This is not an earth shattering feature but a great example of attention to detail that is involved in the GDR3 update for Windows Phone.

I just happen to notice it this evening while using my phone and I had to go grab my wife’s HTC 8X, which is running GDR2, to see how it looks there to make sure I was not just missing it.

Turns out GDR2 just has the word Start below the Windows Phone Start Screen when you push and hold the Back Button and other open apps just have the app name below the image.

However, on GDR3 the apps icon is also displayed next to the name of the app which is a nice touch.

Here are some screenshots:

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Close up shots:

startscreenicongdr3gdr3appicons

Again, this is not anything more than an additional visual indicator of the app that is being displayed but it shows a connection and a possible useful functionality as this OS begins to be found on larger devices.