Has Apple Touch Icon reports whether the page head contains the text apple-touch-icon — the link relationship Apple devices use to pick a home-screen icon when someone saves your site. It returns 1 when the string is present and 0 when it is not; presence is a signal that the markup exists, not proof the icon actually loads or looks right.
| Factor ID | RG-TEC-001 |
|---|---|
| Family | Tech & platform |
| Measurement | Boolean presence (0 / 1) |
| Measured zone | Rendered, script-free document head |
What it measures
This factor indicates whether the page head contains the text apple-touch-icon, normally as part of a link relationship used when a site is saved to an Apple device’s home screen. It is a presence check on the markup, not an assessment of the icon’s quality or how it renders.
How RankGear measures it
RankGear lowercases the rendered, script-free document head and checks for the literal substring apple-touch-icon. A match returns 1 and no match returns 0. The factor does not parse the link destination, fetch the referenced file, or validate the image’s size or appearance — it only confirms the text is there.
What RankGear looks for
<link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/apple-touch-icon.png">| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1 | The string apple-touch-icon appears in the rendered head. |
| 0 | The string is absent from the rendered head. |
How to optimize it
Supply a properly designed touch icon when mobile users may save or launch the site from a home screen. Use an appropriate square image, reference it correctly in the head, and test the saved appearance on supported devices. Treat the score as an observation that the markup exists rather than a target to chase for its own sake — the value is the icon working for real users, not the presence of the string.
Important considerations
- Presence of the string does not guarantee the icon loads or meets Apple’s platform guidance.
- Because it is a substring check, the text could be detected outside a valid link declaration.
- This is primarily a brand and device-experience feature, not a content or crawl signal.
- Keep the touch icon visually consistent with the favicon and your product identity.
- This is a correlation-based observation within a measured result set, not a cause of ranking — having the markup does not make a page rank.
Related factors
Part of the Factors reference · how RankGear measures · glossary.