Ubuntu 26.04 introduces a refreshed folder icon design compared to 25.10 and earlier version
The new icons are shorter, more consistent with the Yaru theme, and now fully adapt to system accent colors instead of using subtle tints.
Overall, the redesign improves both visual clarity and consistency across the desktop.
These new icons look awful; the ones from the previous version, 25.10, are far superior.
I think they look fine after getting used to them for a while.
I like this design! I have not been huge fan of current icons, these look much nicer and much more clearer.
Also the default color reminds me from “good old days”. 
The icon spacing in the app grid makes a lot better use of space and makes it look better. Everything in 26.04 looks polished and professional. The difference in the previous folder icons and the current is size and spacing. The change makes total sense.
I disagree. While it’s true that you can now fit more icons in the AppGrid, I don’t think it pays off on smaller screens. Fortunately, I’ve already found an extension that I plan to install as soon as GNOME 50 support is available.
yes, it’s insane. Normally I can accept that taste is subjective etc, but this just feels too off IMO.
New icons look terrible. No wonder the screenshots use the light theme (which no one I know uses). In combination with the dark theme, they just look… sad. OTOH, what goes up must eventually come down or collide with something somewhere.
Edit:
I should have clarified that “terrible” was meant in the context of the dark theme. Otherwise, they’re decent icons. I just don’t think the designer really considered how they’d interact with the dark theme’s color scheme which is quite popular and used to be one of the best (IMO the best) on Linux desktops. Not anymore, unless one manually reverted to the old icons. Thankfully, that’s still an option.
New icons for, Videos and Resources came in last night. The icons look great by the way! The only change most are upset about is the folder icons. I actually think the sizing of them is better and they look fine. All the menu icons are crisp and colorful, they really pop!
The icon size and spacing in the app grid adjusts to screen size as I understand. The current spacing on my 27” display gives me ten icons in each row. This looks and works better than rows of six, it looks less empty. And NO, the icons are not too small. I have 20/300 vision with my glasses off and I can still navigate the menu.
I genuinely appreciate what the artwork team have accomplished in this release. I see so much attention to detail and the quality is outstanding. Ubuntu 26.04 really makes Gnome 50 modern and attractive.
Apparently, I pressed the wrong reply button—my intention was to reply to @vynycyus.
I personally find the previous dark theme design significantly better. Your reply seems to address some issues that have already been “fixed” or changed. The original beta icons were smaller—whether they were too small is subjective, of course, and factors like screen size and resolution affect how they appear. On my laptop with 1080p display, the original beta icons looked Ok (now they’ve roughly restored their previous size.)
My main complaint was about the desktop theme and overall color scheme, not the icons themselves as an icon pack. Icon packs are highly subjective, so I think it makes more sense to evaluate them in the context of the desktop and color themes. Some color combinations simply/generally don’t work well together.
Personally, I wouldn’t choose something that requires an acquired taste as the default theme if the goal is for most users to find it at least acceptable. That said, Ubuntu has traditionally used a theme inspired by “African” colors, and I’ve never had an issue with that. The difference this time is that the previous dark theme felt more polished and, in my opinion, would likely be preferred by the majority of users.
In any case, it was dumb of me and a waste of everyone’s time to comment on something like this, so apologies to everyone. As long as the icons can be customized, it’s all good.
I have the opposite view of Ubuntu’s default color scheme. I like the originality and it’s easy on the eyes.
