{"id":554898,"date":"2026-03-23T08:09:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T08:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/554898\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T08:09:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T08:09:12","slug":"ubuntus-folder-icons-got-redesigned-twice-in-a-week-because-users-cant-agree-on-how-they-look","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/554898\/","title":{"rendered":"Ubuntu&#8217;s folder icons got redesigned twice in a week because users can&#8217;t agree on how they look"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                    Summary<\/p>\n<p>                                        Linux users get passionate about distros and will defend their choices fiercely.<\/p>\n<p>                                        Ubuntu 26.04 folders were tweaked last week from a gray-based design to an orange one.<\/p>\n<p>                                        Now, the community is tinkering with a darker Yaru redesign, which is currently undergoing feedback.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m really glad that I moved from Windows to Linux in mid-2025. I enjoy free and open-source software more than its proprietary cousins, and the freedom to do what I want with my desktop is refreshing. However, I have learned that people are very passionate about their distro of choice, and they care deeply about the minute details.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, Ubuntu users are currently debating the color of folder icons. The colors were already changed last week, and now a new batch has been designed in an attempt to appease people who weren&#8217;t happy with the original designs.<\/p>\n<p>        <img width=\"440\" height=\"364\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A laptop running Affinity on Arch Linux\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/affinity-on-linux-laptop-1.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/affinity-on-linux-laptop-1.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                    Related<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.xda-developers.com\/phew-linus-torvalds-says-linux-70-is-finally-looking-normal-again\/\" title=\"Phew: Linus Torvalds says Linux 7.0 is finally looking normal again\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tPhew: Linus Torvalds says Linux 7.0 is finally looking normal again<br \/>\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"display-card-excerpt\">But it still needs testing.<\/p>\n<p>                        Ubuntu&#8217;s folders are undergoing a redesign, again<\/p>\n<p>            Second time the charm?<\/p>\n<p>        <img width=\"1650\" height=\"704\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Ubuntu's second folder redesign\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ubuntu-new-folders-icon.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ubuntu-new-folders-icon.jpg\" class=\"img-brightness-opt-out\"\/><br \/>\n        Credit:\u00a03v1n0<\/p>\n<p>As spotted by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.omgubuntu.co.uk\/2026\/03\/ubuntu-new-yaru-folders-contrast-bump\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">OMG Ubuntu<\/a>, the file icons in Ubuntu 26.04 LTS are being tweaked a little. Last week, we saw the website report on how the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.omgubuntu.co.uk\/2026\/03\/ubuntu-2604-new-folder-icons\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">familiar gray folders became a more vibrant orange<\/a>, which had people divided in the OMG Ubuntu article&#8217;s comments. A lot of people chimed in to say they liked them, but there were some who didn&#8217;t quite resonate with the new look. One user said the new folder design &#8220;looks like a child&#8217;s sketchbook&#8221; and another believes Ubuntu&#8217;s focus should be put elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>Now, people are working together with the Yaru team to create <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/ubuntu\/yaru\/pull\/4409\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">a new redesigned set<\/a>, and these ones are a little darker. It may seem like a minor change, but the decision behind the redesign is documented pretty well:<\/p>\n<p>See commits for details, but ensuring that the folders do not look as &#8220;selected&#8221;, due to the too light lighten overlay, and use darker pictograms to ensure they have enough contrast.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe we could reduce the pictograms darken overlays opacity for bigger icons, but I preferred to stay consistent for now.<\/p>\n<p>People have been flocking to the GitHub page to give their opinions on these new icons; some like them, and some want some more tweaking done to them. Personally, I think I prefer the darker version of the icons; it feels much bolder than the lighter one. Either way, we&#8217;ll have to see if the design team manages to land on something people like for the most part.<\/p>\n<p>        <img width=\"440\" height=\"364\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A tablet displaying the Vanilla OS desktop with the Apx app showing information about a subsystem. VLC for Fedora is also open, along with Steam for Arch\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/vanilla-os-tablet-1.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/vanilla-os-tablet-1.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                    Related<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.xda-developers.com\/vanilla-os-2-lets-run-ubuntu-fedora-arch-and-android-apps-same-time\/\" title=\"Vanilla OS 2 lets me run Ubuntu, Fedora, and Arch apps at the same time\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><br \/>\n\t\t\tVanilla OS 2 lets me run Ubuntu, Fedora, and Arch apps at the same time<br \/>\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"display-card-excerpt\">And that&#8217;s still not all<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Summary Linux users get passionate about distros and will defend their choices fiercely. Ubuntu 26.04 folders were tweaked&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554899,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49,48,61],"class_list":["post-554898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}