Edit2:
I've distilled the problem down to the simplest project I can. Here's the setup.
I created a new single view app and immediately added a new Action extension target. I created a new icon set in the .xcassets file and added an iPad retina sized icon (I've tried filling in all the icons, the results are the same).
I made sure to include Images.xcassets in the Copy Bundle Resources build phase:
And then when running the app in the simulator everything works!
Compiling to device however results in a blank icon:
I thought maybe that means something is wrong with the PNG file I'm using, but everything looks OK here too:
Has anyone encountered similar?
I've already visited questions like this looking for an answer and I think I'm doing everything right but I'm still not seeing an icon in the action sheet.
Here's what I've done:
Created a working container app that has a working app icon stored in Images.xcassets. Then I created an Action Extension Target as a member of the same project.
Added Images.xcassets from my containing app to my extension's "Copy Bundle Resources" build phase. I know that this worked because I'm able to load images from the .xcassets file using UIImage.imageNamed(...)
in my extension.
In the General Tab of the settings for my extension I've pointed the "App Icons Source" under "App Icons and Launch Images" to point to Images.xcassets's resource called "AppIcon", the same used for my containing app.
When that didn't work I did some further reading and discovered that Action Extensions require an "alpha mask" style image. I created another item in my .xcassets file called "AppIcon-2" and populated it with all sizes of app icon, except as a 1-color + transparency PNG. I pointed "App Icons and Launch Images" of my extension to this new "AppIcon-2"
Still my action extension's icon is a blank white square. Are there any steps that I'm missing? Is there some very specific format the alpha mask has to be in? (I'm just saving as a .png in photoshop). Is there some very specific name the resource has to have in .xcassets?
I'm also confused by some of the answers (like the one linked above) which seem to imply that the issue is resolved by adding .xcassets to the build phase. Aren't most app icon's completely opaque? How does iOS generate an alpha mask from a completely opaque app icon?
Edit: I'm not entirely sure what change made the difference (I'll try to deduce it and update this post if I figure it out) but I'm now seeing a working icon based on the alpha mask of "AppIcon-2" on the simulator. I hadn't even thought to check the simulator but it does prove that the icon is being pulled from the correct place. Something about the device is processing the image differently.
EDIT: Apple Fixed this issue in iOS8.1!
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I think at this point, the answer is to submit a bug report to Apple at
https://feedbackassistant.apple.com/
If you can submit your barebones example project, that will help our cause!
Here's the one that I submitted:
Summary: The action extension icon shows well from Messages, and the UIActivityViewController, but when it appears from the Photos App, the icon is blank.
I think this is a bug with the Apple Photos App
Steps to Reproduce: Follow these instructions but from the Photos App
http://www.photoinvestigator.co/blog/how-to-use-ios8-action-extensions/
Expected Results: Expect the Metadata Extension's icon to appear correctly as in http://www.photoinvestigator.co/blog/how-to-use-ios8-action-extensions/
Actual Results: The icon is pure white
Version: iOS 8.0.2, iOS 8.0.0
Notes: iOS 8 action extension icon is blank on device (works in simulator)
Here is an example of using my extension from Messages App, with the icon showing correctly: http://www.photoinvestigator.co/blog/how-to-use-ios8-action-extensions/ But doing these steps from Apple's photos app, results in the icon not showing correctly.
Configuration: Any iOS device running iOS8. iPad 3rd Gen, iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 6 Plus
Attachments:
Edit: They closed it as a duplicate of ID: Ticket ID: 17208813 Progress!