Android 12is certainly a watershed moment in the evolution of Android UI design, because it introduced us toMaterial You and dynamic theming— UI elements borrowing colors from the active wallpaper to deliver an unprecedented level of cohesion. It took a while for apps to catch on, but Google’s oft-used Workspace apps like Gmail were among the first to use the feature. However, one tiny element — the app icon in the notification shade — escaped unthemed. Google is finally fixing that.
Old Gmail icon in notification shade
Google’s own first-party apps are among the initial adopters for any updates to theMaterial Design rulebook. Gmail was pretty early,picking up Material Youin September 2021, anddynamic color for its widgetsa couple of months after that. However, when you see an unread email show up in the notification shade, the app icon has always been red. Not to be confused with the status bar icon, the one in the Gmail notification is only now picking up dynamic theming.
Dynamic theming for the icon
Version 2025-06-01.54044.3362 of the Gmail app for Android finally brings dynamic theming to the tiny icon in inbound email notifications. The app now changes its colors to match the accent colors for Quick Settings switched on, which in turn, are pulled from your active wallpaper.
If you’re eager to get this update, we suggestsideloading it from APKMirror, because there’s no telling when the Play Store will serve us this version as an update or auto-update.
Thanks:Moshe E, Nick
