Dave DeLong

Every time I look at my Dock and just see squircle after squircle after squircle ... I get a little sad inside.

Mac app icons used to have so much character and individuality. They feel so … blasé now.

(The apps are great! I'm not trying to speak ill of any of the apps. I'm just sad that this is the direction people have gone with icon design)

Feb 3, 2023 at 12:07amWeb
Show threadPhil AmourFeb 3, 2023
@davedelong It's not just the shape but what's inside of it as well. For example Apple's stock icons are just not very good. You should check out some of the icons @matthewskiles and @gn have been designing - amazing stuff and lots of personality!
Show threadMatthew SkilesFeb 3, 2023

@phil @davedelong @gn I definitely agree it's not the squircle that's the problem.

I'd say it's really just down to a design style trend that one day will shift again. There's nothing stopping apps from having super fun personality in their app icon and still being a good neighborhood in the dock or on iOS at the same time.

Show threadUli Kusterer (Not a kitteh)Feb 3, 2023
@davedelong You really find it such a big issue? For me, the squircles end up kind of like button borders, fading into the background. The symbols on these squircles still are fairly unique to me.
Show threadAndy Pease Feb 3, 2023
@davedelong And may I say, while I freely (borderline happily) use Freeform on Mac and iPad, that app has got to have one of the fugliest icons I have ever been subjected to in all my years.
Show threadAlbert Kinng Feb 3, 2023
@davedelong at the same time when I see this mess on my dock I feel something is wrong. If you have now a new icon standard please enforce it! https://share.cleanshot.com/tTv7sk3r
Albertkinng Screenshot - 02-03-2023

CleanShot Cloud
Show threadisaiahFeb 3, 2023

@davedelong i knew when apple showed off all their redesigned bland-ified app icons a few years ago that it was only a matter of time.

it’s so sad. these things are so predictable, so easily avoided, and so harmful to the platform. what could possibly be the motivation for it? i’ll never understand the strategic direction of macOS these days. 😔

Show threadNick LockwoodFeb 3, 2023

@isaiah @davedelong I suspect at least part of the motivation was so that iOS apps running on the new M1 machines would look less out of place.

Or maybe it's just part of the general merger of iOS/macOS UI paradigms that's either Apple's last ditch attempt to prevent the death of native Mac software or (depending who you ask) the final nail in its coffin.

Show threadMike RockwellFeb 3, 2023

@davedelong @Eggfreckles I use Replaceicon to swap out the boring ones for more interesting options — usually just the app’s icon from a few years ago.

https://replacicon.app/

Replacicon - Find, change, and replace app icons to match macOS Big Sur and Monterey

Replacicon makes it easy to find and replace app icons on the Mac. It scans online sources containing thousands of replacement app icons for each of your installed macOS apps.

Show threadtambourinemanFeb 3, 2023

@davedelong aside from lack of personality, it’s also way harder to differentiate apps at a glance.

A pen and sheet, a CD, a compass, a post stamp… very different overall shapes and edges. Now everything is trapped inside the squircle.

Show threadBryan IraceFeb 3, 2023
@davedelong Couldn’t agree more
Show threadRey Feb 3, 2023
@davedelong the "Music.app or Bugtracker" game >.< this is my own personal "which way does the USB plug go in the hole?" >.<
Show threadsanguishFeb 3, 2023
@nothe @davedelong I put a big dot in enamel sharpie on the top side of USB-A cables
Show threadsanguishFeb 3, 2023

@nothe @davedelong also I have a line of sharpie above each of the ports on my laptop.

I’d love if Apple put a subtle laser etch. Or someone would give me a laser.

Show threadRey Feb 3, 2023
@sanguish hrm, maybe not the last one... :P
Show threadsanguishFeb 3, 2023
@nothe @davedelong my sharpie lines
Show threadRey Feb 3, 2023
@sanguish oooh I didn't expect the yellow!!
Show threadAndrew AbernathyFeb 3, 2023
@sanguish Oh, now I understand what you were saying. I don't use the ports for peripherals often, but finding the port for charging was annoying me enough that I put a bit of post-it tape on the lid above the port. Much more unattractive, but easy to remove.
Show threadsanguishFeb 3, 2023

@andrewabernathy I charge with the usb-c port, so I’m constantly hunting for it.

