Material You and dynamic theming arrived with Android 12, and Gmail was one of the first apps to receive support for it. Still, Google did miss one detail. That detail is the Gmail icon in the notification shade, but Google corrected its mistake, and finally pushed dynamic theming to that particular part of the app.
Gmail icon is finally getting the dynamic theming treatment from Google
The Gmail icon was always red in combination with either white or black, depending on your theme (light or dark). Now, the black and white outline for the Gmail logo remains untouched, but the background will get changed based on your wallpaper or settings.
The red part of the icon (the background), will change color, as shown by Android Police in the images below. That change will be visible in the notification shade, not the status bar, by the way, of course.
This change is a part of the latest Gmail app update
This change has been rolled out as part of Gmail app version 2023.05.28.54044.3362. That update should have landed on your device already, if it did not, it will soon enough, as it’s rolling out widely.
This is just a small change, but it will be noticeable from the notification shade. Reactions to this change go both ways, actually. I’ve seen people complaining about it on Twitter, and also praising Google for finally pushing this change out.
Some people got so used to the red+black/white combo for Gmail that they don’t want that to change. That is somewhat understandable, as it makes it easier to spot a specific notification if it’s always the same color.
Still, Material You and dynamic theming are Google’s thing now, and it was only a matter of time before this happens. We have no idea why it took Google so long to make the change.