Survey suggests SpongeBob isn’t the problem; Google’s branded Pixel themes are

A large part of Pixel UI’s approachability is its lack of genuine customization options. It sounds counterintuitive, but offering consumers a largely unchangeable, common set of icons, fonts, colors, and unalterable details breeds familiarity for general users. For power users, however, it can be pretty frustrating.

Google tried to address this late last year, rolling out what it believed would be a welcome splash of magic (and advertising, no doubt) with its limited-time Wicked theme pack — the first of many, it would seem. More recently, it also rolled out a Spongebob Squarepants themed-option. Complete with wallpapers, ringtones, alarm tones, and GIFs, this pack transformed supported Pixels into Android phones under the sea. Some of us loved it, and no more than my colleague Zac Kew-Denniss.

Zac wrote about the theme pack’s demise next month and also wondered whether readers really felt the same level of excitement and nostalgia. So, as usual, we ran a survey.

Despite numerous comments calling the article’s subject matter ridiculous, more than 4,000 readers felt they needed to share their opinions on Google’s Pixel SpongeBob SquarePants theme pack.

Interestingly, it turns out a surprisingly large portion of readers are actual super fans. I’d argue that 39.6% of respondents love the idea of spongifying their Pixel phone, lending some credence to Google’s use of popular IP for its theme packs. Around 7.3% are well-versed in SpongeBob lore, while around a third of all respondents are just happy to have some degree of customization on their devices.

Beyond the semi-serious poll options, there’s a clear sentiment across the board: users want Google to give Pixel owners more control over the look and feel of their devices.

Commenter vincentspear offers a measured take for those who don’t necessarily hate SpongeBob, but aren’t convinced by Google’s motives for the theme packs.

Some themes that are more general would be nice. Like forest or water, something like that. Don’t really want my phone to be some advertisement for an IP which is all these themes have been this far.

Commenter meataxe00 echoes this and believes that Google fumbled the execution of its theme pack system.

This new themes feature is the worst implementation of a great idea. Awesome to have custom themes but how many people are actually going to want wicked or SpongeBob themes? Just let 3rd party themes onto playstore. The new custom icons are just as bad. Limited designs and they’re all terrible.

Reader John Dallman has the opposite opinion:

I despise theme packs with every fibre of my body, and every facet of my soul. They are a waste of bandwidth, storage and processor capacity. You have your own personality: use that!

Ultimately, reader simisearing nails the general sentiment on the head.

I just want to be able to customize my phone as much as a Samsung without 3rd party apps. Pixel and Google have all the power to do this but still don’t.

It seems unlikely that Google will ditch the IP-centric theme packs, and given the fairly positive sentiment from our readers regarding the SpongeBob pack, I don’t believe it should. But that’s the pragmatic me speaking. The Pixel owner in me wishes Google would open its theme pack system to third-party developers, or at least include support for icon packs.

For now, we’ll have to settle for the next branded theme pack coming to Pixels soon, potentially courtesy of Harry Potter.