What’s an Icon in 2026?

As icons continue to change across Apple’s platforms, I have thoughts. They mainly revolve around two perspectives: What I think of icons as a long-time user of Apple’s platforms. What I think of icons as a digital collector and physical archivist of icons. Let’s see if I can articulate my thoughts. Apple Recommends Making Icons With Icon Composer For “More Expressivity” In “Create icons with Icon Composer” from WWDC 2025, Lyan Bewry from Apple’s Design Team gives the rationale for why developers should use Apple’s new Icon Composer: Icon design is moving from a past of simply static images, to a future of expressive, multi-layered artworks that respond to user input and adapt between appearances. They’ve become a much richer and more integrated experience on-device. Catch that? Icons are moving from a “static” past to an “expressive, multi-layered […] much richer” future. You may have noticed this in some of Apple’s latest OS releases, how lighting effects, customizations, etc., can…