Google could soon give your profile a subtle 'Aura' upgrade, but only if you pay

Icons across Google’s Workspace apps recently underwent a sweeping change, replacing the older rainbow-colored icons with more 3D, gradient-based ones. This gradient, which we see in abundance across anything related to Gemini, is a marker of AI inclusion in these apps. And since the icon rollout is already complete, similar changes inside apps are now in order, and Google may be starting with the account switcher, which is set to bring a new “Aura” around your profile photo.

Google is now looking to swap out the color accents around in the account switcher. This colored ring, comprising red, yellow, green, and blue, currently shows around your profile image in the account switcher if you’re a Google One or AI Pro/Ultra subscriber.

Instead of the segmented ring, Google is currently testing a blue halo with a subtle gradient that resembles Gemini’s icon. We spotted a reference to RING_TYPE_G1_PREMIUM_AURA in the Google apps’ code, and it likely refers to this new variant that we were also able to view, as you can see in the images below.

This change, however, isn’t live right now, but when it is, we expect it to be consistent across all Google apps. There’s a possibility that Google continues using the existing “Aura” ring for Google One subscribers while bringing the blue one for Google AI subscribers. But we’ll have to wait until the change is officially rolled out.

There’s a good chance we get to see this new halo, along with the more compact account switcher UI, which is also being tested across different Google apps.