Custom android icons app

How to Change App Icons on Android

Make custom icons for your Android apps

What to Know

• You can use Shortcut Maker to customize app icons and names on any device.
• Go to Settings > Themes to download and apply icon packs on Samsung devices.
• You can download and install custom icons via Google Play Store on any Android device. You may need to install a launcher to change app icons.

This article covers how to change app icons on your Android smartphone, including applying custom icons on a Samsung phone or tablet.

How to Get Custom App Icons on Android

One of the best features of Android is the option to customize nearly anything you want, from the wallpaper and lock shortcuts to the way the icons look and feel. What’s more, there are many ways to apply custom icons. You can even create your own!

Before you can change app icons, you’ll need to download and install custom icon sets. You can find them at the Google Play Store.

Here’s how to install them:

Find a set of custom icons you like at the Google Play Store. The best way to find them is to type custom icons in the search bar (located at the top).

When you find an icon set you like, tap the entry in the search results. Then tap the green Install button.

Wait for it to finish, and then return to the home screen or tap Open.

How to Get Custom App Icons on a Samsung Using Galaxy Themes

Like the Galaxy Note 20, Samsung smartphones and tablets use a reskinned version of Android called One UI. That means you can also customize the home screen and interface with unique wallpapers, widgets, and app icons.

Before you can apply custom app icons, you must download theme packs from the Galaxy Themes app.

Important:

Custom themes used to be available at the Galaxy Store, but Samsung devices now have a separate application called Galaxy Themes. On older devices, Samsung added the new app in a recent software update. On newer devices, it comes pre-installed.

You can also use Google Play to download custom icon packs on Samsung, if you prefer.

Here’s how to install app icons using Galaxy Themes:

Open the Galaxy Themes app or go to Settings > Themes. If you’re not already logged in, tap the menu button in the top left and tap the profile button to do so. If you do not have a Samsung account, you will need to create one.

Tap the Icons button on the bottom (third from the left). Find an icon pack you like.

Some icon packs cost money. If you don’t want to spend anything, be sure to look for the packs listing Free underneath, not a price.

Tap the icon pack to open the store page and then select the Download button at the bottom of the screen. An advertisement may appear, and the download should start after it finishes playing.

Wait for it to finish.

If you want to apply the icon pack right away, tap the Apply button, which replaced the Download option.

How Do You Change App Icons on Android?

Even if you installed a custom app icon pack, you need to apply it first before seeing any changes. Just having the icon pack installed does not make them active or visible.

Some icon packs will display a prompt immediately after install, allowing you to apply them. However, not all of them do this.

Changing App Icons Within the Application

Sometimes, you can apply the custom icons using a tool that comes with the icon packs you install. Here’s how:

Open the icon app for the pack you downloaded. Accept any permission requests.

Depending on the app, you may or may not see an Apply button. Some icon packs require you to have a custom launcher to use them.

How Do You Change App Icons on Samsung?

If you haven’t already applied the icon packs previously installed on your Samsung, here’s how to activate them or swap them out.

Open Galaxy Themes either by clicking on the icon in your app tray or going to Settings > Themes.

Tap the menu button in the top left, and select My Stuff.

At the top of the screen, tap the Icons option. Then tap the icon pack you wish to apply.

At the bottom of the page, select the Apply option. You may or may not see a warning, tap Agree or Apply again to continue.

That’s it! Enjoy your new icons.

Warning

Most icon packs you download from Galaxy Themes will only change the appearance of official Samsung or system app icons. You will need to use another method to change the appearance of other app icons.

Can You Change App Icons without a Launcher?

The short answer is yes, you can.

With some icon packs, you can apply them directly from within the native app. If that doesn’t work, you can always use another app like Shortcut Maker.

How Do You Change App Icons and Names on Android?

If you want more freedom when changing app icons, like adding a custom name, you’ll need to install another app called Shortcut Maker.

How Do You Install Shortcut Maker?

Go to the Shortcut Maker Google Play Store page. Then, tap the green Install button and wait for it to download and install.

How Do You Change App Names with Shortcut Maker?