Tape is a good solution, but this is my work laptop, so 🤷

Show threadBrendan@TapForms 🇨🇦Feb 3, 2023
@davedelong Interesting. It seems like Xcode is the only app that eschews what I think should be a modern looking Mac app icon with the realism of the hammer extending outside the squircle.
Show threadMichael RoitzschFeb 3, 2023
@davedelong Indeed, I celebrate every app icon with elements that break out of the basic shape. But most icon designs just slap the squircle as background behind whatever. That’s boring.
Show threadWil ShipleyFeb 3, 2023
@davedelong
Show threadJeff C. 🇺🇦🇬🇱Feb 3, 2023
@wjs @davedelong 😢
Show threadCory SullivanFeb 3, 2023
@wjs wow that’s beautiful 🤩
Show threadKelly GuimontFeb 4, 2023
@wjs @davedelong oh Delicious how I miss you. Frequently and in abundance.
Show threadisaiahFeb 4, 2023

@wjs @davedelong

oh god. that was *so* amazing. this is the stuff that made me want to be an i die dev!!!!

we all took a wrong turn somewhere. how did we get to this… this… least attractive timeline?

we were once a handsome nation.

Show threadSörenFeb 4, 2023

@isaiah @wjs @davedelong early-era Mac OS X certainly had some gorgeous icons, both from Apple and third parties. (Some big ones, too — Photoshop 7 had a pretty one.)

I think it’s a combination of

• design fads come and go
• it went too far in one direction (I personally thought the Leopard Dock was overdone, and iOS 6 was ugly; I also didn’t care for the design of apps like… Disco? That disc burning thing)
• Zune/WinPhone7 started a flat design trend that took over
• flat design is easier

Show threadSörenFeb 4, 2023

@isaiah @wjs @davedelong for example, something like SF Symbols gets most devs’ needs 80% of the way there in terms of toolbar icons, etc.

*And* they’re scalable, so you get Retina for free as well.

Show threadisaiahFeb 5, 2023

@chucker if the industry is leaning too far in one direction or the other then i prefer the carefully designed fad instead of todays generic icon with zero chrome fad.

the lack of individuality is too dull for me. even if things are simple or even austere i enjoy a bit of uniqueness.

Ivory for example has a very unique icon style. But that much attention to detail seems rare now.

Show threadThe Redcaps Podcast (Prime)Feb 4, 2023
I'd kinda like those to be real life books.
Show threadKlaus MatzkaFeb 3, 2023
@davedelong Even look at Apple’s own Freeform App icon. Isn’t it awful? Looks like a carelessly put together proof of concept type of app icon.
Show threadAl O ConnorFeb 3, 2023

@davedelong

Its a real pity. I would imagine that designers would really appreciate more creative freedom.

Show threadFabienFeb 3, 2023
@davedelong @nicklockwood largely an apple push…
I do miss icon shaped as ducks, trucks, traffic cones… was much easier to quickly recognise.
Show threadJeffy 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🇺🇦 ❤️🇱🇺Feb 3, 2023

@davedelong I just booted an old iMac into High Sierra and had that same feeling. And It's even normalized out quite a bit from older MacOS X versions. I remember the guidelines calling for different shapes to make the bar items easier to distinguish/separate visibly.

And now? SF Symbols.

Show threadAlexFeb 3, 2023
@davedelong @jeff I’m still pretty sad about The Great Flattening™ as a whole. 😞
Show threadKuba SuderFeb 3, 2023
@davedelong to be fair, pre-BigSur the majority of icons still fell into a couple of different shape categories (vertical rectangle, circle etc.… there were a lot of circles). But yeah, I know what you mean, I miss the old style, and there were some unique icons too.
Show threadMarioFeb 3, 2023
@davedelong It’s not just sad… it’s also very uncomfortable. I used to be able to differentiate apps at a glance and now they are so similar that it takes a little more effort to find the one you’re looking for 🤷‍♂️
Show threadChris WagnerFeb 4, 2023
@davedelong when I came over from windows ~2008 it was one of my favorite things, all the detail in icons