Ninth squircle of hell

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Will Apple really change the iPhone’s app icons in iOS 19 to make them rounder and more akin to the glasslike visionOS user interface?

The latest video from Apple leaker Jon Prosser shows app icons with a corner radius of about 30 degrees — rounder than the squarish “squircles” you currently see on your iPhone, but not the perfect circles that float in front of your eyes while wearing a Vision Pro headset.

To my eyes, the rounder squircles look … weird.

They seem less elegant than the current icons you see when using an iPhone, iPad or Vision Pro.

There’s hope that we won’t end up in the ninth squircle of hell, though, with stout little app icons that look neither reassuringly normal nor decisively round.

First, this isn’t an actual leak where you see Apple’s final version prior to release. Instead, this is a re-creation by Prosser’s team based on things he says were shown to him by unnamed sources within Apple.

Second, the video shows the iPhone app icons we’re used to seeing morph into the rounder squircles when pressed. Prosser admits that what his team saw (and re-created) might be a glitch. And he’s upfront about the fact that the final version of iOS 19 might even bring completely circular app icons.

Third, Bloomberg’s Apple scoop machine Mark Gurman threw water on Prosser’s latest leak. “This isn’t going to hold up well,” he replied today on X to a news story about Prosser’s video. (The two have been taking swipes at each other over their dueling iOS 19 leaks. Watching the spat unfold proves almost as much fun as pondering the leaks themselves.)

We’re still months away from WWDC25, where Apple will showcase iOS 19 and the rest of this year’s software updates. Obviously, things could change between here and there — even if Prosser’s leak is based on currently accurate information.

Until then, take a look at the latest iOS 19 leak and see what all the fuss is about.

Also in today’s newsletter:

• If you like lyrics-free, minimalistic music to help you focus, relax or fall asleep, you need to try the iPhone’s free ambient music feature.

• Sounds like the fear of tariffs produced a happy short-term effect for Apple: an unexpected spike in iPhone sales.

• Frequent flyers and other travelers might like EZQuest's international charger and/or Twelve South’s clever travel adapters. We reviewed ‘em all and found them worthy.

• Stay-at-home types might prefer Function101’s Cable Blocks, which kill cord clutter dead. Cult of Mac Editor-in-Chief Leander Kahney calls Cable Blocks his “favorite cord management system.” They’re on sale now from Cult of Mac Deals.

— Lewis Wallace, managing editor

^{A message from the Cult of Mac Deals team}

^{A message from the Cult of Mac Deals team}

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