New Google Messages icon makes its way to the web version

Last week, Google announced a ton of new features and refreshed iconography for the Google Messages app. This new icon has already made its way to the Beta version of the Messages Android app and on Wear OS, however, there was one more place where the app is used that had yet to update to the new icon – the Web.

Thankfully, as spotted by 9to5Google, the update of the web version of Messages is now live. Not only is it visible when navigating to messages.google.com/web as the site’s favicon, but also when attempting to install the PWA from Chrome and on the computer’s taskbar or dock. Additionally, there’s a very brief splash page that loads when opening the app the first time or reloading the page, although 9to5 found that it only shows up if you have chosen to “Remember this computer” in the app’s settings. Also, you may need to reinstall the web app on your desktop devices for the new icon to appear.

Meanwhile, not all Android users have gotten the updated icon, particularly those not enrolled in the Beta program for the Messages app. It’s nice to see Google getting ahead of it and updating the icon on the web version of their apps, so we don’t have an icon mismatch between platforms. Some users have expressed a strong dislike for the new icon, including yours truly when it was first unveiled, however, it is starting to grow on me. It does look really nice with Material You theming on Pixels.