Icon Mask
An icon mask is the shape applied to app icons by your launcher — circle, squircle, rounded square, teardrop, or others. It controls the uniform silhouette of all icons on your home screen.
An icon mask is a shape template that your launcher applies over every app icon to ensure visual consistency. Without masking, each app would display its icon in whatever shape the developer chose — some circular, some square, some irregular. The mask forces all icons into the same shape.
Common icon mask shapes include circle (Pixel default), squircle (Samsung default), rounded square, teardrop, and hexagon. Most third-party launchers let you choose your preferred shape in settings.
Icon packs interact with masks differently depending on their design. Shapeless icon packs like Vera and Lena are designed to look good without any mask — the icons float freely on your wallpaper. Shaped packs like Ares include their own backgrounds (squircle shapes) and work best when the launcher's mask matches or is disabled.
Tip: When using shapeless icon packs (Vera, Lena, Caelus), set your launcher's icon mask to "none" or "system default" so the icons display as the designer intended without cropping.
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