The math of the squircle
Steve Jobs and the rounded rectangle
Why our brains love squircles
YOUR GOAL
Master of Why app icons are squircles
steve Apple developed a highly specific golden ratio grid to help designers align elements inside their squircle icons.
steve Apple shocked the tech world in 2013 by replacing realistic textures with flat, mathematically precise squircle icons.
steve Morph square corners into smooth curves to discover why app icons are becoming squircles.
Skeuomorphism's end: Before squircles, Apple's Game Center app icon looked like a shiny, 3D green felt billiard table, complete with wooden borders.
A four-sided geometric shape featuring straight edges connected by circular arcs at each corner. In 1981, Steve Jobs persuaded Apple engineer Bill Atkinson to code this shape for the Macintosh.
Which Apple engineer wrote the original RoundRect algorithm for the Macintosh in 1981?
Which version of Apple's iOS famously introduced flat design and squircle-shaped app icons?
What design style mimics real-world textures like leather, paper, and wood on digital screens?
What did Steve Jobs point out to convince his engineer that rounded rectangles were essential?