If you’ve ever wanted to use certain icons from one icon pack and ones from another, then let me show you how it’s possible with Icondy.
I am a huge fan of Icon Packs since they add yet another level of customization and personalization to Android. I’ve written up a couple of reviews that you can find here, but today I want to show you a utility application that can help augment your Icon Packs. Icon Packs are very subjective and there are a ton of people to choose from. Even the individual icons in an Icon Pack can be subjective so you could like some icons in one pack and others in another.
Certain Icon Packs will let you go in and edit the individual icon. I use Nova Launcher Prime and it has the ability to do this by long-pressing on an icon and then tapping the Edit option.
From there, you can tap on the icon itself and then go through and find whichever icon you want from any of the Icon Packs you have installed. This is a great usability feature but there are a couple of not-so-great things about it. Firstly, it all has to be manually setup with each and every icon you want to customize. Secondly, not all custom launchers have the ability to do this so not everyone has this option.
This is where Icondy comes into play. Some custom launchers will only let you select one Icon Pack and then it will apply all of those icons to your apps. With Icondy though, you can select multiple Icon Packs, go through and pick which ones you like from each of them and then Icondy will create a new, custom Icon Pack(in APK format). It will then prompt you to install this Icon Pack and then you can select this custom Icon Pack when you are asked which Icon Pack you want to use by your custom launcher. I find this application incredibly creative and useful for anyone who wants to combine icons from multiple Icon Packs.
Starting with Icondy
When you first launch Icondy, you’ll be greeted with a simple blank screen. At the top right you have a 3-dot menu and when you tap it, you’ll see an option to go into the About page. This about page doesn’t tell you much about the application itself, instead it focuses on the developer, a link to their other apps, and the community that Icondy has amassed over on Google+. Going back to the main home screen, you’ll see a FAB at the bottom right. Tapping on this will bring up two options for you to select between a Basic Iconpack and an Advanced Iconpack. I’m going to create walk you through the process on how to create a Basic Iconpack.
Creating a Basic Iconpack
When you tap on the Basic Iconpack option from the FAB, you’ll then be greeted with this first image. You’ll see options here for selecting the Icon Packs you want to be included in the custom one. The ability to select a default Icon Pack. A set of filters that you can apply to the Icons(blur, invert colors, grayscale, etc), selecting default icons and finally the blend iconpack option. Tapping on the first option, you’ll be shown a list of all the installed Icon Packs that you have on this device. Simply tap on each one you want included in this custom Icon Pack and then move onto the second option. Here, you can select which Icon Pack you want to designate as the default Icon Pack.
This means, if there are two icons for the same app in both packs, you get to choose which Icon Pack you want to be the default one. This is great if you know you like more icons from one pack than the other because there will be less work to do later in the creation of your custom Icon Pack. While you will want to select a default Icon Pack here(because there will definitely be duplicates), this part won’t make anything permanent. You’ll still be able to choose which icon you want for each app later(if you so choose). This is just a way for the custom launcher to automatically assign an icon to a certain app when there are duplicates found.
As mentioned, you have the option to select a filter to apply on all of the icons you create in this custom Icon Pack. Now, there is a premium version of Icondy for a couple of bucks and that version says it unlocks “all the premium filters”. I don’t see any designation between free filters and premium ones, but this wording makes it seem like some of them are free. I could be wrong here though so don’t quote me on that. Still, having the ability to add filters like blur, grayscale, invert colors, etc is a really cool feature to have. Then there’s a way to select default icons for each individual app.
This is where the app shines when you don’t have a custom launcher that lets you individually set an icon pack to a certain app. So tapping into this default icon option will generate a list of all the apps you have installed on your device. Tapping on one of these apps will show a number of icons. For me, I only selected two Icon Packs for this example so when I tap on an app, I am shown three different icons. The stock icon, and the default icon from each of the two Icon Packs I selected. This is where you’ll want to go in and change the icons for any apps you’d like. This process can take a while, but it should be well worth it in the end.
Blending and Installing the Icon Pack
Once you have prepared your new custom Icon Pack, simply tap on the Blend Iconpacks option at the bottom of the page and wait for it to do its job. This process can take some time and the amount of time it takes depends on a number of variables. I have the Nexus 6P and only had two Icon Packs in this test. Even still, it felt like the combining part took 2, maybe even 3 minutes to complete. If you have an older device or if you are combining multiple Icon Packs, then this could take even longer. Once the blending is done, you’ll see that it is creating the APK and then you will be prompted to install the APK.
If you don’t have the Unknown Sources option enabled within the Security section of the Settings of Android, then you’ll need to enable it before you can install the APK. This doesn’t mean that you’re installing malware or anything. It’s just necessary to let Android install apps(which is what an Icon Pack is, an app) from a source that is not Google Play. If you’d like, you can disable this Unknown Sources option immediately after you install the custom Icon Pack APK from Icondy. You don’t have to have this option enabled the entire time you use the Icon Pack. . .just to install it.
After you install the APK file, you’ll see an app icon created(either on your home screen or in the app drawer). This is the same thing that happens when you install any other Icon Pack from the Google Play Store. When you launch this app though, it will bring up a list of popular custom launchers. Tapping on the custom launcher you have installed will apply this newly created Icon Pack to that launcher. Alternatively, you could also apply the custom Icon Pack the same way you normally would in the custom launcher of your choice. This one will show up just like it does with regular Icon Packs and it will function the same way too.
As I mentioned, most of the basic functionality is free but there are some premium features. The $2 paid app will let you create unlimited Icon Packs, choose more than 2 Icon Packs at a time, modify unlimited default icons, unlock all premium filters, create unlimited APKs, and the ability to select an icon from the gallery and/or internal storage. If you find this base application useful at all, then the $2 to unlock these features are well worth the price. As with Icon Packs though, it’s all subjective so if you don’t think it’s worth it then hopefully you can get enough functionality out of the free version.
I’d love to hear what you think about Icondy and it’s features/functionality down in the comments section below.
