this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2026
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The last point made in the blog post makes sense. Applications now have a specific shape.
I don't really interact with apple stuff, but I can somewhat agree to the last part too. There should be an indicator for the type of thing I'm looking at.
For me app is a mobile concept, I don't work with apps on desktop. On desktop "apps" range from shell scripts to java binaries with GUI. I have no problem with current situation, since files and folders have their icons and everything else is an "app". Author adds whatever icon they think is good or I add my own.
All this to say, I don't encounter the problem squircle solves. On mobile everything is an app; on desktop I want my executable files to have an indicator so I know what I'm looking at. Articles arguments about design consistency don't really matter to me. Granted that this might be somewhat specific to mac os.
This really only applies to macos since there is a distinction between an application, a folder, and a file.
I believe applications on macos are actually just folders that have a specific structure, so having them be visually distinct from regular folders and files is kinda important.
You can still execute files directly, so an executable file and an "application" are two distinct concepts in that sense.
On Apple's side, it would definitely be possible for someone to set their application icon to look like the folder icon, then run arbitrary code without the user knowing they weren't opening a folder. So there's a bit of a security reason for this too.
And that makes sense then. It being a squircle is a design choice and I can understand it's purpose.
Again, something visual to distinguish an application from other interactive elements makes sense. I just don't subscribe to the whole esthetic aspect of the article.