App icons are different shapes, sizes, and color schemes and follow different design guidelines. Samsung’s icons look different than Google’s icons, look different from Microsoft’s icons, look different from every other developer’s icons. Thankfully, icon packs are here to pick up the slack and make your theming adventure a smooth one. Icon packs are plentiful, colorful, and they come in every style under the sun.
BYOP: Build your own pack
Icon Pack Studio
Staff pick
We’re about to cover a lot of great icon packs, but I love Icon Pack Studio the best because it lets me make custom icon packs perfectly color-matched to my wallpaper or theme. Change the shapes, add textures, and then export and enjoy.
Free at w/ IAP Google Play
Color on the lines
Outline Icons
Outline goes beyond the monotone of simple white to bring bright, bold colors to its neon-reminiscent icons. Being a technicolor pack, this pack is a gem that shines against dark wallpapers, but can get lost in vibrant walls.
$2 at Google Play
Shadows and circles
Lux Dark
Circular icon packs are some of the most popular, but Lux Dark shines a diamond in the rough. The bright, gradient-steeped color accents blend well with dark and colorful themes quite well.
$3 at Google Play
Goes with everything
Whicons
If you only download one icon pack, make it Whicons! This free icon pack is simple, its icons are easy to identify, and Whicons goes with just about every dark and vivid wallpaper you can imagine.
Free at Google Play
Little white lines
Lines
Outline packs may take different thicknesses and sizes, but Lines remains my favorite. It’s been around for a really, really long time — just look at that Settings icon! — but Lines always comes through when I need a wireframe pack.
Free w/ Ads at Google Play
Glassy gleam
Emptos
This glassy icon pack is as rare as it is beautiful. Transparent squircles give a look of consistency to your app drawer and home screen, but the white logo shapes within are still instantly identifiable.
$1 at Google Play
Teardrops of darkness
Oscuro
Hex black teardrop icons cut through bright and dim wallpapers alike, but the shaded stencil logos within them allow some wallpaper details to show through, as seen on the YouTube and AC logos.
$1 at Google Play
Little black icon pack
Zwart
Zwart is the yin to Whicon’s yang, its evil twin, and deliciously dark standout. When light icons can’t keep their definition against vivid wallpapers, Zwart stands bold and firm.
Free at w/ IAP Google Play
Matte black everything
Matte Black Icon Pack
There’s almost nothing better than having as many matte black things as you can. Whether it’s a tablet, phone, or anything else, and with the Matte Black Icon Pack, you can add another layer of awesome to your life.
Free w/ IAP at Google Play
Docked and locked
Ombre
Ombre is one of my favorite “shaped” icon packs. The bottom dock/bar is mostly plain, but for fitting icons, it transforms! The colors here are vivid enough to work with dark themes, even with the dark icon accents.
$2 at Google Play
Pixel perfect
Pireo
Pireo keeps the layered look of the original 2016 Google Pixel’s round icons alive and strong several years later. It favors white for its icon backgrounds a lot, but the small shadow keeps them distinguishable, even on pure white wallpapers.
$1 at Google Play
Flat and round
Elun
Elun also emulates some of the 2016 Pixel’s style, but this pack is flatter, slicker, and far, far more colorful. Soft grays and vivid accent colors help it avoid an abundance of white, so icons like YouTube and the Dialer stand out more.
$1 at Google Play
Material magic
Urmun
Urmun is a pack built upon Material Design, one that emphasizes bold logos and sharp color palettes. Shadows add depth to this diversely-shaped, 4,300+ icon-sporting pack, and details are emphasized expertly.
$1 at Google Play
Touch of TouchWiz
ONE UI Icon Pack
A lot of icon packs emulate the Samsung look, but none do it with quite the style of the ONE UI Icon Pack. This wireframe pack’s more than willing to bulk up with original logos when the outline look doesn’t work, and I’m grateful for their discretion there.
$1 at Google Play
Basic beauty
Minimalist
Out of the darkness and into the light, Minimalist tends to favor square icons with its sun-faded palette and flat, minimal feel. While these icons are beautiful, it can take a moment to tell which apps are which.
$1 at Google Play
Magic rainbow rave
Unicorn
Unicorn very much matches the food craze that engulfed everything from cupcakes to donuts to Starbucks and beyond. Vivid pinks and purples contrast more muted blues and greens for a pack that’s rave-ready, day or night.
Free at w/ IAP Google Play
Colorful gradients
Gateau
Gateau was initially made available for those in the jailbreak scene on iOS but was ported to Android. There are not too many icons as of yet, but we are hoping that the developer continues expanding the library. And the best part is that Gateau looks great on just about any wallpaper you want to use.
$2 at Google Play
Any shape you want
Fluidity
Fluidity doesn’t try to do too much in terms of the “theme” of the icons, as that’s not the primary focus. Instead, the icon pack sports a few different icon shapes that adapt to every icon that is installed on your device. All of your icons will be uniform in shape, and some may have some unique designs.
$2 at Google Play
Color in the lines
Crayon Icon Pack
Get the crayons out and start to color with the Crayon Icon Pack. There are almost 4,500 icons included, along with an integrated masking system, so there is some uniformity to your home screen setup even if there’s not a dedicated icon. The pastel colors look great, especially if these are set to a pastel-themed wallpaper.
$1 at Google Play
Vibrantly unique
ENIX
There’s just something about having vibrant icons that can really brighten your day. ENIX aims to do just that with this “shapeless” and unique set of icons. All of your standard launchers are supported, along with some that you wouldn’t expect like LG Home and others.
$2 at Google Play
Shapeless dual-tone
Duo Icon Pack
Duo Icon Pack is another option with a shapeless-design in mind, but these have a bit more vibrancy. Duo works with both light or dark wallpapers, so you can fit these into any theme you are trying to create. And with the included Dashboard, you’ll be to send over any icon requests that you may need.
$1 at Google Play
Pick your poison
There are a lot of icon packs, and while I love and enjoy keeping a wide array of icon packs at my disposal, Icon Pack Studio has been the icon pack I turn to more often than not these days for its adapatability. No matter the wallpaper, no matter the home screen theme I’m working on, Icon Pack Studio lets me pick the shape, shades and textures to perfectly match. Nothing beats the work of an artist making high-quality icons, but if you need icons in Android green or Tarheel blue, ICS is there for you.
I do find myself coming back to Whicons between my themes — it really does go with everything! When Whicons doesn’t quite fit a theme, Ombre usually does. Then there are the likes of Fluidity, which adapts to whatever shaped icon you prefer to have on your home screen, and even includes Dynamic Clocks, so you keep everything matched up.
You might need a new launcher
The launcher for your shiny new Android phone probably won’t let you apply these icon packs. Samsung only lets you apply icon packs from the Samsung Themes store, and the Pixel Launcher and stock launchers on most other Android phones don’t let you apply a third-party icon pack at all. For that, you’ll need a third-party launcher, but don’t worry. There are a lot of amazing Android launchers out there, and they have more customization features, as well as helpful features like the ability to back up your launcher or set custom gesture shortcuts.
Not every icon pack is supported by every Android launcher, but most launchers support most icon packs. Icon Pack Studio has dual status here: it integrates directly into Smart Launcher 5, but if you’re using another launcher, you’ll have to export it as a finished pack and then apply it in your launcher’s settings.
