Spotify for Android finally fixed, then rolled back, app icon after five years (U)

Spotify is rolling out an update to Android that drops the border on the app icon, bringing back a ‘normal’ icon five years after it was changed before quickly reversing the change.

For a long time, Spotify’s app icon on Android was a circle that used the Spotify logo as the full icon. But in 2019, that was updated to include a black border around the icon, a change made for the sake of adaptive icons being able to change their shape.

It was a meaningful change, but one that looked pretty weird if your phone used round icons. It also looked pretty bad after changes to Android Auto that left the Spotify icon small compared to other app icons.

But since adaptive icons have all but disappeared from Android, Spotify has finally “fixed” the icon.

With the latest update, v8.9.44.368 (as first noted by Will Sattelberg at Android Police), Spotify has started rolling out an updated Android icon that ditches the black border. On devices with a round icon shape, such as Pixel, the icon now appears with the Spotify logo covering the entire footprint. It works in both unthemed and themed icons, although the theme version doesn’t fit as well with other icons (especially in light mode).

But this change notably only applies to devices with round icons. If you have a device, such as a Samsung Galaxy, that uses a different shape for the icons, the icon will return the black border if necessary. However, Sattelberg notes that the icon now looks significantly worse on devices that still use adaptive icon shapes, with alternate shapes having strange black borders and a zoomed-in look for the core icon.

Updated 6/11: Spotify has reverted to the old icon with the latest update, v8.9.46.426. On all devices, the icon has returned to its previous state with a black border around the logo.

The new design is probably the best for most users, but it’s clear there are still some rough edges.

Your move YouTube Music.

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Updated to display additional context on theme icons and adaptive icon shapes.