Desktop Gmail is testing a subtle adjustment of its icons in a handful of points, replacing the old filled icons with high-contrast outlines. It is a small adjustment and is not yet available to everyone, but it finally brings to the web version of Gmail the icons that the Android app has been using for years.
Swipe to see the difference
The change affects only the icons for items like the sidebar folder navigation and the actions listed at the top of emails. The change replaces the older filled gray icons with slightly darker outlines, although the overall look remains the same and just as “Googly”.
This change in iconography not only coincides with what the Gmail Android app has had for years, since its major redesign of nu-material, but it also coincides with the changes Google has launched on Android and other apps in recent years. These outline-style icons are the future, if you are Google, and are likely to replace all icons populated in all company applications and services.
The change does not seem to have reached everyone yet. It may even be part of a limited test – literally billion of people use Gmail, and Google will be very attentive to any changes to it. If approved, expect to see the change spread more widely.