To change the display name of an app, you’ll create a shortcut which means creating an additional app icon with custom parameters. Here’s how:

Open Shortcut Maker. Choose the type of shortcut you wish to make from the list. Choose the Apps option for an app icon. Next, select the app icon you want to customize from the list of installed apps.

Use the Tap to Edit Label button (it will also show the app name) to change the name. Then, enter the new custom name or label and select Done.

Edit any other custom options you want (you can also choose a custom app icon). When you’re done, tap the big blue Create Shortcut button in the bottom right.

How Do You Change App Icons with Shortcut Maker?

If you want to apply app icons individually or apply icons from a pack you installed, you can use Shortcut Maker. Here’s how:

Open Shortcut Maker. Choose the type of shortcut you wish to make from the list. For an app icon, that would be the Apps option. Next, select the app icon you want to customize from the list of installed apps.

To apply a new icon, use the Tap to Edit Icon button (it will also show the current app icon).

You will see a list of available options for customizing the icon on the next screen. You may see custom icon packs you have installed, and you can also use text, emojis, gallery images, and system icons. Choose the source containing the icon you wish to use, and then select your image.

You will see the new icon you have selected on the right side of the page. To apply it, tap the blue checkmark in the top right.

Edit any of the other custom options you want (you can also change the name). When you’re done, tap the big blue Create Shortcut button in the bottom right.

How Do You Make Custom Icons on Android?

Creating custom icons and adding them to a set is a lengthy and complex process, and explaining how to do it is best left for a separate guide.

It is possible, and it can be a lot of fun. It can also be a lucrative business opportunity if you’re good at it! You can sell custom themes on the Google Play Store or Samsung Themes store.

How to Change the Home Screen on Android?

On all Android devices, you can play around with app icons, including their look and feel. You can also customize your device by applying custom wallpaper, unique screensavers, changing the lock screen display, and much more.

An app like Shortcut Maker makes it easy to customize the appearance of individual app icons, even those not affected by installing a custom icon pack or a Samsung Galaxy Theme.

For most Android phones, you will need to use a third-party launcher. For most Samsung phones, you can go to Settings > Home Screen and select a different size for your Home Screen and Apps Screen grids, which will resize all of the icons on that screen.

On some phones, you can select alternatives for the icons of built-in apps. Long press the icon, choose Edit, and tap the icon you want to use.

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How to make and share your own custom icon packs

When it comes to customizing your Android device, one of the most enticing options of all is to make your own icons. You can choose unique homemade graphics for each icon, or create a uniform scheme that does away with the inconsistencies introduced by wayward developers. Doing this opens up nearly endless possibilities for how you want your device to look.

Let’s look at various different options for making unique icons: from changing them manually for your own purposes, to creating and distributing entire icon packs through forums or even the Play Store.

A word of warning though: if you’re looking for an easy app you can make and sell, this probably isn’t it!

How to create custom Android icons and icon packs for fun

These days, launchers like Apex or Nova allow you to set any graphic you like as an icon, as well as install existing icon packs.

To change an icon in Nova, all you need to do is long-press the icon in question and click “Edit.” A dialog box will pop up letting you change the name and tap on the icon on the left to swap it out for a new one.

In Nova you have four options: you can choose built-in Nova icons, an image from your gallery, or one from an icon pack, or you can head to the Play Store to find more.

In Apex, the process is extremely similar: Long press on the icon you want to use, tap “Edit,” then choose the option that best suits you.

If the launcher doesn’t support custom images as icons — as is the case for Samsung Experience Home — then you can use an app like Awesome Icons instead. Awesome Icons works by creating desktop shortcuts for you that then launch a shortcut to that app via Awesome Icons.

Perhaps the coolest option is to create your own icon pack as an APK, using the excellent Adapticons (not the sworn enemies of the Adaptibots). This app lets you create icon packs by choosing apps from a list, then editing their icons from a simple menu or swapping them entirely.

When you pick save, you can choose to save it as a shortcut or widget, export any new .png images you’ve created, or export as an icon pack. If you choose the latter, the APK will be generated and installed automatically (once you give the app permission).

