Ares Light: Pastel Icon Pack

In the vast, often chaotic universe of Android customization, finding a cohesive, polished, and truly beautiful icon pack is akin to discovering a rare gem. While the Google Play Store is flooded with thousands of icon packs—ranging from the garish and neon-soaked to the dark and brooding—there is a distinct scarcity of high-quality packs that master the delicate art of subtlety. Enter Ares Light: Pastel Icon Pack, a masterpiece by the renowned One4Studio.

This article serves as a comprehensive deep dive into Ares Light, exploring its design philosophy, its place within the broader Android customization ecosystem, its features, and why it stands out as a “must-have” for digital aesthetes. Whether you are a seasoned “themer” using Nova Launcher or a casual user looking to freshen up your Samsung One UI, this review will detail why Ares Light might just be the last icon pack you ever need to buy.

The Art of Android Customization

Before dissecting the specific merits of Ares Light, it is essential to understand the landscape it occupies. Android’s greatest strength has always been its malleability. Unlike the rigid “walled garden” of its competitor, Android allows users to fundamentally alter the interface of their device. The icon pack is the cornerstone of this personalization. It is the most visible element of the user interface, the primary touchpoint for every interaction.

However, consistency is the holy grail of UI design, and it is here that stock Android often stumbles. Icons from different developers come in various shapes—circles, squares, free-forms, and teardrops. This visual cacophony can make even a flagship device feel cluttered.

Icon packs solve this by enforcing uniformity. But Ares Light goes a step further. It doesn’t just enforce a shape; it enforces a mood. By adopting a specific pastel color palette and a uniform “squircle” shape, it brings a sense of calm, organized elegance to the home screen that stock icons simply cannot achieve.

The One4Studio Pedigree

Ares Light is not a standalone experiment by an unknown developer. It is part of a celebrated lineage created by One4Studio. If you are active in the Android customization community (r/androidthemes, Twitter/X design circles), the name One4Studio carries weight. They are the minds behind the massively popular One4Wall wallpaper app and other top-tier icon packs like Vera, Lena, and the original Ares.

Understanding this pedigree is crucial for a prospective buyer. When you purchase Ares Light, you aren’t just buying a set of PNG files; you are buying into a commitment of quality. One4Studio is known for:

1. Long-term Support: They don’t abandon their packs after a few months.
2. High-Quality Vectors: Icons that look crisp on the highest resolution displays (QHD+ and beyond).
3. Cohesive Ecosystems: Their icon packs often pair perfectly with their widget packs and wallpapers.

Ares Light is the “light mode” sibling in the Ares family, which also includes Ares (colorful), Ares Dark (dark mode), Ares Black (AMOLED), and Ares Arctic (transparent).

Design Philosophy: A Symphony of Pastels and Squircles

The visual identity of Ares Light is built on two pillars: the Squircle shape and the Pastel color palette.

The Squircle Supremacy

The “squircle”—a mathematical intermediate between a square and a circle—is widely regarded as the most pleasing shape for UI elements. It offers the uniformity of a square, allowing for maximum use of space, but with the soft, approachable corners of a circle.

Ares Light utilizes a perfectly balanced squircle canvas for every single icon. This uniformity is transformative. When you open your app drawer after applying Ares Light, the jagged, uneven grid of stock icons is replaced by a satisfyingly aligned grid of soft squares. It mimics the uniformity of iOS but retains the customization spirit of Android.

The Pastel Palette

Color theory plays a massive role in why Ares Light feels so “premium.” Standard app icons often compete for attention using maximum saturation—Facebook’s deep blue, Netflix’s bright red, Spotify’s neon green. When placed together, these high-saturation colors can clash, creating visual noise.

Ares Light de-saturates these colors, shifting them into a pastel spectrum.

• Red becomes a soft coral or salmon.
• Blue becomes a calming sky or powder blue.
• Green shifts to a mint or sage hue.
• Yellow softens to a cream or banana tone.

