Instagram rolls out custom icons … but only for teens

Some Instagram users are feeling cheated out of a new feature, as the photo and video sharing app on Wednesday announced the launch of custom icons — but only for its teenage users.

Teens can now choose from a set of custom icons that transform the traditional Instagram logo into new variations that can be used as app icons on their phone’s home screen. The option is accessed by tapping on the Instagram logo at the top of the home feed after opening the app.

Currently, custom icons include six renditions of the Instagram logo styled as neon, clear glass, fire, flower, green slime, and more.

In answer to this announcement On X, users are overwhelmingly pushing back against the idea that such a feature should be age-based, noting that even adult users want to customize their home screens. Some have accused Instagram of chasing Snapchat with the feature. (On Snapchat, users need a Paid Snapchat+ subscription to change the app’s icon.) Others said it gave them “MySpace vibes.”

Instagram’s Teen Accounts launched in 2024 add additional restrictions and built-in protections for minors, including Content restrictions on PG-13 material. The company, earlier this year, Begins using AI technology to identify teenagers Those who lied about their age on social networks and enrolled in more restricted juvenile accounts.

With custom icons, the company is trying a different approach: using a carrot instead of a stick, so to speak, to make teen accounts more appealing. Reached for comment, Instagram told TechCrunch that it added the icons because it likes teenagers to customize their Instagram experience. The company said it has no plans to extend access to icons to older users or paying customers.

Younger users are perceived as the target for customization options, as they have largely embraced the iPhone home screen customization trend, which I saw renewed interest When Apple launches widget iOS 14 launched in 2020. Apple has made it even easier to customize with icons Application shortcut improvements. More recently, Apple has simplified the process With tinted icons in iOS 18which was Updated to iOS 26.

Android users have had these kinds of customization options for a long time, though the majority US teenagers are on the iPhone.

Instagram has been updated to include comments.