Is it too bad or good? On Friday, Google joined in on the fun with a disco ball icon popping up everywhere on the home screen. After Spotify’s temporary new disco ball app icon, released to celebrate the company’s 20th anniversary, sparked widespread online backlash (and even some praise from those who like a bit of kitsch!), Google decided to get in on the joke and released a set of custom Android app icons sporting a similar disco ball theme.
Sameer Samat, Head of Android Ecosystem at
His post included a screenshot of a Pixel phone fully decked out in shiny disco ball-inspired icons. It looks as scary as it sounds (unbelievable, right??).
The new icons are available through Pixel’s relatively new custom icon feature, which allows users to choose from a variety of AI-generated styles for their app icons. Previously, users could only customize the icons by changing the colors to match their phone’s wallpaper and theme.
The Custom Icons feature, which launched in March with Pixel Drop (Google’s term for regular feature updates to Pixel phones), introduces app icon templates such as a hand-drawn “Scribbles” aesthetic, a gold shape called “Treasure,” a colorful, painted style called “Easel,” and more.
Earlier this week, Samat jokingly tweeted, “Should we implement this icon pack on Android?” It turned into a disco ball with a Chrome icon.
It’s stupid, but Google actually made it happen.
Many people complained that the Spotify icon was ugly, and the company reminded them that it was only a temporary issue. “Okay, we know glitter isn’t for everyone,” the streamer wrote.
Google doesn’t seem to agree. As off-brand as the disco-themed icon is, there’s something clever about turning your entire home screen into a landscape of shiny little apps. (And in case you missed it, Zillennials are really into whimsy right now, reports the New York Times, describing their “playful response to a difficult world.”)
Race Johsnon, an Another said: “Oh my God this is horrible. I’ll handle it!”
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