Reddit's new iOS app icon is this ugly pixelated thing

Reddit's new pixel art icon, showing a white oval-faced alien character with an antenna on an orange-red background.

Reddit has changed its iOS app icon into a pixelated abomination, and is making users pay if they want anything close to the old one back.

As spotted by 9to5Mac, Reddit's latest iOS app update has switched out its OrangeRed default icon for a pixel-art illustration of its alien mascot's head. Previously, Reddit's OrangeRed icon was a smooth, unpixelated head in an orange circle, set on a white background. Now the app appears to be using the same name for an arguably lesser image.

The new icon might be cute if you've already put in the time and effort to apply a retro aesthetic across your entire phone. But among most people's collection of default icons, Reddit's new aesthetic just looks bad.

Fortunately, Reddit app users can change their icon. Unfortunately, free users aren't exactly spoiled for choice. Aside from the new OrangeRed, they can currently select one of two icons: An illustration of the Doge meme aptly called Doge, or the Reddit alien's head with sunglasses and blonde hair in an illustration called Wall Street.

A closer analogue to the previous OrangeRed icon would be "Original," a white alien head on an orange background. However, this option is only available to users who shell out for paid subscription service Reddit Premium, which will set you back at least $5.99 per month or $49.99 per year. It costs $6.99 per month or $59.99 per year if you subscribe through the iOS app, likely to account for Apple's 30 percent cut on in-app purchases.

The app icon change doesn't appear to have impacted Android devices. As of writing, the Reddit app's Google Play page is still displaying the smooth original icon. Even so, it's probably only a matter of time before it's replaced by its ugly, old-school sibling.

Reddit has been rolling out unpopular changes at such a quick rate that it's almost rivalling Twitter. Last week it deleted users' chat logs dating back years, and announced that it's retiring the Reddit Gold awards and coins system without having anything to replace it yet. Prior to this, Reddit began charging third-party developers for access to its application programming interface (API), causing popular apps such as Apollo to shut down and prompting ongoing widespread protests.