Whereas all of Apple’s working programs are getting a serious redesign this 12 months, the brand new Liquid Glass remains to be very a lot a piece in progress. We already noticed Apple right some missteps in iOS 26 with the second beta earlier this week, but it surely’s additionally finished one thing bizarre with icons in macOS Tahoe to make them match into the brand new motif.
We’re not simply speaking concerning the Finder icon, which has loads of detractors — and for good cause. That change appears symptomatic of a bigger drawback: Apple’s insistence on taking the whimsy totally out of Mac app icons by forcing them to adapt to iOS-style squircles.
That is seemingly the identical logic that pressured it to place an ugly border across the basic Finder icon, and whereas it modified that ever-so-slightly for the higher within the second macOS 26 beta, it stays a shadow of its former self.
This variation is most noticeable with many third-party app icons. Apple has already redesigned most (however not all) of its first-party app icons to adapt to the brand new design. Nonetheless, third-party apps that don’t adhere to Apple’s concept of a superbly proportioned icon can as an alternative stay up for being rendered in a glass field.
After I put in the macOS Tahoe 26 developer beta, I used to be instantly confronted by a half-dozen icons in my dock that each one regarded bizarre for no instantly discernible cause. This included Cultured Code’s Issues, Naked Bones’ BBEdit, Google Chrome, and even Pixelmator Professional.
That final one is barely ironic, contemplating Apple now owns Pixelmator. Nonetheless, Apple hasn’t transitioned all its personal app icons to the brand new designs both. Script Editor is probably the most notable built-in app with this drawback, however Last Reduce and GarageBand additionally undergo from the pressured “squircling” therapy.
On nearer examination, it was obvious that the difficulty comes right down to app icons that aren’t already proportioned into squares. Issues seems to be squarish, but it surely’s really extra rectangular. Others, like Pixelmator and Script Editor, are extra clearly irregular, as they’ve parts like pens that reach past the borders of the icon.
After all, that design ingredient is a part of the enjoyable of Apple’s desktop working system that goes again a long time. Sadly, whereas Apple insists it needs to maintain iPadOS and macOS separate, its transfer to unify the whole lot below the Liquid Glass banner seems to be eliminating a few of that playfulness on the a part of app builders.
Apple has already moved to a extra boring aesthetic for a lot of of its app icons to suit into the brand new design. Preview has gone from a loupe offset over a pleasant seascape picture to centering it on a bland blue gradient background, TextEdit has misplaced the pen, and Picture Seize seems to be nothing like its former self. Granted, it’s debatable whether or not a digital digital camera nonetheless belongs in that one, however the brand new model seems to be extra like a film modifying app. Automator and Disk Utility have additionally misplaced a lot of their former magic.
In the meantime, the whole lot else that fails to adapt to Apple’s new squircle specs will get pressured right into a glass body, leading to shrunken-down icons that look downright bizarre.
This stays unchanged within the second beta of macOS Tahoe, so plainly it is a deliberate option to drive builders to replace their icons to the brand new specs.
The way to Get the Authentic App Icons Again
There’s nonetheless hope Apple may revert this or discover a higher approach to deal with these app icons. Nonetheless, the excellent news is that macOS Tahoe doesn’t appear to (but) override any icons you set your self, which implies you may simply get your apps trying like they’re meant to with out a lot fuss.
The trick is to assign a brand new icon to the affected apps in the identical means this has been finished for years. As soon as you place an icon of your personal onto the app, it will get revered as the first icon, not less than within the Dock and Finder. You’ll nonetheless need to cope with the “squirclified” model elsewhere the place the app seems, equivalent to within the System Settings, Share Sheets, and Shortcuts, however fortunately you don’t want to have a look at these practically as typically.
For individuals who aren’t accustomed to the method, you’ve practically all the time been capable of assign any icon to any app (or different file, for that matter) by opening the knowledge window for it and dragging a brand new icon on prime of the outdated one. You need to use any icon you need — it doesn’t need to be in any means associated to the unique. So, when you wished your Mail app to seem like a fowl, you may actually do this.
Nonetheless, every app has its correct icon tucked away in a file inside the app’s package deal, so that you don’t need to look far when you simply need to restore the pre-Tahoe look. Right here’s a step-by-step information on how to do that:
- Open Finder in your Mac.
- Open the Functions folder.
- Discover the appliance you need to change the icon for and right-click on it.
- Choose Get Data from the context menu that seems.
- It will open an data panel for the app. Drag it out of the way in which of the unique app icon if crucial.
- Proper-click on the icon once more and select Present Package deal Contents. This opens a brand new Finder window displaying the recordsdata and folders inside the app’s package deal.
- Navigate to Contents > Assets.
- Find the appliance’s icon on this folder. It would usually have an “icns” extension.
- Click on and drag the icon file to the app’s data window that you just opened in steps 4 & 5 and drop it on prime of the small icon within the top-left nook, beside the app’s identify.
- If prompted, enter your password to authorize the replace to the app’s icon.
- Shut the Data and further Finder home windows.
The brand new icon ought to seem instantly within the Finder Functions folder. If in case you have the icon in your Dock, you’ll want to shut and relaunch it earlier than the icon updates there.
We’re nonetheless within the early levels of the macOS Tahoe beta cycle, so it’s potential Apple would possibly repair this in later betas. Nonetheless, if the squircles are nonetheless showing when the general public betas or remaining launch comes out, the above steps ought to nonetheless work because it’s unlikely Apple will take away the the flexibility to alter icons for recordsdata and apps — though it’s additionally potential it would drive any handbook modifications into the brand new fashion. We’ll have to attend and see what occurs.
Within the longer-term, the larger danger is that different builders will observe Apple’s lead right here and begin watering down their icons to adapt the Liquid Glass.