How-To: Not happy with the new Instagram icon? Swap it with one of these icons on Android

If you’re unhappy with the new Instagram icon, you’re either naturally averse to change or you — perhaps more likely — think that the iOS-inspired glyph and gradient just doesn’t look too hot on your Android home screen. I’m in the latter camp, but no matter your reasoning, there’s always an anonymous internet user ready to solve your problems. In just a few quick steps, you can replace the new unicorn vomit-inspired Instagram icon with one of the above much tamer options…

Download your favorite alternate icon

The first thing you need to do is head over to your Android phone and download your favorite alternate icon. The above icons were created by one Reddit user _7down, and you can find their download links below:

• Color background w/ white glyph (left)
• White background w/ color glyph (right)

As an aside, it’s worth noting that if you would like to go the launcher route and replace your entire system’s icons, that’s always an option. Just head to the Play Store and download Nova Launcher and then find a custom icon pack you like on the Play Store as well. Most of these have custom icons for Instagram, but keep reading if you would like to go with the icons above (which I find to be particularly nice).

Install ‘Awesome icons’

If you’re still with me and want to go ahead and replace just the Instagram icon on your phone, head over to the Play Store and download Awesome icons for free. When you open up the app you want to scroll all the way down to Instagram and tap the app’s colorful icon. Then tap the icon under the “ICON” header, which will pull up the below dialog box. From here, just navigate to the icon you saved earlier and reposition it so that the blue box covers the full image.

This app doesn’t actually replace the app’s icon at a root level, but rather creates a new shortcut on your home screen to the Instagram app. Theoretically, these same steps could be used to create custom icons for any app on your phone. If you want, you can even use Awesome icons to create an icon using art from a custom icon pack. Some of the best ones include Polycon and CandyCons. As I mentioned, just search for “icon pack” in the Play Store for even more options. If you’re really that disgusted with the new Instagram icon, pretty much any of these should fix that problem.