Rita El Khoury/Android Authority
Launched last month, Google’s default launcher now lets users create custom AI-generated icon themes that can be applied to all home screen apps. In particular, my colleague Rita El Khoury absolutely loved the feature, saying she uninstalled all the other alternative launchers in response. But the question is, how do our readers feel?
Well, we ran a survey on Rita’s feature to gauge interest in custom icon packs on Pixel phones in our community. The results are in after more than 2,300 votes.
Well done, Google: Pixel icon upgrade successful!
About 84% of respondents in this survey had something positive to say about Pixel Launcher’s new icon feature. However, within this group, there is a split roughly down the middle.
Of these, about 51.2% respondents are in full favor of this facility in its current state. He has nothing negative or critical to say. Considering that Pixel users have been deprived of icon-related customization options in the default launcher for years, this is certainly a welcome breath of fresh air.
As commenter LaszloMajoros65 writes: “I love it!”
Rita El Khoury/Android Authority
That said, ~48% of voters in favor of the new Pixel Launcher icons feature believe custom icon generation is a “good start”, but Google needs to offer more options to make it truly useful and attractive.
To be fair, Google has introduced a lot of new toggles and switches to the launcher in recent months. Users can now hide at a glance from the home screen. However, there is more that can be done regarding icon changes. For example, where is the support for third-party icon packs?
Reader Kaushik Ahmed echoes this sentiment:
A better option for me would be to use a custom icon pack of my choice from the Play Store and apply the AI ​​icons only to icons that don’t have a custom icon by the theme pack.
It’s also worth noting that this generative AI icon only features themed home screen icons – those in the app drawer will retain their default look, making it much less appealing to those who value a uniform aesthetic across their devices.
Beyond the general positive sentiment, about 14.5% of respondents were not impressed with the feature.
Reader ZoomZoomJohn, who appears to be among them, writes:
Yet another half-baked Google project. I’ll stick with my fully customizable launcher, thanks.
Notably, several users in the comments section of Rita’s article reported that the feature was not available on their device or their Android build. It’s possible that they like what they see, but they haven’t been able to try it yet.
I’ve used a lot of Android launchers, and it’s really puzzling why Google refuses to add third-party icon pack support to the Pixel Launcher.
Perhaps we’ll see it in the future, but for now, you’ll have to settle for another AI-adjacent customization feature on the Pixels. Judging by the survey results, this may not be such a bad thing.
Don’t want to miss the best of Android Authority?
Thank you for being a part of our community. Please read our comment policy before posting.
