Mastodawn

Justin Scholz 2d ago

Amen! https://weblog.rogueamoeba.com/2026/06/26/free-the-icons/

Squircle Jail is the worst design-related thing Apple has ever done to Mac developers, and probably the worst icon-related thing it has ever done, period. Incredibly developer-hostile.

If squircled icons are actually better, then let that design win in the market. That's how we transitioned from the classic Mac OS icon style to the more photorealistic Mac OS X icon style. Developers adopted it because they wanted to, and because users desired it.

Free The Icons

Apple should end their prohibition on shapes in MacOS app icons

𝕾 Simon Lou 3d ago

@siracusa Yes, yes, yes!

Right now, we can still break the jail, like I do with my app @billy when starting the app, but I fear we will lose that soon too.

@siracusa it’s so ugly and jarring. Look the current VLC icon on Tahoe.. it’s a travesty!

Thomas P. Moonis 3d ago

@siracusa At its heart Apple is a dictatorship. Whether it's a benevolent one or not is up to each individual to determine.

NMDoerner 3d ago

Resist! #BugFest

My NeoFinder has no squircle hell, and even a cool launch animation.

Eat this, Apple! 😂

https://techhub.social/@cdfinder/115943803759314001

John Siracusa 3d ago

@cdfinder Sadly, apps in the Mac App Store can’t use the APIs that let you change the icon shown in the Finder (and the Dock when an app is not running).

NMDoerner 3d ago

One of the many many reasons the Apple Mac App Store is so bad, and unusable for serious applications like NeoFinder 🤗

Ged Maheux 3d ago

@siracusa this is all because Apple wanted to create a single tool to create universal app icons for both platforms. It’s lazy and hostile.

Rob Fahrni 3d ago

@gedeonm @siracusa Hopefully they’ll come back around. If they want everything to be the same, fine, do it for your stuff.

Designers and Developers should be allowed to be as creative as they want in the allowed space.

Some of the old icons are so beautiful and creative. Let’s get them back!

Amethyst 🌸3d ago

@gedeonm @siracusa so give me non squircle icons on iOS too please!

Ryan Booker 3d ago

@gedeonm @siracusa more importantly, they’re objectively worse at being icons.

Kool Mo Di 3d ago

@gedeonm @siracusa Squircle icons on iOS make more sense because it’s a touch-based UI, to enforce it on the Mac is so dumb!

John Siracusa 3d ago

@kmck @gedeonm Touch Macs are coming, but the activation area of an icon is independent of its visual appearance.

@siracusa I've noticed and bemoaned a similar design regression in Android, back around the release of Material You. I miss interesting icons with unique silhouettes.

Leon Mika 3d ago

@siracusa I saw my first icon in Squircle Jail the other day and it really is a brutal punishment.

@siracusa hear hear!! Shapes are more easily recognizable than colors