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macOS Tahoe's Terrible Icons (onefoottsunami.com) 44

Posted by msmash from the my-way-or-highway dept.
An anonymous reader shares a report: On the new MacOS 26 (Tahoe), Apple has mandated that all application icons fit into their prescribed squircle. No longer can icons have distinct shapes, nor even any fun frame-breaking accessories. Should an icon be so foolish as to try to have a bit of personality, it will find itself stuffed into a dingy gray icon jail.

[...] While Apple had previously urged developers to use squircle icons on our apps, they've now taken things much further to ensure compliance. It's a shame. Apple updated their own app icons on Tahoe, for both the squircle shape as well as the new "Liquid Glass" interface. Mostly, these icons seem dumbed-down, with a loss of detail.
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macOS Tahoe's Terrible Icons

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  • The designer Microsoft used for the new Office icons made everything look like a fist making a, uh, barescent skor motion.

  • 32 x 32 x 1 bit left a lot of room for creativity (Score:3, Informative)

    by davidwr ( 791652 ) on Friday November 07, 2025 @02:51PM (#65780762) Homepage Journal

    Remember [macintoshrepository.org] these [amazonaws.com]?

  • I haven't used macos in awhile, but their icons always seemed to be a bit amateurish or juvenile to me. It seemed like they were trying to make them cool and different but not quite pulling it off.
    • These icons look a lot more professional to me.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dbialac ( 320955 )
      These new ones are terrible as are the ones that Jony Ive did to MacOS. The pre-Ive ones were beautiful to look at.
      • That's the problem with UI and UX designers. Even when something is already good they're looking to change it to something else if for no reason other than for the sake of change itself. Design something good and leave it the hell alone. The icons can change when there's a major revision to the OS. Otherwise it's pointless wankery.

        I can't think of one meaningful change Apple or Microsoft have made to the look and feel of their respective operating systems over the last two decades that was absolutely nec

      • I agree. Jony Ive never persuaded me that flat is better. It just makes it look more Android which is an inferior OS.

    • I think you didnâ(TM)t know how to enlarge them. macOS icons have been amazing until now.

  • Kind of ugly and dumb. I miss the wilder side of computing, back when we were rebelling against mainframe business culture.

  • I love to hate on macs but this isn't terrible at all. The old and new icons are both quite clear and their purpose is most always understandable 'except for the two window icons replaced by an right-pointing arrow, I have no clear idea what either that could be doing), supported by shape and colours (though a more intense contrast could be desirable). These are icons I would enjoy using instead of the current "flat design" trend that exists elsewhere, for example the Breeze style in KDE which is what I wou

    • Some are ok, most seem though to have lost their meaning though to me.
      The Safari icon looks less professional, a little too "flat" and small.
      The Image Playground is terrible either way.
      Photo Booth now looks like it's for printing images, I would never have guessed it's true usage.
      Automator looks like no one knew what it was for, and decided to make it some retro-futuristic 60's TV. At least a full robot kinda made sense.
      The Calendar lost it's meaning. I get that it's a calendar but changing it to a list of

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by haruchai ( 17472 )

        what's wrong with choice? if Apple wants to have system icons looks a certain way, fine but i sometimes want my UI to look a certain way , not Tim Apple's way

        • Choice is great and I highly encourage it. But there is no choice here, it's Apple's way or nothing.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by dgatwood ( 11270 )

      I love to hate on macs but this isn't terrible at all. The old and new icons are both quite clear and their purpose is most always understandable 'except for the two window icons replaced by an right-pointing arrow, I have no clear idea what either that could be doing), supported by shape and colours (though a more intense contrast could be desirable). These are icons I would enjoy using instead of the current "flat design" trend that exists elsewhere, for example the Breeze style in KDE which is what I would call terrible.

      The real problem with requiring icons to be a specific shape is that it makes apps harder to recognize. Just look at how much confusion Google's icon rebranding has been, with every icon looking a lot like a multicolored square, and you'll understand what I mean. Now imagine every app icon on an entire operating system being a rounded square.

    • These are icons I would enjoy using instead of the current "flat design" trend that exists elsewhere, for example the Breeze style in KDE which is what I would call terrible.

      I think it's more to the point that if you don't enjoy using KDE icons, you can change them to whatever you want. If you don't enjoy using Tahoe's, tough shit, we know what you should enjoy

    • I think you missed the point. Previously icons could be any shape. Now they must be a squircle. If they arenâ(TM)t a squircel, Apple automatically makes them a lame squircel. In no way does this make the OS better.

  • Maybe I'm just an old grump, but I don't much care what shape my icons are, what colour they are, etc. it's just a picture for launching an application.

    I have the latest OS on my Mac. I certainly have not noted any issues with the icons creating difficulty using the computer.

    Is it the slow news day item that this appears to be or am I missing something important?

  • That's what happens when you try to unify desktop and mobile interfaces to save time and money. Desktop and mobile are two separate platforms and deserve separate controls.

    • iOS 26, MacOs26,... are pretty obvious unifications towards future AR-use. e.g. some UI elements are not allowed to go from edge to edge but have to stand on their own.

  • A choice of desktop UI would be nice (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Would be "nice" if Apple designed their systems to offer choice by the customer on what desktop environment they'd like to use. Linux offers Gnome, KDE Plasma, etc.

    The notion of "stacks" was introduced to help with desktop clutter, but it remains unevolved -- you can't decide "where" on the desktop you'd like your stacks to sit.

    It's as if Apple development is fragmented, missing out on a better a UX, pushing out new styles, elements and tech, often without thinking it through, because they think they know

  • cue some enterprising developer hoping yo make a name for him/her-self making a FOSS to extract the old Icons from online installers and re-implementing them under coarse and fine grained control of the user in 3... 2... 1...

  • Apple software quality gone down the drain (Score:3)

    by bubblyceiling ( 7940768 ) on Friday November 07, 2025 @03:32PM (#65780852)
    Think Iâ(TM)ll skip Tahoe. Already regretting installing iOS 26. The liquid glass look is horrible
  • a playskool feel to it.
    • That's why it has become more popular. Computers used to only be used by, erm, a slightly smarter segment of people. Now it's a necessity for everyone and the interface reflects that.

      Anyway back to the bashing:
      -Do their mice have two buttons yet?

      • I'm glad there is only one button.

        I hate two button mice and always having to try to remember which button does what. Seems like I always pick the wrong damned one.

  • I am using... (Score:4, Informative)

    by joshuark ( 6549270 ) on Friday November 07, 2025 @04:38PM (#65781006)

    I am using more non-Mac apps, like Adobe Acrobat Reader instead of Preview, as the rounded corners or PDF documents are like fingernails across a chalkboard for me visually.

    I prefer documents to have sharp, right angle corners. The rounded corners are akin to some "safety" feature so I don't get a paper cut...and then sue Apple.

    JoshK.

  • ...design has become a shit show since they introduced the liquid glass stuff.

  • When I compare the icons on my Mac vs Windows vs Fedora I find that Windows is my least favorite due to the small size (for some reason Windows only allows larger icons if you are running huge scaling), my favorite is Mac OS due to the consistency and size, and Gnome on Fedora Linux comes in a solid second. Windows is the ugliest OS overall of the three in my opinion.
  • File theirs as change for change sake. The new Libreoffice icons were terrible. They gave people every choice--but to keep what worked.

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