I’ve never been a fan of seeing a unique icon for each distinct file type in a code editor’s file browser; it feels distracting, cluttered, and (usually) necessarily means breaking the bounds of an otherwise consistent design language to accommodate the large number of common file types a user might edit.
I’ve personally been content with using just a binary pair of distinguishing plain folder v. file icons in the past. Though I do like the benefit of slight variations on those two base icons for certain things (e.g. md/txt/img file variants or src/dist/build/assets/etc. folder variants ).
While exposing complete control over this to users can be chaotic and have other dev pitfalls, i think a nice feature request would be to allow users to swap one built-in icon with any other built-in icon for certain file type(s)… in a similar way that it’s currently possible to match custom file types to a default syntax.
Perhaps this feature could be extended further with an extension/theme api to allow adding non-built-in, custom icons to the selection of choices when matching to certain file types.
I find the icons introduced in Nova 9 to be particularly ugly, hard to read, and quite distracting (especially the bright yellow JavaScript ones). Would love to be able to use the ones from the Finder or to customize them through an extension.
Yeah and also the JSON and YAML icons look ugly and look out of place to me.
I’d be happy with just a base “script” icon applied to all script types (i.e. same icon for .js, .sh, etc.) and a base “data store” icon (i.e. same icon for .json, .yaml, .ini, etc.)
Speaking of, another related design gripe is the color tab highlight thing where certain file types get a specific color that’s applied to the tab when when active and with the “unsaved changes” indicator dot. That was really confusing at first and, even though I’ve since figured out what those different colors are supposed to indicate, it still feel cluttered, IMO.
I am always here for customization – you have my full support for your request to be able to customize icons.
On the other hand, I’ll go ahead and voice my support for the Nova 9 icons – I like them a lot. They make scanning easier for me, and make me happier than Finder icons. I only wish there were Rust-specific ones. We all have our idiosyncrasies.
One thing I wanted to toss out there is that you can hide the sidebar if you find it distracting (Cmd-Ctrl-B), and lean more heavily on the ‘Open Quickly’ command (Cmd-Shift-O) and other Command Palette commands. I’m trying to get better about using Open Quickly myself.
Hello all! Thank you for your feedback. While we currently have no plans in this area, we will consider the request for an extension API to contribute icons a feature request.
FWIW I am also quite happy with the current set of icons and the use of color throughout. But I am also an avid supporter of customizations in these areas
Here I described a little bit “hacky” way to customize the file icons:
The quintessence is editing the DefaultIcons.json file found under Nova.app → Contents → Resources. Here you could also delete entries and map multiple file endings to the same icon.
Yeah, also it’s pretty frustrating that extensions can offer theoretically good support/integration for any programming or template language, but you still need to look at unsatisfying and confusing blank file icons leaving you back with a feel of bad user experience in a highly graphically polished environment.
We are still having discussions from time to time as to how allowing extensions to contribute icons would be allowed, in a way that allows us to composite them with our standard design to match the built-in icons (likely by the extension providing the “logo” image and color which we then composite into our standard script icon container). While we haven’t had time to fully plan out this feature, it is still something on our minds.
After 4 years “forced” to use other editors, I was happy to be able to come back to Nova. And one of the main reasons is/was the looks
But these file icons are such a departure from the minimal approach of the original ones, of the whole interface… that I landed in this forum/topic trying to recover the quiet look I was after.
They wouldn’t look out of place in an RPG game but against the stylized and geometric shapes of the other icons… Sorry, didn’t expect to be so annoyed by such a tiny detail.
Now my problem is I can’t find DefaultIcons.json file under Nova.app → Contents → Resources . I tried on the most recent build (11.9) and on my old one too (7.5). There’s no DefaultIcons file
Any idea, any help, would be greatly appreciated
OR maybe, someone can point me to the last version before the new icons? Or the last one where DefaultIcons.json is accesible?
Some time after I shared this little trick they sadly “fixed” this and I believe it’s now not possible anymore to change the icons that easily.
However I think it was version 10 when it didn’t work anymore so version 7.5 should actually work.
There is an unmaintained extension created by me which tried to provide a partial solution for this whole icon problem by adding a custom file explorer to the sidebar (tab icons are of course not effected by this) maybe you want to have a look at it since it uses some replicated classic icons for some standard file types: Explorer | Nova Extensions.
Since I switched back to vscode due to typescript performance problems and missing markdown support for language server tooltips I also “ported” the extension over there (meaning to provide a file icon theme using these classic nova icons): Macish Icons - Visual Studio Marketplace
I’m torn on the icons. On the one hand, I kind of like the screen I’m staring at for hours at a time to be more fun than dreary, but on the other, I feel like the high-contrast file browser elements make it more difficult to scan quickly. I wonder if there’s an optimal middle ground here.
Here’s an example of a project in VSCode, Zed, and Nova.
I think my beef isn’t necessarily with the icons, but rather the fact that everything is of equal contrast. It takes slightly less energy to locate the files I’m currently editing with the first two, as their filenames are higher contrast than the muted “untouched” files.
With Nova, I find myself either reading the file names while looking for the (M) icon in the periphery, or looking for the (M) icon first, then shifting over to the file name for confirmation. It’s slightly more work, which makes things feel a little cluttered.
The bright blue folder icons are also all competing for more of my attention than I feel the information they convey deserves. They also seem to serve basically the same function as the arrows, so I’m not sure both are necessary?
Here’s a rough/clumsy comp that touches on some things I wonder might work well:
Minimal folder icons borrowed from the Finder sidebar.
Folder arrows removed
Loss contrasty treatment for unchanged files and folders
Hey, Jo! Thanks a lot for the reply. I had already tried your extension, hehe. But, as you mentioned, the tab icons are not affected
As bryan mentioned in the post after yours, the problem goes beyond “personal taste” in icons. To me, the whole UX for file navigation looks unfinished.
I’ve tried Nova 11.9 for 4 days but it really slows me down. So now I’m trying other code editors
