Google degraded icon redesign begins rolling out

Following our report last month, Google is starting to roll out its gradient icon redesign for Workspace apps.

The first appearance of this major visual overhaul is in the web application launcher available on the vast majority of Google websites in the upper right corner and on Chrome’s New Tab page.

We see the new icons for Gmail, Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Calendar, Chat, Meet, Vids, Forms, Keep, Voice and Tasks.

Meanwhile, these icons appear in the upper left corner of some Google apps. So far, we’ve noticed them in Google Keep and on the home pages of Docs, Sheets, Slides, Vids, Forms, and Sites, although the favicons remain unchanged. Current publisher logos have not yet been updated.

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With this redesign, Google responds to criticism of its previous icon set. Everything is more distinct in terms of color and shape. The previous requirement to include the four company colors in icons has clearly disappeared for the majority of applications, with the sole exception of Gmail.

The Workspace page container has been removed for most apps to allow for larger, more unique icons. For a full icon comparison, be sure to read our original report.

Update: Gradient icons are now deployed on iOS.