The worst thing about the new Reddit icon isn't even the ugly design

When it comes to the most chaotically run social media platform, Reddit has been giving Twitter a run for its money over the last few weeks. From pricey API changes essentially killing several third-party apps to the removal of years' worth of conversations, Reddit seems hell-bent on alienating its users right now. Even the app icon is crap now.

Many Reddit users have noticed that the icon on their homescreen is now an ugly, pixellated version of the classic alien head illustration. But the tamagotchi graphics aren't the worst thing about the icon. (Need a palette cleanser? Check out the best logos of all time.)

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As of now, the original icon is only available to Reddit Premium subscribers, who pay $5.99 per month or $49.99 per year for features including ad-free browsing, access to exclusive communities such as r/lounge, and, er, app icons that don't look like they were rendered on a calculator.

Indeed, there's something pretty frustrating and cynical about the classic icon being placed behind a paywall. Reddit has been open about its mission to increase revenue streams, hence the API price hikes. But forcing free users to look at a faulty-looking icon doesn't seem a particularly classy move.

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While an app icon might not seem a huge deal, users can be pretty precious about their homescreens – hey, it's something you look at every day. And as Amazon recently discovered the hard way, it's certainly possible to get an app icon very, very wrong.