Google Pixel Phones to Get AI-Powered Custom Icon Themes

Google is working on AI-powered custom icon themes for your Pixel phone

Code discovered in a recent update points to new "AI icon" and "Create" style options. Google Pixel devices offer many unique software features, but they lag behind when it comes to basic customization options, at least out of the box. For instance, to change your app icons, you have to ditch the stock Pixel Launcher -- and its excellent universal search bar -- for a third-party alternative. Fortunately, Google is working on a fix that could let you create custom icon themes using AI, finally improving home screen customization on Pixels.

Google Pixels may get a powerful new theming tool

Samsung just quietly released its best midrange smartphone Google Pixels lag a little behind the competition where customization options are concerned. While you can tweak some elements of your experience, all the best changes can only really be made with a custom launcher. Related 9 basic features that are still missing from Pixel Launcher after all these years It's clean, but way too limited Posts 4 Part of that may be coming to an end though, as Google seems to be working on AI-powered icon themes that will help your home page match whatever color theme you're going for. Google is experimenting with AI to fix a longstanding problem Google has been knocking at this particular door for a while now. At the moment, Pixel devices have the option to turn on " themed icons" in their Wallpaper settings menu. This tints app icons on your home page to match the dominant colors of your current wallpaper, and it's a handy little tool if you want to quickly match up your home page's style. However, this only works if an app developer has supplied a monochromatic version of their icon, which not every developer does, and that means your home page can end up looking like a jumble of matched icons and not. Google may have come up with a solution to this, and like everything else, it involves AI. Spotted in the latest Android Canary build by Android Authority, new strings in the code hint at the idea that AI could alter icons on the fly. Instead of a simple toggle for Themed Icons, there are now four options to pick from: Default -- which just shows the icons as they are. Minimal -- a monochromatic version of an icon. AI icon. Create. We've left the last two unexplained because, well, we don't know what they do. However, it's not a far shout to assume an "AI icon" would use AI to create a version of an icon to match your theme, and while "Create" is incredibly ambiguous, it's not hard to imagine this will let you replace an icon entirely. In fairness, this is exactly the sort of thing that AI should be good for -- filling in gaps that nobody else is in a hurry to fill. While I'm sure there are going to be issues around copyright where fiddling with icons are concerned, a company like Google can spot those and work around them. While this isn't going to be huge news for everyone, since some people just don't care if their icons match or not. Your Rating close 10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Rate Now 0/10 Like Follow Followed Google Pixel 9 Pro SoC Google Tensor G4 Display type LTPO OLED, 1-120Hz Display dimensions 6.3" Display resolution 1280 x 2856 $999 at Amazon $999 at Best Buy $999 at Google Store Expand Collapse

Google Pixel devices appear to be preparing icon theming using AI and custom styles

Through evidence spotted in the latest Android Canary release, it looks like Google is preparing a new Pixel feature that would let users theme their homescreen icons using AI as well as their own custom styles. As it stands today, Google Pixel owners have a few choices for customizing the icons on their homescreen. You can use Google's "Themed Icons" feature that will apply Material You color themes to icons, though only on supported apps. You can use third-party apps to make custom shortcuts on the homescreen (similar to how iPhone users themed their icons in the past). Or, the tried and true, you can download a third-party launcher and utilize a host of additional theming options, including a vast number of icon packs available in the Play Store. Soon, though, it appears Google wants to add a few more options out of the box for Pixel owners. In the latest Android Canary build, the folks over at Android Authority uncovered some tidbits about new icon styles coming to Google Pixel devices in the future. In particular, the "Style" section would call existing themed icons "Minimal," and add new "AI icon" and "Create" options. The strings regarding this say: <string name="app_icons_style">Style</string> <string name="app_icons_style_default">Default</string> <string name="app_icons_style_minimal">Minimal</string> <string name="app_icons_style_extendible_theme">AI icon</string> <string name="app_icons_style_create">Create</string> So, yeah, details are pretty light at the moment. That said, we can take a guess on a few details here. The "AI icon" theme is called an "extendible theme" in the string, implying that it uses AI to bring a theme beyond what's already available. That might suggest this option could allow apps that don't support Android's dynamic icons to still be included in a theme, or perhaps expand the style beyond just colors. "Create" is a bit more exciting here, as it implies a greater level of user control. What might that include? At the moment, your guess is as good as ours. I'm personally hoping it's something in the realm of the "Effects" theming options now available for wallpapers. It's also possible this could include changing icon shapes, as we saw some progress on that a while back. What would you want to see? As for when these features might debut, we really don't know. Android Canary isn't tied to any single version of Android, and seeing as these features can't even be manually enabled behind the scenes, this could be something that's a few months away, if not much longer.