[Update: May 14] Some macOS Big Sur 3rd-party icons (Microsoft Edge, Spotify, etc.) yet to follow new Apple guidelines 3 months later

New updates are being added to the bottom of the story…

Original story (from February 12, 2021) follows:

Apple in June 2020 announced a new version of macOS dubbed Big Sur. One of the major additions that easily caught the eye was a redesigned interface that included new icons for native system apps.

This change also meant that third-party apps on macOS Big Sur had to adopt to the new guidelines in order to achieve some consistency with native apps. Of course, this was always going to take time.

Throughout the beta testing phase, Apple let those unhappy with the new icons turn to custom icon packs to suit their preferences.

This way, users could create more consistent icons on Big Sur, at least until third-party developers implemented the new Apple icon guidelines.

While macOS Big Sur users can still turn to custom icon packs even today, it is quite baffling that three months after the stable version rolled out, some developers are yet to update their app icons to align with Apple’s guidelines.

For the third day running, a Reddit thread calling out such app developers has been receiving regular activity, with commenters fuming at how slow the process of updating app icons has become.

3 months after Big Sur’s public release, only 12 of my ≈70 apps have updated its icon to follow the new guidelines. Feeling a bit disappointed about this. (I know about custom icons but that’s not my point)

Some of those affected are specifically calling out big companies behind apps such as Microsoft Edge, Spotify, Firefox and Adobe, among others. Although it seems Adobe did update their icons recently.

Yeah its funny because they were updated literally a week ago or so, and I hadn’t noticed until yesterday after posting this xD. Anyway, it’s good news. Let’s hope other big apps like Spotify, Edge, Firefox are next.
Source

As for the rest, there is still some work left to do. Unfortunately, no one knows exactly when Big Sur users can expect to receive updated icons, but it should be sooner than later.

Again, those unhappy with the consistency and cannot keep on waiting for the likes of Microsoft to update their app icons can always turn to custom icon packs for the same.

The guys at 9to5Mac have some good stuff going on here with respect to using custom icon packs and even where to find new ones just incase you get bored with the current ones.

We will be keeping a close eye on this and other macOS Big Sur-related developments and bring you the latest news as and when we get them.

Meanwhile, feel free to check out our macOS Big Sur bugs and issues tracker here. There is also one related to iOS 14/iPadOS 14 here.

IST 04:55 pm: According to the official Spark Mail Twitter handle, Spark has rolled back its macOS Big Sur app icon shape to circle ditching the rounded rectangle shape mentioned in the Big Sur guidelines.

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