The Pixel Buds app finally gets a feature Google pushed on other apps for years

Key Takeaways

• Google's Pixel Buds app finally supports Material You dynamic theming for its home screen icon.
• Version 1.0.680489030 of the Google Pixel Buds app enables the new icon on Android 13 or higher with supported launchers.
• The themed icon uses colors chosen by the system to automatically complement your wallpaper in light mode or dark mode.

The Google Pixel Buds are some of the best earbuds out there (especially if you want to steer away from the Apple camp), but the app's icon has been missing one key feature that we're honestly surprised it didn't have — something that was already part of the app itself, just not its presence on the home screen. That's right: the Pixel Buds app is finally getting Material You dynamic theming for its app icon — a feature Google has been encouraging third-party apps to implement since Android 13.

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Code sleuth @AssembleDebug on X shared a post that shows off the themed Pixel Buds app icon, noting that it arrived in version 1.0.680489030 of the Google Pixel Buds app. The screenshot was captured on a device with Android's light theme enabled, but the colors would essentially be inverted with dark mode applied. And thanks to Material You, these colors are completely custom and chosen by the system to complement the home screen wallpaper.

Maybe now the app, as useful as it might be, can finally earn a spot on your main home screen next to the rest of your color-coordinated icons.

What took Google so long to implement its own feature?

Material You was first introduced in Android 12 alongside updated Material Design 3 guidelines, but dynamically themed icons didn't come around until Android 13. Still, that happened in 2022, and the Pixel Buds app has existed since the second-gen buds were released in April 2020, so Google had ample chance to support this feature before today.

What made Google wait so long to apply a theme it created to a product icon it also created? We can only speculate, but it's possible Apple's introduction of dark mode icons in iOS 18 last month helped spark the change, with Google perhaps doing some housekeeping to make sure all of its apps support themed icons, regardless of operating system.

Wherever this change came from, we're glad it's here now. The rest of the most commonly-used Google apps have already gotten the Material You icon treatment, so it's good that some of the less-used-but-still-important apps are finally getting a bit of love, instead of being treated like the boyfriend of a distant cousin at a family reunion.