Gmail on Android getting new notification icons to differentiate between Chat and Spaces

A change is rolling out for Gmail on Android that will update the notification icons for “Chat” and “Spaces” that were previously indistinguishable from each other. This icon tweak was spotted by 9to5Google, who was able to replicate this on an Android device running Gmail version 2022.02.20.x. Formerly the notification icon for Google “Chat” and “Spaces” – both of which live within the Gmail app – was the same, which was a cause of confusion for some users.

You may recall that last year, Google rebranded their old chat “Rooms” into “Spaces” in an effort to compete with business messaging applications, such as Slack. Additionally, Google has also opted to replace its Classic “Hangouts” application with the more full-featured “Google Chat”. Both were previously rolled into the Gmail app on Android and Desktop as separate tabs as part of the new integrated Gmail layout.

This tweak ditches the double filled-in message bubble, which represented notifications for both apps and is now showing a single hollowed-out message bubble for “Chat“. In contrast, “Spaces” now shows a more conference-centric icon featuring three avatars. This is in line with how the icons look on the desktop version of Gmail.

It appears that this update is still rolling out to Android users and is not yet widely available. I have yet to replicate this on my Pixel, but I am looking forward to seeing unique notification icons and being able to tell at a glance what they are for. We will be keeping an eye on this and updating you once this feature rolls out officially.