Last month brought our first look at Android 16 QPR2, with Google delivering its first beta just hours after the Pixel 10 launch event. Alongside other changes, the company is tweaking its monochrome icon settings first launched with Android 12, renaming the setting and finally auto-tinting icons that don’t follow Google’s Material You (and now, Material 3 Expressive) design recommendations. Nearly a month after this setting first changed, developers are getting some insight into the company’s plans for themed icons.

On the current Android 16 QPR2 Beta 1 build, you’ll find three settings available for icon customization: Default, Minimal, and Create. The latter currently doesn’t work; its icon seems to suggest some kind of AI-powered icon creation tool, but selecting it currently delivers an “app not installed” warning. Default is, well, what it says on the tin — the icon as created by the app’s developer, without any customization. Minimal, however, is effectively two things. For apps that properly support Material You, your icons will match the colors you’ve selected in Google’s customization tools. For those that don’t support Material You, however, icons will now auto-tint based on the rest of your color packs.

As spotted by Android Authority, Google is finally addressing those changes to developers after nearly a month’s worth of silence. Beginning on October 15th for existing developers, revisions to Google Play’s Developer Distribution Agreement (or DDA) section 5.3 will specifically force developers to “grant to users permission to modify colors or adjust themes of apps.” For new developer accounts, those changes went into effect immediately on September 15th.

Effectively, this circumvents any potential problems arising from modifying a brand’s icon, which often violates the guidelines laid out for utilizing company logos and other imagery (as an example, here’s Google’s Brand Resource Center, which tells you what you can and can’t do with the Google logo). With Android 16 QPR2 set to ship in the next couple months, presumably with forced theming in tow, this was a necessary step on Google’s part to ensure it didn’t receive takedown notices from various app developers, especially from large companies like Amazon. These legal warnings almost certainly wouldn’t have been sent to users, both because of the scale of such an operation and because there’d be no way of knowing who themed what icon.

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Forced themes have been a long time coming. Google has spent the Material You era heavily suggesting developers follow Android design guidelines, and while plenty of app developers have relented, a large percentage of applications have not. While I don’t think the current tinted icons look great per se, it’s taking a page out of Apple’s playbook, which immediately forced themed icons with iOS 18 last year. While it’s doubtful that every app developer will finally follow Google’s lead here, hopefully, those tinted icons will spur certain brands to finally build custom icon support into Android for good.

1. Eagles (last week No. 1; 2-0): They’re finding ways to win, like the Chiefs used to.

2. Bills (No. 2; 2-0): It’s gonna take more than a busted nose to slow Josh Allen down.

3. Packers (No. 3; 2-0): They may not lose one for a while.

4. Ravens (No. 4; 1-1): It’s a lot easier to hold a lead against the Browns than the Bills.

5. Chargers (No. 6; 2-0): Jim Harbaugh had a special birthday cake for Pete Carroll.

6. Buccaneers (No. 8; 2-0): Yes, any team could have signed Baker Mayfield. Twice.

7. Rams (No. 10; 2-0): With a return to Philly on deck, the Rams get a golden opportunity to do what they almost did in the divisional round.

8. Commanders (No. 5; 1-1): Jayden Daniels took way too many hits at Lambeau Field.

9. Lions (No. 11; 1-1): Maybe the Lions should treat every game like a “must” win.

10. Chiefs (No. 7; 0-2): The Chiefs need to reload around Patrick Mahomes. Or maybe rebuild.

11. Broncos (No. 9; 1-1): Another year, another field-goal blunder costs the Broncos a win.

12. 49ers (No. 16; 2-0): Mac Jones might play his way into another chance to be a starter.

13. Colts (No. 17; 2-0): They’re all alone in first place in the AFC South. Just like no one expected.

14. Bengals (No. 14; 2-0): Jake Browning’s job is a lot easier with Ja’Marr Chase on the team.

15. Texans (No. 13; 0-2): Can’t be an elite team until you can beat elite teams.

16. Seahawks (No. 19; 1-1): The Seahawks out-Steelered the Steelers.

17. Steelers (No. 15; 1-1): They can’t lose games they should win, not with so many games on the schedule they should lose.

18. Cardinals (No. 20; 2-0): This weekend in Santa Clara, we’ll find out whether the Cardinals are ready to contend.

19. Cowboys (No. 21; 1-1): Brandon Aubrey the Cowboy is the closest thing we’ve seen to Gus the donkey.

20. Falcons (No. 22; 1-1): With all they’ve invested in the quarterback position, it makes sense that the running game and the defense carried them in Minnesota.

21. Vikings (No. 12; 1-1): The air came out of the balloon quickly.

22. Raiders (No. 23; 1-1): Tom Brady was finally able to attend a game. Based on what he saw, he likely prefers it when he’s not.

23. Patriots (No. 24; 1-1): Can they win consecutive games for the first time in nearly three years?

24. Jaguars (No. 25; 1-1): Liam Coen is already learning how to act like a seasoned coach — blame the media for noticing the dysfunction coming from his own team.

25. Titans (No. 26; 0-2): The wins will come when the schedule softens a little bit.

26. Bears (No. 18; 0-2): On Friday, Ben Johnson didn’t want to talk about the Vikings game. By Sunday night, he probably would’ve preferred it.

27. Giants (No. 31; 0-2): It’ll be hard to pivot to Jaxson Dart after the way Russell Wilson played in Dallas.

28. Jets (No. 27; 0-2): Hopefully, Woody Johnson will give his new regime the time it needs.

29. Saints (No. 30; 0-2): Spencer Rattler is now 0-8 as a starter.

30. Panthers (No. 29; 0-2): As it turns out, not being consistently blown out down the stretch didn’t mean they’d be ready to contend in 2025.

31. Browns (No. 28; 0-2): The Dillon Gabriel era inches closer.

32. Dolphins (No. 32; 0-2): Tick. Tick. Tick.

A judge in New York state has dismissed two terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione, the alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Judge Gregory Carro also ruled a charge of second-degree against Mangione could stand during a hearing on Tuesday morning.

He said prosecutors had failed to establish that there was enough evidence to justify the terrorism-related murder charges that they sought against Mangione.

Mangione is accused of gunning down Thompson on a busy Manhattan street in December last year.

In a written ruling, Carro said that the allegations against Mangione did not meet the definition of terrorism under state law.

Although prosecutors argued that writings left by Mangione demonstrated a terrorism motive, the judge said they failed to show that the suspect intended to put political pressure on the government or terrorise the general population – key provisions of New York’s terrorism law which was passed in the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks.

“There was no evidence presented that the defendant made any demands of government or sought any particular governmental policy change, let alone that he did so by intimidation or coercion,” Carro wrote in his ruling.

The first-degree murder charge that was dismissed would have carried a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

If convicted of the remaining second-degree murder charge, Mangione faces a minimum sentence of 15 to 25 years in prison. He has also been charged with weapons and forgery crimes.

And in addition to the New York state criminal proceedings, Mangione also faces federal murder charges, which could lead to the death penalty.

Carro rejected the defence team’s request to delay the state trial until the conclusion of Mangione’s federal trial.

During the hearing on Tuesday the judge ruled that trial hearings would begin on 1 December.