For Android app developers that have been slow to adopt Google’s push for themed app icons, there’s no longer a choice. Google updated its Play Store policy today, now requiring developers to legally grant users the right to modify an app’s icon colors. For users, this is a win. On the other hand, brands lose the ability to stand out on a user’s home screen.
Introduced in Android 16 QPR2 Beta 1, users can apply a tint to all app icons, which helps provide a more complete home screen appearance. Before this, when some apps wouldn’t support a custom icon, it could make a home screen look quite terrible. With the change to Google Play’s legalese, if a developer wants to distribute their application, they’ll need to grant this right to users.
You grant to the user a nonexclusive, worldwide, and perpetual license to perform, modify color of, or add themes to, your Product icons, display (including with the color and theme modifications), and use the Product.
This change takes effect today for new accounts and all existing accounts on October 15. There are a few apps I have my eye on, so as a user, this is great news.
This is good for people who want it, but personally, I like having the icons in different colors. It's easier to distinguish between apps.
I can't stand themed icons anyway. Google already made it impossible to tell their own apps apart at a glance by making all of the icons some variation of red, yellow, green, and blue lines; themed icons do the same to every app.
I feel this could easily be fixed on OS side by just applying a color filter on top of any of the icons.
On a side note I really wish they would limit changes to app NAMES from being changed, I dont care what the icon is but adding characters to the beginning of the app name to jump up to the first or last spot on my apps drawer is annoying.
About time. I get tired of having that one slot on my home screen row reserved for suggested icon and it is a different color from the rest of the static icons in that row half the time ruining the look. They should have done this a long time ago because really its not that big of a deal for a developer, its just laziness. They still get to keep their marketing colors in the app drawer
No, this is terrible news. They should have just supported the established standard of icon packs. Instead we got this pale imitation called "themed icons' which does not look nearly as good as a proper icon pack. Also, if you want to know why devs were/are hesitant to support themed icons, just look at what Google did with icon shapes. They introduced it, also tried to force devs to support them and one (possibly two) Android versions later the entire idea was abandoned (while at the same time claiming that that Android version was the most customisable they had ever created). Absolutely pathetic and naive of websites like this one to support Google in bullying developers.
I was disappointed this wasn't included in this month's release with all the new UI goodies. Glad it's finally coming soon. 4 apps on my homescreen still aren't themed, so really looking forward to it.