Galaxy S7 Gets Rounder Icons, Icon Masking for Your Non-Samsung Apps

We’re still pouring over all things Samsung Galaxy S7 at the moment, since our hands-on time won’t come until tomorrow, but we found something that icon enthusiasts may appreciate in the latest version of Samsung’s TouchWiz. Not only has Samsung rounded off all of the icons for its stock apps (they are calling the shape “squircle”), they are also icon masking the rest of your apps to help match their appearances. 

What is icon masking? Think about the icons on your phone for a second. How many come in different shapes and sizes, some without backgrounds, others situated on a square or rounded button? If you are an OCD type, it probably drives you nuts that they don’t all carry the same shape, size, and background. To help fix that, Samsung is adding in icon masking, which takes your apps’ icons that don’t match their theme and then attempts to enhance them by placing each on a similarly shaped rounded square.

Look at the images above and below for examples of the Galaxy S6 icons vs. those on the Galaxy S7.

S6 (left) vs. S7 (right)

See how Samsung is taking the Instagram icon, shrinking it a bit and then slapping it on a soft, squircle grey icon? That would be icon masking.

Samsung isn’t forcing this change on you, but instead are offering up a “icon customization” function that makes it all happen.

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ADDITIONAL COVERAGE

• Galaxy S7 first look and tour!
• Galaxy S7 Edge first look and tour!
• Galaxy S7 vs. Galaxy S6 vs. Galaxy S5
• Testing the Galaxy S7 water resistance in a fountain
• Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge US carrier availability
• Official Galaxy S7 / S7 Edge specs
• Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge pre-orders include free Gear VR
• Comparison: Galaxy S7 / S7 Edge vs. LG G5