Google’s new gradient icon design is coming to more apps
In late 2025, Google started rolling out new icons with a gradient design. Now it seems the new look is coming to the rest of Google’s apps. 9to5Google got its hands on images of the new icons that ditch the uniform circle design that tries to cram in every color of the Google logo.
In general, the looks are softer. Corners are rounder, the gradients gently transition from almost pastel to the more saturated Google primary colors. We’ve already seen this new design language show in updated versions of the Google G logo, as well as Gemini, Photos, and Maps. According to 9to5, this represents the presence of AI-powered features.
The new icons are more playful, vibrant, and varied, reflecting recent design trends that have moved away from the flat looks of the late 2010s and early 2020s. Google Sheets, Slides, Forms, Sites, and Keep all ditch the portrait-oriented sheet of paper look. Many of them shift to landscape layout, which is much more appropriate — when is the last time you saw a vertical PowerPoint presentation?
Most of the icons feel like an improvement. They’re more visually distinct and often embrace a single color, like Chat, which trades the four-color speech bubble outline for a green blob with a smile inside it that feels reminiscent of Google Hangouts icon. The one exception is the Keep icon which, personal opinion, looks like hot trash.
It’s not clear when the new look icons will start rolling out, but it will probably be sooner than later.
In late 2025, Google started rolling out new icons with a gradient design. Now it seems the new look is coming to the rest of Google’s apps. 9to5Google got its hands on images of the new icons that ditch the uniform circle design that tries to cram in every color…
Recent Posts
- WiiM expands its whole-home ecosystem with a new soundbar
- You can make the hyper-violence in Marvel’s Wolverine more PG-13, if you want to
- Best Buy launches a huge Sonos sale ahead of the World Cup — here are the 7 top-rated soundbars and speakers I’d buy
- Nvidia is already planning N2X and N3X chips — the goal is the Star Trek computer
- A British MP is suing to see if xAI is legally responsible for the images Grok produces
Archives
- June 2026
- May 2026
- April 2026
- March 2026
- February 2026
- January 2026
- December 2025
- November 2025
- October 2025
- September 2025
- August 2025
- July 2025
- June 2025
- May 2025
- April 2025
- March 2025
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023