Faviview — Help Center

Getting started

What Faviview does

Faviview checks which site icons exist for a given URL. It reads the page's <head>, collects every icon declaration — favicon.ico, apple-touch-icon, every <link rel="icon"> with its sizes and type — then requests each one and reports what came back. It also probes the two locations that browsers request automatically without any declaration: /favicon.ico and /apple-touch-icon.png at the site root.

How to run a check

Go to the App page.
Paste or type a URL into the input box. Bare domains (e.g. example.com) are automatically prefixed with https://.
Click Check or press Enter.
Wait a few seconds while Faviview fetches the page and probes each icon.
Read the results table and consumer summary.

Tip: Not sure what to check? Click Try sample on the App page to see a pre-filled demo report with nothing real being fetched.

Understanding your results

The results page shows two main sections:

Icon table — every icon the page declares, plus the two root fallbacks. Each row shows the icon's relationship (rel), URL, HTTP status, actual Content-Type, whether it matches the declared type, real pixel dimensions, and an overall status (present, missing, or error).
Consumer summary — three cards showing what a browser tab, Google Search result, and iOS home-screen bookmark would each end up using. A red card means that consumer has nothing to display.

Frequently asked questions

1. Why is my favicon not showing in Google Search results?

Google Search shows a site icon in search results based on the icon declared in your page's <head>. Google looks for a <link rel="icon"> and prefers a square icon at least 48×48 pixels. The most common causes of a missing search icon are:

No <link rel="icon"> declared at all.
The declared icon is too small for Google's requirements.
The icon URL returns a 404 or an incorrect Content-Type.
Google hasn't recrawled the page since you added or updated the icon (this is outside Faviview's control — Google's crawl schedule is determined by their own systems).

Run a check with Faviview to verify that your declared icon exists and returns the correct format and a usable size. The consumer summary card for "Google Search" will tell you whether Search has an icon to use.

2. Why is my favicon not updating / why does my browser tab show a blank icon?

A blank browser tab is often caused by a missing /favicon.ico at the site root. Even if you declare a modern SVG or PNG icon in your <head>, many browsers still request /favicon.ico as a fallback by convention. If that file returns a 404, the tab icon may show as blank or use a generic placeholder.

Faviview checks both the declared icons and the root convention fallbacks, so you can see if a missing /favicon.ico is the culprit.

On icon updates: browsers cache favicons aggressively. Clearing your browser cache or visiting the icon URL directly (bypassing the page) often forces a refresh. Faviview tests what is actually served right now, bypassing your local cache.

3. What icon sizes do I need? What format should I use?

There is no single required size or format — different consumers have different preferences. A practical setup:

SVG — <link rel="icon" type="image/svg+xml" href="/favicon.svg">. The most flexible single-icon approach. Supported by all modern browsers.
32×32 ICO — /favicon.ico at the site root. The traditional fallback that browsers request automatically.
180×180 PNG — <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/apple-touch-icon.png">. Required for iOS home-screen bookmarks.
192×192 or 512×512 PNG — For Android and PWA manifests (if you have a manifest.json).

4. How do I set up apple-touch-icon correctly?

Add this line inside your page's <head>:

<link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/apple-touch-icon.png">

Apple recommends a 180×180 PNG. iOS also requests /apple-touch-icon.png at the site root by convention, even without a declaration — Faviview probes this automatically. If that root file is missing, iOS bookmarks will show a generic white tile.

5. Faviview says an icon is present but reports a "format mismatch" — what does that mean?

A format mismatch means the type attribute in your <link> tag says one thing (e.g. type="image/png") but the server sent a different Content-Type header (e.g. image/webp). Browsers may refuse to use an icon when the declared type doesn't match the actual Content-Type, even though the icon loaded successfully.

Fix: either change the type attribute on your <link> tag to match what the server actually sends, or reconfigure your server to send the correct Content-Type for that file.

6. Is Faviview safe? Do you store the URLs I submit?

Yes — Faviview is designed to be safe and privacy-respecting:

Faviview does not store the URLs you submit or the results of your checks. No accounts, no check history, no database.
All outgoing requests are SSRF-protected: Faviview will not reach private, loopback, or link-local addresses.
No cookies, tracking scripts, or analytics are used on this site.
The only data sent to third parties is the Google Fonts CSS file (which receives your IP), and the URL you submitted (which Faviview fetches on your behalf).

See the Privacy page for full details.

Known limitations

Faviview is a diagnostic tool that checks site icons for a single URL. It does not monitor sites over time, generate icons, or offer design advice. The following features are not yet built or are in development.

No batch checking or CSV export. Each check handles one URL at a time. A Pro plan with batch/CSV export is described on the Pricing page but is not yet available for purchase.
No saved check history. Faviview does not store results. Once you navigate away or refresh, the results are gone. This is by design (no accounts), but means you cannot refer back to a previous check.
No API or programmatic access. There is no public API key or programmatic endpoint available yet. The Pro plan lists this as a future feature.
No payment processor connected. The checkout flow on the Pricing page is a demonstration only. Faviview cannot accept real payments today.
No email-based support. A support email address has not been established yet. See "Contact us" below for ways to reach the operator.
No PWA manifest checking. Faviview checks icon declarations in the HTML <head> but does not parse manifest.json for icon references.
Only HTTP and HTTPS URLs. ftp:, file:, and other URL schemes are rejected.
No monitoring or alerting. Faviview performs a point-in-time check. It does not re-check automatically or notify you about changes.
No legal entity. The service is operated by an individual who has not yet registered a legal entity or jurisdiction. See the Terms of Service for details.

Contact us

A support email address and formal contact method have not been established yet. The following channels are the available ways to get in touch.

GitHub Issues — For bug reports, feature requests, and technical questions, the best way to reach the operator is via the project repository (if one exists) or by raising a public issue.

Via the site itself — Use the App page's "Try sample" button and form to check URLs. If you encounter a bug in the tool itself, the URL check output will contain diagnostic information the operator can use to investigate.

What to expect: Because this service is operated by an individual without dedicated support staff, response times are not guaranteed. Routine questions about how to use Faviview (covered in this Help Center) may not receive a personal reply.

Escalations: Issues involving legal concerns, payment processing, data privacy, or prolonged service outages should be clearly marked as such. These will be escalated to the operator as promptly as possible.