Google Tries to Out-Disco Spotify with Sparkly App Icons

Google has joined the disco ball icon fun, introducing a custom set of AI-generated app icons on Pixel phones.

The new icons are available through Pixel's custom icons feature, which allows users to choose from different styles for their app icons. Before this, users could only customize their icons by changing their colors to match the phone's wallpaper and theme.

Google's disco-themed icons are a playful take on the usual app icon styles, but not everyone is a fan. Spotify faced a similar backlash earlier this month when it released a temporary disco ball app icon to celebrate its 20th anniversary. However, Google seems to be embracing the whimsy, with Android ecosystem head Sameer Samat tweeting, "Your wish is our command. Disco icons available on Pixel as of today... Are y'all sure you still want this?"

The custom icons feature rolled out in March's Pixel Drop, introducing app icon templates like a hand-drawn "Scribbles" aesthetic, a gold look called "Treasure," a colorful, painted style dubbed "Easel," and others. Earlier this week, Samat had jokingly tweeted, "Should we make this icon pack happen on Android?" alongside a Chrome icon turned into a disco ball.

Silly as it may be, Google actually made it happen. Many people had complained about the Spotify icon, calling it ugly, prompting the company to remind them it was just a temporary sitch. "Alright, we know glitter is not for everyone," the streamer wrote.

Google, seemingly, disagrees. As off-brand as its disco-themed icons are, there's also something whimsical about turning your whole homescreen into a sparkly landscape of little apps. (And, in case you missed it, the Zillennials are really into whimsy right now, The New York Times reports, describing their "playful response to a difficult world.")

Upon seeing Google's release, X user and former Pixly co-founder Race Johnson quipped, "When your home screen gets bottle service." Said another, "Omg it's awful. I'll take it!"