Why Is The Facebook App Icon Black? Users Speculate About Mysterious Change | Explained

You might have noticed that companies occasionally update the appearance of their apps to catch users' attention. For instance, Duolingo changes its bird icon to look like it's sick or melting if you stop using the app. Recently, some users have observed that Facebook's app icon background has turned black.

For years, the Facebook app has consistently featured the familiar white and blue color scheme associated with the brand.

Although minor updates have occurred over time, Facebook has been notable for maintaining a stable brand identity on users' home screens, unlike other major apps such as Disney+, Netflix, and Instagram, which frequently update their icons. As a result, even a small change in Facebook's icon is likely to attract attention.

This change has sparked curiosity among many, leading them to wonder about the reasons behind the new black icon and whether this update was intentional. Here's what we know about this recent modification.

Why Is The Facebook Icon Black?

While the Facebook icon isn't black for all users, many have observed that the app now appears with a black or dark blue background, with the "F" rendered in a lighter blue. Some users have taken to social media and Reddit to discuss this issue.

A Reddit post titled "What's Wrong With The Facebook Logo?" has garnered numerous responses from users.

One user commented, "The color has become weird with the latest version. I’ve deleted and reinstalled it twice. Still hasn’t fixed issue. Any suggestions?"

"I thought I was tripping, I let my app store do Automatic updates and thought my screen was dying," another user commented."

Others have noticed that the icon’s colors have inverted, featuring a white background with a blue "F." Currently, there is no clear explanation for this change, and it doesn't seem to be related to actions by individual users. Theories suggest that it could be due to a glitch or an intentional update by Facebook.

Some speculate that the change might be connected to new features in iOS 18, which is expected to introduce dark mode options and is currently in beta testing. However, some users are experiencing this change without having updated their phones, adding to the confusion about the true cause of the shift.

The most plausible explanation users have come up with is that the change in the Facebook app's icon is related to an internal update. However, there's no clear reason why the icon now looks different or why Facebook might have decided to implement this change. It remains a mystery, though it appears to be an intentional modification.

One possibility is that Facebook altered the icon's appearance to mark a new event or promotion, or perhaps to simply grab users' attention and spark curiosity. As of now, no official explanation has been provided.

This change represents a more significant departure from Facebook’s previous adjustments, such as the subtle shift in the blue hue of its logo in 2023. That update was universally noticed and applied across the entire user base. In contrast, the current icon change seems more random, and Meta has yet to offer any details about the reason behind it.