FAQ

Why can't you just replace the real icon?

Because the system does not let anyone. On iPhone and iPad the icon ships inside the app and is signed. On macOS, Music sits on the sealed, read-only system volume (protected by SIP) and third-party apps are signed bundles, and on Windows they are signed Store packages. The only options that do not require breaking those protections are launchers: a second icon that opens the real app. That is what iconrewind creates, and we say so up front.

Does it survive updates?

Yes. Your launcher, wrapper, shortcut or profile and its icon live in your own space (Home Screen, ~/Applications, your Start menu), and an OS or app update does not touch them. Only the app's own icon changes with updates. If a future update moves or renames the app, run the script again (the Windows one finds the app again). Not yet tested on real devices across updates.

How do I undo it?

iPhone/iPad: delete the shortcut icon from the Home Screen and put the original back from the App Library (long-press the app > Add to Home Screen). Profile: Settings > General > VPN & Device Management > Remove Profile.
Mac: run the undo script from the Mac page, or delete ~/Applications/iconrewind.
Windows: run the undo script from the Windows page, or delete the shortcut and %LOCALAPPDATA%\iconrewind.

What about privacy?

Nothing you make or upload leaves your browser. The only outside requests are for the original icon images, straight from Apple's App Store image server (mzstatic.com) or Wikimedia Commons (upload.wikimedia.org) when a page with the icon picker opens; those servers see an ordinary image request. There is no backend, no account, no analytics and no cookies. Icons are drawn and scripts are written by JavaScript running on your device, and the files you download are created locally. If you upload your own image it is decoded and resized in your browser only; it is never sent to a server, and we cannot see it. The site loads no external fonts, scripts or trackers.

Is this safe?

The scripts are plain text and the pages show them in full before you download. They do not use sudo or administrator rights, they refuse to run elevated, they make no network requests, and they only create or delete files they marked as their own. The iOS profile contains one Home Screen icon and nothing else (no certificates, VPN or restrictions) and is easy to remove. As with any script from the internet, read it before running it. The source is public in the repository linked in the footer.

The scripts and profile are unsigned, which is why macOS, Windows and iOS show a warning. That is expected.

Is "Original" the real old icon?

Yes. It is the app maker's own icon from before the change (Apple's pre-27.2 Music icon, Spotify's, Google's, and so on), and it belongs to them; for Spotify and Duolingo the tile is called Classic. (Music's Classic is different: our own CC0 tribute.) We do not host it: your browser loads it straight from Apple's App Store image server, at an address that showed the old icon when we added the app. For most apps a community copy on Wikimedia Commons is the backup, and the page says which source it used. For Music, Original flat is the older flat design that iOS 14 to 18 and the Windows app used. If nothing loads (offline, or blocked by a network filter), Music falls back to the Classic tribute icon, our own CC0 drawing; other apps ask you to try again or upload your own copy (see below).

Why does the iOS profile ask "Open in Music?"

A Web Clip can only open web addresses, so the icon opens a tiny page that jumps to the app's own link (music://, spotify:// and so on), and Safari may confirm that jump. Apps without a known link (Superhuman) have no profile option. The Shortcuts method does not have this prompt, which is why it is the default. The profile method is a beta.

Which apps? Android?

Apple Music, Spotify, Gmail, Google Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet and Maps, Duolingo and Superhuman: icon changes people disliked where we could find the old icon on a public image server. Mac and Windows only work where the app has a real Mac app or a Microsoft Store app; each page says when it does not. Android is not covered.

Use your own copy of the old icon

You may already own the old artwork on a device that has not been updated. Using your own copy for your own device is up to you; iconrewind hosts nothing. Once you have a square PNG, pick Upload your own on any device page. It is processed in your browser only.

From a Mac that has not updated yet (Music)

In Finder choose Go > Go to Folder and open /System/Applications.
Control-click Music > Show Package Contents > Contents/Resources.
Look for an .icns file (often AppIcon.icns). Open it in Preview and export a PNG, or in Terminal: sips -s format png AppIcon.icns --out ~/Desktop/old-music.png.
Newer macOS versions may keep the icon only inside Assets.car instead. A free asset-catalog viewer (for example Asset Catalog Tinkerer) can export the images from that file.

Time Machine: as far as we know, modern Time Machine backs up your data volume and not the sealed system volume, so Music.app is usually not in the backup. It can still work if you have a backup from a Mac that stored it, or an older Mac or VM that has not updated.

From an iPhone or iPad

If you have a screenshot or photo of your old Home Screen, crop the icon square with the Photos editor. It will be small, but around 180 px is enough for the iOS method. Device backups are normally encrypted and do not give easy access to app icons.

From a Windows PC

On a PC that has not updated, a screenshot of the Start menu tile can be cropped the same way. The Store package's own images sit in the protected WindowsApps folder, which is not meant to be browsed.

These steps describe where files usually are; exact file names change between versions.