In macOS 27 Golden Gate, Apple quietly reversed one of the most controversial changes that appeared in macOS 26 Tahoe.
According to developer Nikita Prokopov, Apple has removed most of the small icons that were placed next to items in the application's menu bar.
Previously, macOS 26 Tahoe was the first version to add icons to most menu items in Apple applications. However, this change quickly received mixed reactions.
Many designers and programmers believe that the icons appear too densely, lack consistency and are sometimes difficult to understand if only looking at images.
Some applications even use different icons for the same function, making the experience more confusing instead of more intuitive.
The wave of protests was so strong that some third-party developers used open source code to disable these icons by default in their applications.
On macOS 27 Golden Gate, Apple has changed the approach. The icons only appear in truly necessary cases, such as frequently used operations, locations in the file system or connected devices.
Apple has also updated the Developer User Interface Guide, recommending using icons in the menu economically and purposefully.
This move is seen as one of the signs that Apple is listening to feedback from the user community and developers after controversies related to the design on macOS 26 Tahoe.
Currently, macOS 27 Golden Gate is being released as a developer beta. The public beta version is expected to be released next month before being officially released in the fall of this year.
