Google’s vastly improved app icons are now rolling out

About five years ago, Google redesigned the icons of most of its apps and services, including widely used tools like Drive, Meet, Calendar, etc. The Internet response has not been positive, and for good reason. Many have rightly pointed out that Google has removed the individual characteristics of its icons, replacing them with an outline consisting of the company’s four signature colors. If you look closely, you’ll recognize the outline of a document for Google Docs or a camera for Meet. But at first glance, the new icons were much harder to tell apart than the ones they replaced.

For the sake of readability, Google is changing course. It started with a more distinctive icon for Google Maps a few months ago, one that was deeper while still incorporating Google’s colors and the ubiquitous pin design. Then, a few weeks ago, 9to5Google revealed that a large-scale overhaul was underway. Now, one day before Google I/O, these redesigned icons are being rolled out.

The first place I noticed them was in my personal Gmail account; The “app switcher” at the top right revealed new designs across the board. These icons have not yet spread everywhere; clicking Drive or Calendar still shows the old ones. But a number of Google apps on my iPhone have also been updated with new icons. So it seems safe to say that a full-scale launch is in the works.

Personally, I’ve gotten used to the latest generation of icons, but there’s no doubt that these are major improvements that make it much easier to distinguish apps at a quick glance. These icons are also reminiscent of the redesigned 3D emoji that Google introduced last week as part of Android 17.

If you don’t see them yet, be patient: They showed up on my phone and multiple Google accounts, so it looks like the company is making a large-scale push. We’ll likely hear more about this at tomorrow’s I/O conference as well. We will livestream the keynote at 1 p.m. ET; join us, right?