Google Pixel app icons are receiving a fresh look as the company aligns its exclusive applications with the Material 3 Expressive design language. The update arrives alongside the recently introduced Pixel 11 series, the Pixel Watch 5 and the new Pixel Tag item trackers, with pre-orders having opened before those devices were formally unveiled.
The refresh follows Google’s ongoing habit of adjusting its applications, from their icons through to their user interfaces, in the name of improving the overall experience. Earlier in the year, several apps were redesigned to adopt a gradient appearance or an entirely different look, a move the company linked to the expanding role of artificial intelligence across its software. As part of that effort, sharp edges in certain icons were softened into rounded shapes, as seen with the “M” of the Gmail app.
Which Pixel icons are changing
The Weather icon previously depicted a sun made up of varying shades of yellow set against a blue background, partly obscured by a small white cloud. The new version swaps the blue background for white, brightens the centre of the sun and gives the lower rays a deeper red tone. The white backdrop makes the icon easier to pick out on the home screen.
The Recorder app icon has also been reworked. The current design shows white waveforms against a red background, while the new look reverses those colours, presenting red waveforms on a white background. Further Pixel-exclusive apps set for a makeover include Pixel Camera, Calculator and Clock.
Camera and Calculator get new looks
The Pixel Camera icon retains a similar camera design but adds a gradient blue element intended to represent how AI and machine learning have long been integrated into the Pixel camera and the phone’s computational photography. In its early years, Google managed strong results with a single 12MP camera thanks to AI processing, helping the Pixel handsets earn a reputation for one of the best smartphone photography systems.
The Calculator icon has changed as well. The older design featured a circle divided into four quarters, with a white minus sign over a light grey backing, a white multiplication sign against a black background, a white plus sign against a lighter black background and a white equal sign on a blue background. The redesigned version keeps the four symbols within individual circles, with three of them, the plus, minus and multiplication signs, now presented separately.
The changes vary in scale, with some far more subtle than others, though the differences remain noticeable across the affected applications. The updated icons accompany Google’s latest hardware line-up, which includes the Pixel 11 series, the Pixel Watch 5 and the Pixel Tag trackers.
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Image: phonearena.com