The background of each icon is a very pale, almost white pastel shade that hints at the color of the original brand, while the glyph (the symbol inside) uses a slightly darker, more vibrant version of that same color. This creates a “light-on-light” aesthetic that is incredibly airy and clean. It is specifically designed for light setups, making it the perfect companion for minimal, white, or nature-inspired wallpapers.

The Glyph Design

On top of this pastel squircle sits the glyph. One4Studio has opted for a style that balances minimalism with recognizability. They don’t strip the icon down to abstract nonsense; they keep the core identity of the app (the Instagram camera, the Twitter bird, the Chrome wheel) but redraw it with clean, vector lines. The glyphs are centered and sized perfectly to allow “breathing room” between the symbol and the edge of the squircle.

Features Deep Dive

A premium icon pack is defined not just by how it looks, but by how it functions. Ares Light is packed with features that justify its price tag.

1. The Icon Library

As of early 2026, the Ares series is mature. While new apps launch every day, Ares Light covers a massive library of thousands of apps.

• Popular Apps: All major social media, Google apps, Samsung system apps, and popular tools are themed.
• Niche Apps: One4Studio is surprisingly good at covering region-specific apps (banking apps from Europe/Asia, niche podcast players, etc.).
• Consistency: Every icon is handcrafted. There are no “batch-processed” icons here where a filter is just slapped over the original logo.

2. Alternate Icons

One of the most underrated features of Ares Light is the inclusion of “Alternative” icons.

• Style Choices: Don’t like the official logo for Reddit? Ares Light likely offers 4 or 5 different versions—some using the alien mascot, others using a simplified “R”, and others with different color variants.
• System Drawers: There are generic icons for “App Drawer,” “Search,” and “Settings” that allow you to customize your dock to look exactly how you want.
• Folder Icons: The pack includes specific icons meant to be used for folders (e.g., a “Social” icon, a “Games” icon), which keeps your home screen looking organized.

3. Dynamic Calendar Support

Ares Light supports dynamic calendar icons for all major launchers. This means the icon for your calendar app (Google Calendar, Samsung Calendar, etc.) changes every day to display the current date. It’s a small detail, but one that breaks the immersion if missing. The design of the calendar icons is particularly nice, often resembling a clean, physical desk calendar.

4. Wallpapers Included

Inside the dashboard app for Ares Light, users will find a curated selection of wallpapers. These aren’t just random stock photos; they are cloud-based wallpapers specifically chosen or created to complement the pastel aesthetic of the icons. You can expect abstract geometric shapes, soft gradients, and minimal landscapes that ensure the white/pastel icons don’t get lost in the background.

5. KWGT Widget Synergy

While Ares Light is primarily an icon pack, One4Studio also produces One4KWGT. The design language of Ares Light pairs flawlessly with these widgets. Even if you don’t buy the separate widget pack, the Ares Light dashboard often recommends or includes a few matching widgets to get you started, ensuring your clock and weather widgets match the soft vibe of your icons.

The Dashboard App: Blueprint for Success

Ares Light uses a customized dashboard application (likely based on the industry-standard “Blueprint” by Jahir Fiquitiva). This app is the hub for everything related to the icon pack.

• Home: Shows the latest changelog (new icons added in the last update) and a quick “Apply” button.
• Icons: A searchable grid of every icon in the pack. This is incredibly useful for manual selection. If an app isn’t automatically themed, you can search for a similar icon here and apply it manually.
• Request: This is arguably the most important section. It scans your device for installed apps that don’t have an icon yet and allows you to select them and send a request to the developer.
• Wallpapers: A gallery to browse, download, and apply the included wallpapers.

The dashboard is smooth, responsive, and adheres to Material Design guidelines, making the setup process painless.

Icon Requests: The Free vs. Premium Model

No icon pack covers every single app on the Play Store. The “Icon Request” feature is how developers bridge that gap. Ares Light offers two tiers of requests:

1. Free Requests: Every user can send a limited number of free requests (usually 5 to 10) per update cycle. These requests go into a massive pool. The developer usually picks the most requested apps from this pool to theme in the next update. This is great for popular apps that just haven’t been covered yet.

