You can now add nostalgic app icons to your iPhone

It's pretty easy, too.
By Anna Iovine  on 
You can now add nostalgic app icons to your iPhone

If you're itching for some nostalgia to bring you back to an era where you didn't have to wear a mask every time you stepped outside, MSCHF — the group behind The Office Slack, the chicken bong, and other cheeky projects — is here for you.

While the outside world may be scary, your phone can at least return to a safer past with MSCHF's Icon Rewind. Open the site on your iPhone (Safari only — sorry Chrome lovers) and follow the instructions from there.

"Nostalgia is a powerful emotion, and one of the most iconic (no pun intended) pieces of nostalgia is old app icons," said Daniel Greenberg, head of strategy at MSCHF. "I cannot tell you how much I miss the old Instagram or Slack icon."

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icon rewind Credit: mschf

Greenberg explained how it worked: "Using progressive web apps, we made a way for you to save the OG icons from the web to your iPhone home screen, and when clicking them, it opens the corresponding app," he said.

While Icon Rewind doesn't replace the updated icon, it does add a #TBT quality to your phone. Remember when the Snapchat's ghost had a face, and when you actually traveled and had things worthy of snapping? Ah, the good old days.

Choose your favorite deep cut for yourself. Greenberg's favorite? "We brought back the Musical.ly app icon that opens TikTok."

anna iovine, a white woman with curly chin-length brown hair, smiles at the camera
Anna Iovine
Associate Editor, Features

Anna Iovine is associate editor of features at Mashable. Previously, as the sex and relationships reporter, she covered topics ranging from dating apps to pelvic pain. Before Mashable, Anna was a social editor at VICE and freelanced for publications such as Slate and the Columbia Journalism Review. Follow her on X @annaroseiovine.


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