Thursday, July 16, 2026

Clear and Tinted Icons Are a Hard Pass

Adam Engst:

Of the TidBITS readers who chose to respond to the poll, only 1% said they use clear icons on the Mac, and no one admitted to using tinted icons. On the iPhone, clear icons were twice as popular—a whopping 2%—and just 1% of respondents said they use tinted icons. Dark icons, which retain color, were slightly more popular, but still couldn’t exceed single digits, with 6% on the Mac and 9% on the iPhone.

Squircle Jail is one thing; redesigning icons to be assembled within Icon Composer is another. The latter makes a lot less sense but for supporting clear and tinted icons.

Previously:

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No offence to anyone (including myself) but I'd say Tidbit's readership is at the more mature end of the spectrum.

I imagine a younger demographic might post somewhat different results but I have no idea how different.

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