($5.99) is at all expensive or anything like that but I don't really find it nice to have to go to the checkout page to be told how much it costs. Being given this information up front feels honest and forthright.
  • Croftengea 3 days ago |
    I'm using a free app Pictogram (https://pictogramapp.com). It's not as feature rich as Replacicon (e.g. no online search from the app), but it works well if you just need to change an icon or two. Services like https://macosicons.com/ help you to find a good icons online.
  • vladstudio 3 days ago |
    ... and if you're like me and prefer to update your app icons from scripts, there's https://github.com/mklement0/fileicon