You can even locate that APK now by looking in /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/pl.damianpiwowarski.adapticons/files/iconpack/. It will be called “iconpack.apk.” Alternatively, just do a “deep search” using ES File Explorer.

This way, you can then rename the package file and share it with friends, or keep it as a way to quickly install your icons when you get a new device!

The unfortunate limitation is that you won’t be able to upload this to the Play Store. In theory, you could install the APK through another app and distribute it that way, but then you would still need permission from the developer as you’d be using their code and their icon.

How to draw your own icons

So now you know how to make an icon pack, how do you go about making the images you’ll want to use?

When it comes to drawing your own icons, there are multiple different options. In fact, any image can work as an icon, as long as it is large enough (108 x 108) and accounts for launchers that apply masks that trim the edges off and make only the inner 72 x 72 pixels visible.

If you are going for a pixelated look, any image editing software will suffice. You can take photos and crop them, or even make some pixel art in Paint! If you want something a bit crisper looking, it is worth learning Adobe Illustrator — this will help with editing your images in the future as well.

Remember to add transparency to your image if it doesn’t fill the entire dimensions. You can’t do this in Paint, but free software like Gimp will let you. You’ll want to save the file as a .png, too.

If you like the official Material Design approach, you could try using the Android Asset Studio. This free tool lets you create apps using a variety of templates, right in the browser. Android Studio itself also has a feature called Image Asset Studio. Just right click on the Res folder in your Project window, then select “Image Asset.”

Both these options will allow you to create an image conforming to Google’s Material Design guidelines, and they work for both Adaptive and Legacy icons.

How to make an icon pack app from scratch

While customizing icons creates more design opportunities for users, it also opens up more possibilities and more ways to make money for developers. In theory this could be an easy way to make some money as a developer: just design some icons and then sell them as an app!

Unfortunately, this is a case of reality failing to meet expectations. This is actually a very in-depth and lengthy process, and it’s sure to give you some serious headaches. Still, once you’ve built a template, it’s something you’ll be able to use to create lots of new apps quickly — creating a very good ROI potentially.

There is no universal method for creating an icon pack, so you’ll need to provide intents and XML files to account for every possible option. This would be fine if there was any information out there to help developers get started, but there just isn’t. Most tutorials are at least a few years old, and there are no guides published by ADW, Nova, and so on. Most templates available on GitHub are likewise severely outdated and difficult to reverse engineer. It seems there just isn’t the demand for icon packs that there once was.

By far the best example I have been able to find after a lot of digging is the open source IconShowcase-Dashboard, which is available in its entirety on GitHub. More importantly, it comes with a gigantic Wiki that explains the set up process and the configuration you’ll need to handle yourself. This is an extremely lengthy process I won’t go through here.

To summarize: first, you will need to set intent filters in your manifest file for the launchers you want to support. This will allow your app to listen out to the intents used by those launchers when the user tries to install an icon pack. An example from a different project can be found here.

Likewise, you’ll also need to create and edit a large number of specific XML files required by various launchers. A full list is here.

Key among these is appfilter.xml, it’s in here that you will tell the launcher which images from your drawable folder will belong to which apps. You will do this with the following line:

It is best practice to name the images using the package names of the apps you want them to represent (using underscore in place of period).

In the values folder, you’ll also add a file called icon_pack.xml, which will contain arrays with the names of your icon files.

There is a fair bit more configuring you’ll need to do if you want your pack to support as many launchers as possible. Of course, you’ll also need to actually add the images you’ve created themselves to the drawables folder!

It’s not an easy process, but hopefully these resources and starting tips will help you to save a lot of time and digging. Good luck!

Closing thoughts

Unfortunately, making an icon pack is not the straightforward process you may have thought, and support is very limited these days. Which seems to be a real shame given how customization is one of the most appealing features of Android to begin with.

Fortunately, it’s easy to customize your own app icons and you can even share your creations thanks to Adapticons.

In an upcoming article we’ll be looking at another potential option for making money from your designs: creating a Samsung theme. Stay tuned!

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