diff --git a/ui/tab-view/tab-view.android.ts b/ui/tab-view/tab-view.android.ts
index 332ec7b29..b00674ae8 100644
--- a/ui/tab-view/tab-view.android.ts
+++ b/ui/tab-view/tab-view.android.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import definition = require("ui/tab-view");
 import dependencyObservable = require("ui/core/dependency-observable");
 import view = require("ui/core/view");
 import trace = require("trace");
+import imageSource = require("image-source");
 
 var VIEWS_STATES = "_viewStates";
 
@@ -141,6 +142,7 @@ export class TabView extends common.TabView {
     private _tabsAddedByMe = new Array<android.app.ActionBar.Tab>();
     private _tabsCache = {};
     private _androidViewId: number;
+    private _iconsCache = {};
 
     constructor() {
         super();
@@ -358,6 +360,7 @@ export class TabView extends common.TabView {
             item = newItems[i];
             tab = actionBar.newTab();
             tab.setText(item.title);
+            this._setIcon(item.iconSource, tab);
 
             tab.setTabListener(this._tabListener);
 
@@ -367,6 +370,26 @@ export class TabView extends common.TabView {
         }
     }
 
+    private _setIcon(iconSource: string, tab: android.app.ActionBar.Tab): void {
+        if (!iconSource) {
+            return;
+        }
+        
+        var drawable: android.graphics.drawable.BitmapDrawable;
+        drawable = this._iconsCache[iconSource];
+        if (!drawable) {
+            var is = imageSource.fromFileOrResource(iconSource);
+            if (is) {
+                drawable = new android.graphics.drawable.BitmapDrawable(is.android);
+                this._iconsCache[iconSource] = drawable;
+            }
+        }
+        
+        if (drawable) {
+            tab.setIcon(drawable);
+        }
+    }
+
     public _removeTabs(oldItems: Array<definition.TabViewItem>) {
         trace.write("TabView._removeTabs(" + oldItems + ");", common.traceCategory);
         super._removeTabs(oldItems);
diff --git a/ui/tab-view/tab-view.d.ts b/ui/tab-view/tab-view.d.ts
index 2c689aa2e..0945c4f76 100644
--- a/ui/tab-view/tab-view.d.ts
+++ b/ui/tab-view/tab-view.d.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,11 @@ declare module "ui/tab-view" {
          * Gets or sets the view of the TabViewItem.
          */
         view: view.View;
+        
+        /**
+         * Gets or sets the icon source of the TabViewItem. This could either be a a file name or resource id.
+         */
+        iconSource?: string;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/ui/tab-view/tab-view.ios.ts b/ui/tab-view/tab-view.ios.ts
index 8e15cbca2..bc4454de1 100644
--- a/ui/tab-view/tab-view.ios.ts
+++ b/ui/tab-view/tab-view.ios.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import utilsModule = require("utils/utils");
 import trace = require("trace");
 import utils = require("utils/utils");
 import view = require("ui/core/view");
+import imageSource = require("image-source");
 
 // merge the exports of the common file with the exports of this file
 declare var exports;
@@ -85,6 +86,7 @@ export class TabView extends common.TabView {
     private _moreNavigationControllerDelegate: UINavigationControllerDelegateImpl;
     private _tabBarHeight: number = 0;
     private _navBarHeight: number = 0;
+    private _iconsCache = {};
 
     constructor() {
         super();
@@ -138,24 +140,28 @@ export class TabView extends common.TabView {
 
         var i: number;
         var length = newItems.length;
-        var newItem: definition.TabViewItem;
+        var item: definition.TabViewItem;
         var newControllers: NSMutableArray = NSMutableArray.alloc().initWithCapacity(length);
         var newController: UIViewController;
 
         for (i = 0; i < length; i++) {
-            newItem = newItems[i];
+            item = newItems[i];
 
-            this._addView(newItem.view);
+            this._addView(item.view);
 
-            if (newItem.view.ios instanceof UIViewController) {
-                newController = <UIViewController>newItem.view.ios;
+            if (item.view.ios instanceof UIViewController) {
+                newController = <UIViewController>item.view.ios;
             } else {
                 newController = new UIViewController();
-                newController.view.addSubview(newItem.view.ios);
+                newController.view.addSubview(item.view.ios);
+            }
+
+            var icon = this._getIcon(item.iconSource);
+            newController.tabBarItem = UITabBarItem.alloc().initWithTitleImageTag(item.title, icon, i);
+            if (!icon) {
+                newController.tabBarItem.setTitlePositionAdjustment({ horizontal: 0, vertical: -20 });
             }
 
-            newController.tabBarItem = UITabBarItem.alloc().initWithTitleImageTag(newItem.title, null, -1);
-            newController.tabBarItem.setTitlePositionAdjustment({ horizontal: 0, vertical: -20 });
             newControllers.addObject(newController);
         }
 
@@ -166,6 +172,25 @@ export class TabView extends common.TabView {
         this._ios.moreNavigationController.delegate = this._moreNavigationControllerDelegate;
     }
 
+    private _getIcon(iconSource: string): UIImage {
+        if (!iconSource) {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        var image: UIImage;
+        image = this._iconsCache[iconSource];
+        if (!image) {
+            var is = imageSource.fromFileOrResource(iconSource);
+            if (is && is.ios) {
+                is.ios.renderingMode = UIImageRenderingMode.UIImageRenderingModeAlwaysOriginal;
+                this._iconsCache[iconSource] = is.ios;
+                image = is.ios;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return image;
+    }
+
     public _onSelectedIndexPropertyChangedSetNativeValue(data: dependencyObservable.PropertyChangeData) {
         super._onSelectedIndexPropertyChangedSetNativeValue(data);