The limitations on icon shape customization with stock Android often necessitate the use of third-party tools or specific launchers. Google is actively working on an updated Pixel Wallpaper app set to introduce more customization features in Android 16.
However, the customization of icon shapes will be confined to the home screen, app drawer, and folder icons, leaving the recent apps and settings menus unaffected. Customization is a key feature that attracts many users to Android.
Regardless of the device, users have the freedom to select a launcher that best fits their style, incorporate an icon pack, and set up custom widgets. This extent of personalization was significantly expanded with the Material You redesign initiated in Android 12, and recent developments indicate that icon shape customization could soon be on the horizon.
Currently, stock Android allows for icon shape customization only through the installation of custom icon pack generators like Icon Pack Studio from Smart Launcher. Alternatively, users can leverage options provided by popular launchers such as Nova and Lawnchair from the Play Store.
Some custom ROMs, including Samsung’s One UI and OnePlus’ OxygenOS, offer basic options like round, square, and squircle shapes. However, Google’s stock version still does not provide these functionalities.
Since August last year, Google has been refining the Pixel Wallpaper app to consolidate its home screen customization capabilities. According to Android expert Mishaal Rahman, he successfully activated the new App shape & layout menu in the latest Android 16 beta, allowing adjustments to the home screen grid size and access to six preset icon shapes.
These shape options include circle, square, four-sided cookie, seven-sided cookie, arch, and complex clover, providing a diverse mix of rounded and geometric choices. Despite the progress, icon size customization remains unavailable, and the selected shapes only impact the home screen, app drawer, and folder icons, with recent apps and settings maintaining the default circular design.
Although this isn’t the first time stock Android has experimented with icon shapes—previous options were available until Android 11—the timeline for the rollout of these new features with Android 16 remains uncertain.
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