The new app icons are horrific and poorly designed

[TheDailyApple]

I guess I’m in the minority, but I really like the messages and FaceTime icons. I also love most of the app icons with 3D elements overhanging. I do agree that the QuickTime icon is trash, it looks like they just added a background and called it a day.

The biggest thing I don’t like is the larger sliders (looking at you volume and brightness) and the fact that elements like menus and the dock take up more space than needed. It’s a pointer based OS for crying out loud, not a touch one. I also think that the pinned conversations in the messages so should be smaller. (Around the same size as the profile photos for the remaining conversations.)

 

[kasei]

I am happy this is a beta and not the GM. There is still time to change the UI.

 

[tranceking26]

Nope, these are the real icons, and nothing will change. You will see.

it’s atrocious.

Then somebody must develop an app that changes them back!

I don't think it's too late for Apple to, either. I imagine there will be a few more betas?

 

[llllllllll]

Looking at some of those made me literally cringe.

 

[Fusionskies]

They bothered to tweak the boot camp assistant app icon, hopefully it is a sign it'll still be around after the transition in some form.

 

[smorrissey]

Well what can i add? i haven't been able to see the itunes store cover albums for windows 10 since more than 1 year... Apple don't care Mocosoft either....so ugly icons are nothing compared to this issue.

 

[TinaBelcher]

RIGHT?!!! It looks like when you download a theme on your jailbroken iPhone, but the artist hasn't made icons for all the apps and the result is mixed with a costume themes and the stock ones... it's gross as hell! And there's no consistency, cause the folders and trash still has its natural shape. Can't we make a partition or something to make apple pull the plug on these iOS icons?

 

[Ankaa]

I don't like all of the new items and many will definitely need some getting used to, but overall I REALLY like the return to a more playful design. Call me nostalgic (and I really only joined the Apple world in 2007), but many of the commenters here seem to not have been mac users all that long.

I for one still miss the bubble scroll bar and buttons...

 

[StellarVixen]

Consistency, Apple, consistency. Have you forgot that?

If you introduce 3D elements, then keep the 3D look across the UI. Do not mix the 3D elements with flat ones.

This looks to me like very crude beta (and it probably is).

 

[flowrider]

Adobe changed (updated?) the Bridge icon last week, at the time I wondered why. Now I know 🧐 Even the app folder changed.

Lou

 

[aibo82]

Now you only need to count to six for you to use them macOS tricks!

six things to tap throughout your day, to help you work rest and play!

And every one will love to touch a smile bar with haptic touch!

 

[bjrh]

I'm not used to writing here. I'm a UI/UX designer and I'm absolutely afraid of the quality of the interfaces to come because of the choices made on these icons and other elements of the interface.

This may not matter much to some people and yet, if some important members of the software design team are poor designers, we can only expect poor choices for the future of Apple's design.

There must be a lot of tension in the design team right now. It can't be otherwise.

These are objectively poor choices.

 

[KALLT]

The good news is at least that changing Dock icons (or more generally app icons for that matter) can be changed easily without any permanent modifications.

 

[Jasoco]

Screenshot is an app now? WTF?

It’s just a shortcut to the screenshot key combo introduced in 10.15. (And has been there since 10.15) Press Command+Shift+5 and you get really nice controls for taking screenshots of whatever you need to. It’s as much an app as Launchpad and Mission Control’s apps are. In that they’re just shortcuts to system commands. It replaced Grab.app and is much more useful.

 

[Glime]

Personally if Apple would stick to the flat+gradient icons, the whole system looks cleaner.

Something like this, same look as the music and news app.

 

[KoolAid-Drink]

It’s just a shortcut to the screenshot key combo introduced in 10.15. (And has been there since 10.15) Press Command+Shift+5 and you get really nice controls for taking screenshots of whatever you need to. It’s as much an app as Launchpad and Mission Control’s apps are. In that they’re just shortcuts to system commands. It replaced Grab.app and is much more useful.

Minor correction - Screenshot replaced Grab.app in 10.14 (Mojave), not 10.15. Otherwise, yes, it’s a shortcut.

 

[techno-Zen]

I like the idea of returning to a modern skeuomorphism but they've missed the mark on many of these.

 

[StellarVixen]

When Apple moved from 3D to flat look, people were mad.

Now that Apple is moving back to 3D look, people are mad again.



you people don’t know what you want.

 

[ZeChild]

Been using this for a day now and it's just jarring, there's no consistent design language across all the app icons, half of me's worried this is the way it's going to stay the other half thinks this might just be one hell of a bait and switch for new icons they might have planned for the release. God I hope it's the latter 😭

 

[hawkeye_a]

*sigh*....
I actually miss "Aqua", with the soft-shadows, textured-transparency, and the 3-dimensional buttons

 

[Konigi]

We're all here talking about icons but what about the default wallpaper, seriously.

They used to be more inspired. Now it looks like the background on an old iOS that no one uses except grandparents.

hopefully if the whole community complains they'll polish it all a little bit.

 

[baryon]

Damn, some of these are absolutely terrible. Getting MSN Messenger vibes from 2004.

 

[aibo82]

We're all here talking about icons but what about the default wallpaper, seriously.

They used to be more inspired. Now it looks like the background on an old iOS that no one uses except grandparents.

hopefully if the whole community complains they'll polish it all a little bit.

did you see the other one you can colour in youself? And when you do you get a apple sticker in the post... yay!

On a serious note yes it’s horrible And the Mac for me is dying slowly, we will all have a battery with glass panel soon connected to the cloud for everything and no ports.

this Apple fanboy is losing his fan

 

[symphony]

I hate to say it guys, but it grew on me.

Messages looks pretty nice. The text on the Mail’s envelope is still out of place. The shading on the App Store popsicle stock is too much. Same with Stocks. Most utility apps needs a better icon.

But QuickTime, Photos, Finder, Safari, Messages, etc looks great.

 

[hanske68]

Thou shalt surrender.