I have often heard that it is bad form to include text within a launcher icon. Can can anyone provide proof for this? Apple has it in their guidelines but I can not find anything in the Google specs.
Thanks
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It's considered counterproductive since the text is already present in the Label of the icon. Also, if your text is long, you could not benefit from it since the icons won't be as large to make it look comfortably spaced. Apart from that, your icon would look far too congested and not pretty to look at.– Swapnil BorkarNov 3, 2015 at 16:52
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I agree, but do you know of Google ever added this as a thing to avoid?– billbdesignNov 3, 2015 at 16:54
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There isn't anything explicitly mentioned in the guidelines to not use text in icons. You could obviously stylish text in Material Design with say 1-3 letters at max and then add it. As long as it doesn't feel congested, I feel it's great to go.– Swapnil BorkarNov 3, 2015 at 17:18
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It would help us answer the question if you explained why you think the text might be needed. Are you talking about static text as a part of the icon or some kind of label on the icon indicating status within the app?– plainclothesNov 3, 2015 at 18:36
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1 Answer
Apple is enforcing common standards around icon look & feel while trying to enforce consistent and clean UI for their devices.
I agree with @Swapnil Borkar and others, it is redundant to have an icon hold an app name because the app name is already present right below the icon.
More broad Question
Is it a bad practice to include text into an icon?
No, as long as the text / copy is legible and does not duplicate any copy around it.