2. Premium Requests: For users who are impatient or use very niche apps (like a local school app or a specific smart home controller), Ares Light offers Premium Requests. This is a paid add-on (via in-app purchase) that guarantees your requested icons will be themed in the very next update.

• Why pay? It supports the developer and ensures your home screen is 100% complete.
• Turnaround: One4Studio is famous for their speed. Premium requests are often fulfilled within 1-2 weeks.

Launcher Compatibility and Setup

Ares Light is just a set of assets; it requires a compatible “Launcher” to apply them.

Fully Supported Launchers:

• Nova Launcher: The gold standard. Ares Light works perfectly here, supporting icon normalization, masking, and dynamic calendars.
• Niagara Launcher: The minimalist’s choice. Ares Light looks stunning in Niagara’s vertical list format.
• Lawnchair: The open-source hero. Full support.
• Smart Launcher 6: Great integration with its automatic categorization.

OEM Launchers (Samsung, OnePlus, etc.): In recent years, stock launchers have improved.

• Samsung One UI: You can apply Ares Light using Samsung’s Theme Park (part of the Good Lock module). This applies the pack system-wide, even in the stock launcher.
• OnePlus / Nothing OS: These launchers now natively support changing icon packs from the settings menu.

How to Apply:

1. Install Ares Light.
2. Open the Ares Light Dashboard app.
3. Tap “Apply.”
4. Select your launcher from the list.
5. Confirm. Alternatively, you can go into your launcher’s settings (e.g., Nova Settings > Look & Feel > Icon Style > Icon Theme) and select Ares Light.

Comparison: Ares Light vs. The Field

How does Ares Light compare to other titans in the “Pastel” genre?

Ares Light vs. Borealis: Borealis is a legend, but it uses a square shape with rounded corners (not a true squircle) and the colors are slightly more vibrant/neon. Ares Light is softer, more desaturated, and the squircle shape is more uniform. Ares feels more “modern iOS,” while Borealis feels more “Material Design 2.0.”

Ares Light vs. Crayons: Crayons is another pastel pack, but it is “shapeless” (icons follow the shape of the object). Ares Light’s advantage is uniformity. If you hate jagged edges in your app drawer, Ares Light wins hands down.

Ares Light vs. Ares (Original): The original Ares pack has much stronger, deeper colors. If you use dark mode or colorful wallpapers, the original Ares is better. Ares Light is specifically engineered for Light Mode setups. Using Ares Light on a black wallpaper can look high-contrast and cool, but it shines brightest on white, cream, or soft grey backgrounds.

User Experience and Community Reception

With a rating consistently hovering around 4.9/5 stars, user reception is overwhelmingly positive.

What Users Love:

• “Eye Candy”: Reviews frequently mention that the icons look “delicious” or “soothing.” The lack of harsh colors makes looking at the phone less stressful.
• The “Squircle” Consistency: Users migrating from iOS often find this pack makes Android feel more familiar and polished.
• Developer Activity: One4Studio is active on Twitter and Telegram. Users appreciate seeing “Last Updated: 3 days ago” on the Play Store.

Common Critiques:

• Price: At roughly $3.49 (depending on region), it is on the premium end of the spectrum. However, most users agree the quality justifies the cost.
• Light Backgrounds: Some users find that on pure white wallpapers, the light background of the icons can lack contrast. It is recommended to use wallpapers with slight textures or off-white shades.

Pros and Cons Summary

Verdict: Is Ares Light Worth It?

In a word: Absolutely.

Ares Light: Pastel Icon Pack is not just a collection of images; it is a design overhaul for your digital life. In an era where we spend hours staring at our screens, the visual quality of that interface matters. Ares Light reduces visual clutter, softens the harsh digital edges, and brings a sense of calm sophistication to your device.

If you are a fan of light mode, minimal setups, or simply want your Android phone to look as polished (if not more so) than the latest iPhone, Ares Light is the investment to make. The combination of the “Squircle” uniformity and the One4Studio quality guarantee makes it one of the top 5 icon packs currently available on the Google Play Store.