C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
TL;DR
- The first Android 15 QPR2 beta hints that Google will bring back icon shape customization.
- Google used to let Pixel users customize the icon shape in Android 11, but this feature was removed in Android 12.
- Icon shape customization doesn’t currently work in Android 15 QPR2 Beta 1, though, so the feature may be quite a bit away.
One of the best things about the Android operating system is how customizable it is. If you don’t like the stock launcher app on your phone, then you can pick from many other Android home screen launchers available on the Play Store. Most people, though, stick with the default launcher, which on Pixel phones is the Pixel Launcher. A few years ago, the Pixel Launcher had a feature that let you customize the font, design, accent color, and shape of icons of your home screen, but Google got rid of some of these when it simplified Android’s customization options. Fortunately, Google is looking to at least bring back icon shape customization in the next quarterly platform release of Android 15.
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Tipster Nail Sadykov discovered that the in-development version of the Pixel wallpaper app (AKA Wallpaper & Style) now contains a new “app shape & layout” menu in Android 15 QPR2 Beta 1. This menu has two tabs: Shape and Layout. The Layout tab has the familiar options for changing the layout of the home screen grid, while the Shape tab has six different options for changing the shape of home screen icons. Here’s an image of the new “app shape & layout” menu that we managed to surface on our own Pixel phone running the beta:
Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
Unfortunately, this feature doesn’t work at the moment in Android 15 QPR2 Beta 1. This is likely because the build is missing the runtime resource overlays (RROs) that would actually change the icon shape. Android 11 also used RROs to change the icon shape, but Google removed them in Android 12 when it simplified customization around Material You.
Given how minor of a change this is, I don’t think Google has to hold onto it for next year’s Android 16 release. However, it’s possible that it will do that anyway, since the in-development version of the Pixel wallpaper app is still far from finished. In the meantime, if you want to change app icons on your Pixel phone right now, you’ll need to install a third-party launcher or icon pack.