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The ugliest iPhone icons of all time

James Thornton

James Thornton

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Cool application icons are what help to make iPhones look so damn sexy. Install the wrong program though and you could end up destroying your street cred completely. While most developers take special care over the design of their icons, there are some who seem to knock them up in five minutes without really thinking about it. I’ve scoured the App Store for the biggest icon monstrosities around. Since installing all these apps on my iPhone, my girlfriend’s dumped me, all my friends have deserted me, and I feel decidedly queasy every time I look at my phone. Let us know if you’ve found a worse icon than any of these aberrations

Gross

Gross

Extreme World Records An eye- popping icon that I never want to see on my iPhone

Dark

Too Dark

Stupid Deal of the Day Let’s hope Musician’s Friend’s cheap deals are easier to spot than it’s logo is on the icon

Amateurish

Funny Flash Cards

Funny Flash Cards Where to start with this one? The freakish image, the poor cutting out, or the horrible font?

Typographical car crash

What Does My Birthday Mean?

What Does My Birthday Mean? How to break every rule of the typography handbook in one small image

Boring

My Purchase Tax Calculator

My Purchase Tax Calculator Tax applications are boring enough, and using an icon as bland as this is enough to put off even the keenest accountant

Disturbing

Dream Meanings

Dream Meanings Call me old fashioned, but a pixelated image of a man drowning is not something I want looking at me when I turn on my iPhone

Gut-churning

Digestive Disorders

Digestive Disorders I’m sure there must be a tasteful way of presenting an app about digestive disease. This isn’t it though

Ridiculous

Demotivational Pics

Demotivational Pics When you’ve exhausted all other possible design options, a rabbit with a pancake on its head is the only logical choice

Low-fi

MW2

MW2 Ultimate Utility Note to developers: if a blocky image hasn’t quite managed to ruin your app’s icon, stick some garish text over the top to finish the job

Out there

priceline

priceline Hotel Negotiator Actually, the jury’s out on this one. I can’t tell if this an image of a suited William Shatner in kung-fu pose is utter lunacy or a stroke of genius

James Thornton

James Thornton

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