The Google search app's icon has changed slightly. It no longer uses a solid color pattern, instead it now has a gradient effect.

Though the design has changed, the colors of the icon haven't, the iconic G still has the RGB effect, but now the red sort of merges with the yellow, yellow into green, and green into blue. It looks better, vibrant, and is quite similar to the Gemini gradient effect.

This change does not apply to the Google logo that appears on its websites, but only to the mobile app's icon. Surprisingly, this design went announced by the company. Many users were surprised to see that the app icon on their phone had changed, and some were even confused how this had happened. Their concerns are understandable, after all, many fake apps have pretended to appear like legitimate apps. So, when a genuine app switches its icon, it could alarm some users, but you can rest assured. It is the real Google app, and not something that was downloaded automatically.

The new Google G icon, which was spotted by 9to5Google, started appearing in the iOS App Store a few days ago. Now it has also made its way onto on the Google Play Store, in the latest beta version of the Search app. It is likely that Google will update the design across devices and platforms in the near future.

As for why the change has happened is anyone's guess at the moment. The last time Google changed its icon was ten years ago, in September 2015. Back then, Google had revealed that it was making changes to its brand identity. Users are speculating that perhaps that is what is happening again within the Alphabet-owned company. Interestingly, none of the icons for the other apps from Google have been revamped.