In addition to presenting a A handful of Messages featuresGoogle is rolling out new icons for the SMS/RCS app, as well as Phone and Contacts.
Update 10/22: Version 3.79.25.482243121 of Google Contacts introduces the new application icon. It is quite simple, without shadows and with a white background. The Theme icon is a bit more interesting and simplifies the ‘body’ design. It feels more distinctive than the previous version.
This update has not yet been widely deployed. via Play Storewhile the Google Phone app is next and presumably taking advantage of its beta program.
Update 10/21Note: Google is already rolling out the new Messages icon with version message.android_20221018_01_RC00.phone.openbeta_dynamic. It’s also available on Wear OS, and you can sign up for that beta here.
As expected, the blue icon is placed on a light background that is unremarkable. There’s no animated home screen, which even features Google Chat, and the animation seen in Google’s promotional video doesn’t appear today.
Meanwhile, the theme icon is better and somewhat more recognizable even with its simplified logo.
genuine 10/20: These three icons continue to share the same style to convey that they are part of the same family of applications responsible for communication. The message bubble overlay is the key motif here to represent how text messages (and calls) involve at least two participants. This is similar to the green Google Chat logo.
A darker blue is used where that overlap occurs, while there are also two other shades of lighter blues in use. As a result, there’s a false sense of depth derived from the shadow, a rarity in modern Google iconography.
In the case of the Google Messages icon (and to ensure continuity and user familiarity), blue also represents the default bubble color for RCS (Rich Communication Services). It is a recognizable icon, but the overlapping part, especially in the lower left and upper right, results in a somewhat imprecise and messy appearance.
Google phone, messages and contacts
Meanwhile, the new Google Phone app icon looks pretty good, while Contacts is pretty straightforward, though the lighter shades of blue look like arms rather than what’s supposedly intended (people side by side).
Compared to the current icon set, these icons may stand out less if placed on a light background instead of dark blue. In general, they are less realistic and more stylized.
Google says these icons are meant to fit in with other apps of its own and “each one is designed to fit Material You Themes.” There is certainly the flatness and the lack of shadows as seen in the Workspace Icons. Yet another comparison is to the YouTube icon family and its minimal color palette.
the new google Telephone, MessagesY contacts The icons will be implemented in the coming weeks.
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