Google adds disco ball style app icons to Pixel phones

In short: Google says Pixel users can now switch their app icons to a disco ball style.

The details

Google has released a new “disco ball” look for app icons on Pixel phones. App icons are the small pictures you tap to open apps, like Chrome or Maps. With this option turned on, many icons on your home screen can look shiny and sparkly, similar to a disco ball.

Sameer Samat, who leads Google’s Android ecosystem work, announced the change on X. He wrote that “Disco icons” are available on Pixel “as of today,” and added, “Are y’all sure you still want this?” His post included a screenshot showing a Pixel home screen covered in the glittery icon style.

Google is offering the icons through Pixel’s custom icons feature. This feature lets people pick different styles for their icons, including styles made with AI (a computer system that generates things, like a filter that can redraw your icons in a certain theme). Google introduced custom icon templates in a March Pixel Drop, which is Google’s name for its regular feature updates for Pixel phones.

The timing follows online discussion about Spotify’s temporary disco ball icon, which Spotify released for its 20th anniversary and later defended as a short-term change.

Source: TechCrunch AI