Instagram is introducing custom home screen icons, but only for teen accounts, sparking frustration among older users who feel excluded from the feature.
The rollout, announced Wednesday, allows teenagers to swap Instagram’s standard logo for one of several new designs, including neon, clear glass, fire, flowers, and green slime versions.
Teens can access the new icons by tapping the Instagram logo at the top of their home feed, then choosing a preferred design from a preset list. The feature is part of Instagram’s teen accounts program, introduced in 2024, which includes additional safety restrictions and content filters to limit exposure to mature material.
Reactions on X (formerly Twitter) were overwhelmingly negative, with many users arguing that customization should not be age-restricted. Some accused Instagram of copying Snapchat, which offers similar icon customization to Snapchat+ subscribers, while others joked that the feature felt like a nostalgic return to MySpace-style personalization.
Instagram’s latest move appears to be a strategy to make teen accounts more appealing by offering exclusive perks instead of just imposing restrictions. Earlier this year, Meta began using AI age detection tools to identify users who misrepresented their age and automatically enrolled them in teen accounts.
With the custom icons, Instagram is shifting toward an incentive-based approach, giving teens creative tools rather than limiting features — or, as one observer described it, using a “carrot instead of a stick.”
Instagram’s focus on personalization aligns with broader home screen customization trends among younger users. Since Apple introduced widgets in iOS 14, teens have embraced customizing icons and layouts, a trend Apple has supported with tinted icons in iOS 18 and iOS 26.
While Android users have long enjoyed these features, the majority of U.S. teens use iPhones, making this design-driven rollout particularly targeted toward that demographic.
Featured image credits: Carl Court/Getty Images
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