Google Chrome (2022)Copied

Chrome's icon had not changed in more than eight years when Google refreshed it for the browser's 100th release in early 2022. The design team said modern operating systems had become more stylistically diverse, so the icon needed to feel native and fresh on any device, and to line up with Google's current brand design.

The changes are tiny but deliberate. Shadows are gone, proportions are refined, the central blue circle is larger, and the colours are brighter. Designer Elvin Hu explained one subtle detail: certain greens and reds placed side by side created an unpleasant glow, so the team added a very subtle gradient instead of flat colour. They also tested against real contexts, rejecting one green gradient because it disappeared into Windows 11's default wallpaper and taskbar. Variants were made per platform: brighter, gradient-free on ChromeOS, and a blueprint-style Beta icon on iOS as a nod to Apple's developer apps.

Hu first showed the icon on Twitter on 4 February 2022, when it appeared in the Canary developer build, and it reached everyone with Chrome 100 on 29 March. The thread also explained what was rejected: a version with more negative space needed a white stroke that shrank the icon and made it harder to recognise next to other Google apps. Each operating system got its own variant, with a stronger gradient on Windows, a 3D feel on macOS and flat bright colour on ChromeOS, and Beta and Dev builds gained ribbons and a blueprint-style iOS icon.

The icon was designed in-house by Google's Chrome design team, including Elvin Hu and Thomas Messenger.

Engadget focused on the detail most people would miss. Google designer Elvin Hu explained in a Twitter thread that the shadows were gone for a flatter look matching Google's other products, the proportions had changed and the colours brightened, but the key fix was a subtle gradient on the green and red segments: placed side by side, certain shades of the two produced an unpleasant colour vibration, so the change made the icon more accessible. Google also tailored the icon per platform, more three-dimensional on macOS and a blueprint version for the iOS beta, with the rollout spread over several months from the Canary build.

The Verge pointed out it took a side-by-side to spot the difference, which is the expected reaction to a logo update designed to be unnoticed. The interesting part is the process: the most valuable change here is the optical colour correction, an example of icon design as engineering rather than branding. The MacRumors forum's top reaction, asking how anyone would even tell what it was, makes the same point as a joke.