One UI 8.5 Could Borrow Android 16’s New Icon Theming Trick

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Google recently released the first beta of Android 16 QPR2 for compatible Pixel devices. It brings improved support for themed monochrome icons, allowing all apps to adopt your system’s color palette automatically. There’s a possibility that Samsung may bring this icon theming trick to Galaxy devices with its upcoming One UI 8.5 update.

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Android 16 QPR2 beta brings automatic monochrome icon theming

Previously, Android’s theming system could only recolor icons if developers provided a compatible monochrome design. This created an inconsistent home screen appearance, with some apps matching the theme colors while others did not. The latest Android 16 beta solves this problem by automatically transforming icons to monochrome and applying appropriate palette theming. Thanks to Scuttlefield and A_Button117 (via Android Authority) for giving us a look at it in action.

However, you might not notice the effect immediately on apps already available on your device. The automatic theming mainly works on newly installed apps, so you may need to reinstall them from the Play Store. Google might address this inconvenience in future beta updates or push it directly to the stable channel. Anyway, if you want a unified look on your home screen, this feature will do the job for you.

Furthermore, the company has made changes to how you control these settings for app icons. It removes the existing toggle for themed icon colors and introduces three options: Default, Minimal, and Create. The first option leaves your icons in their normal colors, while the second changes icons to match your phone’s theme. As of now, the third option won’t work, but it could be part of the upcoming AI-generated icon styles.

While Samsung is gearing up to roll out the official version of One UI 8, it is reportedly working on an incremental update, One UI 8.5. This version may debut with the Galaxy S26 series in early 2026. A previous report suggested that One UI 8.5 will bring more feature-rich software experiences for Galaxy users. This leads us to believe that the Korean firm may implement Android 16’s new icon theming. We will learn more about it in the coming months.

Written by

Binay Konwar

Binay Konwar started his blogging journey in 2014 and has since written plenty of tech articles. At present, he is working as a News Writer at SammyGuru, covering everything about Samsung. He holds a Master's degree in Mathematics, but his real passion lies in tech and writing. In his free time, he enjoys playing chess and watching movies.

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