One of the biggest advantages to owning an Android device is the customization. You can change out the stock launcher, change keyboards, and change almost everything else about your day-to-day experience. One of the most popular changes that can be made to your device, is through various icon packs.
There are a few things that I specifically look for when trying to find the “perfect” icon pack. First and foremost is the amount of icons that the icon pack has included. Next is the design, and third is whether there are “freebies” or add-ons like wallpapers or widgets.
When you’re addicted to icon packs like I am, you enjoy trying to get into the betas for these icon packs. Naturally, there won’t be a boat load of icons on the first go ’round. This will change with time, and as long as you’re communicating with the developers, you can have all of your icons themed in next to no time. So if you can get into a beta for an icon pack, pay attention to how everything comes together from the ground, up.
We are going to take a look at a few different icon packs that have been making some waves on the Play Store, and have made their way to my Samsung Galaxy Note5.
Retrorika
Retrorika from sikebo, is a bit of a different take on Google’s Material Design guidelines. Instead of following the natural color scheme, the developer has opted to design these icons with a vintage palette of colors. This adds a little bit of a different overall feel, but still maintains a beautiful look on your devices.
Each of the over 2600 icons is hand-drawn, and although the color palette is vintage, these still follow the Material Design Guidelines set by Google. Included in Retrorika, there are also over 90 high-resolution wallpapers that will allow you to mix and match and keep your device always looking good.
You can grab Retrorika today for 50% off at a price of only 99 cents.
[pb-app-box pname=’com.sikebox.retrorika.material.icons’ name=’RETRORIKA ICON PACK’ theme=’light’ lang=’en’]
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Redux
Redux is one of the icon packs that I have joined the beta of, and offers a completely different design for each individual icon. Since this is still in beta, there are “only” 200 icons, but the developer (SixtyFour ThirtyTwo), is great about getting updates out.
Redux features a “Shapeless design of stock Android”. Meaning that the developer has taken each icon and put their own spin on the stock icons. The colors are a bit different as well, as Redux kind of falls between the regular color palette that is found on stock Android, but not as drastic as a vintage color palette similar to Retrorika.
As stated there are over 200 icons available as well as a few wallpapers. Within the Dashboard app, there are a few wallpapers to pick and choose from, so that you can mix and match your icons to fit your preference.
If Redux tickles your fancy, you can head over to the Play Store and grab these for only $1.
[pb-app-box pname=’com.sixtyfourthirtytwo.redux’ name=’Redux – Early Access’ theme=’light’ lang=’en’]
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Cornie Icons
As with Redux, I have also joined the beta for Cornie Icons by Patryk Goworowski. Cornie icons are a little bit closer to the traditional icon set, but also have a few icons that stray from the norm. These are the closest to the Material Design Guidelines, compared to Redux or Retrorika, but are still a bit different.
At the time of this writing, there are over 450 high-resolution icons that have been pushed to the beta pack. Due to the popularity, there is large amount of request emails that have been sent to the developer via the Google+ Community. Also included in Cornie Icons are three wallpapers, with more coming.
You can join the Google+ Community here, and grab the beta of Cornie Icons for 99 cents in the Play Store. One note to keep in mind when requesting apps. The developer is in school, and may not get to the requested apps as fast as others, however, patience is a virtue, so just hang tight and wait for the updates to roll out.
[pb-app-box pname=’pl.patrykgoworowski.cornieicons’ name=’Cornie icons BETA’ theme=’light’ lang=’en’]
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Fresh
Stealthychief (Will Windham) is a familiar face for a lot of us who have been using icon packs for a long time. He makes some of the best icons on the Play Store today, and is keeping his streak of great icon packs, rolling. Fresh is one of the latest icon packs to hit the Play Store, and follows no real design guidelines other than whatever Stealthychief has chosen.
There aren’t as many icons available with Fresh as there are with other icon packs, but there is a valid reason as to why. From the Play Store listing:
Fresh Icons can take a significant amount of time to design, so we’re only focusing on adding in popular app and game icons.
In addition to hand-crafting all of these applications, Stealthychief is not accepting any icon requests for right now. We can expect to see this open up once all of the popular apps and games have icons made up.
Hit the Play Store widget below, and grab Fresh from Stealthychief for only 99 cents.
[pb-app-box pname=’stealthychief.custom.theme.fresh’ name=’Fresh – Icon Pack’ theme=’light’ lang=’en’]
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Difft Icons
Keeping in line with the odd-ball icons, Difft falls into the same category. Each icon was created with a vector, but with a completely off the wall color scheme. Each icon falls into one of “four fundamental colors with beautiful modern hues.” This brings a look to your devices that cannot be matched elsewhere.
Add in the fact that there are a slew of various icons, you not only have the stock icons, but a bunch of different alternatives. Having stock and alternative icons, allows you to truly pick what each and every icon looks like on your device. There are also a 21 minimal wallpapers that all match up with the icons rather nicely.
You can grab Difft below for $1.37 via the widget below, and go ahead and join the Google+ Community here.
[pb-app-box pname=’difft.icons’ name=’Difft – Icon Pack’ theme=’light’ lang=’en’]
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Refocus
The final icon pack that you should consider to grace your home screen has been a personal favorite for a long time. Refocus from onyxdev, is simple and extremely aesthetically pleasing. Each icon is hand-crafted and features a unique but similar design, with precision matched by few others.
With over 1150 unique icons, custom wallpapers, and the ability to mask un-themed icons, Refocus is an excellent option for everyone to consider. According to the Play Store listing, Refocus includes “icon glyphs to match the new Material Design introduced by Google for Android Lollipop.”
I can’t stress enough how much I love the Refocus icons, so please be sure to at least check them out. If you’ve been convinced to try these out, you can grab them for only $1.50.
[pb-app-box pname=’com.xonyxltd.icon.focus’ name=’Refocus – Icon Pack’ theme=’light’ lang=’en’]
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Each of these icon packs are great options to show off what you can do with a custom launcher and icon theming. Additionally, each icon pack featured today, brings something different to the table and will turn heads whenever you unlock your device.
Drop us a comment and let us know what icon packs you would like to see featured here at AndroidGuys.
