Do you recall the minor brouhaha over the Ubuntu web-browser app icon?
Chances are you don’t because you had better things to do during your summer.
The main conceit was that the default browser icon in the Suru icon theme for the app was ‘not distinctive to the Ubuntu brand’, and that it was too similar to the Apple Safari icon.
When compared side-by-side the inspiration is apparent. The icon certainly was closer to its source than it needed to be since virtually every non-Safari web browser manages to convey “internet” without a compass motif!
Reporting on the complaint at the time we (naturally) wanted to know what you thought. Almost 3,000 of you voted in our poll asking if the browser should get a new icon, with a huge majority of you saying yes, it should!
New Ubuntu Browser Icon
Well, Canonical (specifically design team member Matthieu James) listened, responding at the time that while“modifying [the web browser icon] design is not a high priority for us at the moment […] you can be confident that we are always improving and expanding the Suru icon set (and especially core application icons).”
The result is this icon:
Pretty isn’t it? The origami sentiment of the Suru design language shines through the new symbol, which trades its Safari-esque compass motif to use a (far more recognisable) Gaia emblem.
The icon isn’t yet in use on the Ubuntu phone, tablet or even the daily builds of the Unity 8 desktop. But with the ‘browser fix’ OTA-15 release coming soon it might be a great time for the icon to make its debut.