Critique of macOS 26 Tahoe's Poorly Designed Utility App Icons
By
Bogdanp
Baker's choice. Dense with flavour, light on filler.
Summary
The article critiques the poor design quality of utility app icons in macOS, particularly focusing on the 'Dead Canary' icons in macOS 26 Tahoe. It argues that these icons represent a decline in Apple's design standards, comparing them to amateurish work rather than professional craftsmanship. The piece examines how utility apps have been organized since classic Mac OS and highlights specific examples of poorly designed icons that fail to meet Apple's historical design excellence.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledThese icons are so bad, they look like the work of untrained 'How hard can it be?' dilettante carpenters who only last a few days on the job before sawing off one of their own fingers.
A good rule of thumb what makes an app a 'utility' is that it's a tool for doing something about your computer.
These are not the work of carpenters who care about the backs of the cabinets they're building.
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