How-To

How to Change App Icons on Android

By Brian Burgess

Published July 5, 2022

if you want to spruce up your Android experience, you can customize the apps. Here’s how to change app icons on Android.

The default user interface and icons on Android look good by default. However, if you’re tired of square icons or want to add your photos to icons, it’s possible to customize things to spruce things up a bit.

Changing app icons allows you to add some flair, and changing app icon names can help get things done. For example, launchers and other customization apps in the Play Store allow easy customizations of app icons for Android.

Today, we’ll show you how to change app icons on Android using a free and straightforward method. You can change app icon names and change their shape.

Change App Icons on Android

There are plenty of launchers in the Play Store, but most are riddled with ads. Instead, we’ll use the popular (and free) Nova Launcher. It has many options; if you want more, you can purchase Nova Launcher Prime for $4.99.

To change app icons, do the following:

1. Download and install Nova Launcher on your Android phone or tablet.
2. After it installs, scroll down to the Icons section.
3. In this section, you can change icon shape and icon size. Tap the form you want and adjust the slider for icon size. There’s a preview screen above to get an idea of how things will look.
4. After changing the icons, continue to scroll down and tap the round Checkmark icon to apply changes.

Change App Name

Nova Launcher allows you to change the names of your icons which can help you find items easier.

Use the following steps to change an app icon name:

1. Long-press the icon you want to change the name for and select Edit from the menu.
2. Tap the App label field and type in the name you want to use for your icon. You can change the name to whatever you want or leave it blank for no name.

Customize App Icons on Android

The free version of Nova Launcher offers plenty of customization options for app icons on Android.

To customize apps on Android, do the following:

1. Tap the Nova Launcher icon from the home screen to open its Settings menu.
2. Scroll down and tap the Look & feel option from the menu.
3. Tap the icon next to Icon style at the top of the list.
4. Under the Adaptive icons section, you can change icons to a different shape, but tap the More button for different shapes.
5. A new More shapes screen will pop up where you can select other shapes not included in the initial setup of Nova Launcher.
6. Choose the one you want to try, and it will give you a preview of a couple of app icons at the top of the screen.
7. Scroll down, and you can enable or disable other customization options like reshaping legacy icons, show shadows, and more.
8. When you finish, ensure you use the Nova Launcher if prompted.

Add Your Photos to App Icons

You can change app icons on Android further by adding your own photos with Nova Launcher.

To add your photo to an app icon, use the following steps:

1. Long-press the app icon you want to change, and tap Edit from the menu that appears.
2. Tap the app icon in the Edit shortcut section.
3. Tap the Gallery apps option on the next screen.
4. Select the location of the photo you want to use.
5. Crop the photo and tap Done at the top of the screen.
6. The photo you chose will display as the app icon. If everything looks good, tap the Done button.

Change App Icons on Android

Nova Launcher makes it a straightforward process if you want to change app icons on Android. You can change the app icon’s shape and name or add your photos to the app icons. Don’t want to use your photos as app icons? No worries. Nova Launcher allows you to download icon packs from the Play Store.

To learn more about Android, check out how to update apps on Android or how to enable Guest Mode.

If you’re a Windows user, learn how to copy and paste text between Android and Windows. If your customization doesn’t want to stop on Android, you can customize the Windows 11 Lock screen.