As I understand it, it's mainly from apps not adhering to the new ICS design standards. I guess they're supposed to be plain white apps that the OS "dims" when not in use.
So if an app already displays a grey notification (or other color) it looks extremely dark.
That's just what I've been hearing in other developer forums, not entirely sure if it's true or not.
That may be, but it still doesn't explain why the icons are so tiny. The status bar is thinner which makes the icons so tiny that they are unreadable unless I pick up the phone and closely look at them. It's easier then to just pull the notification bar down to look at the notifications. It's mostly an issue with the weather app. But it's also an issue with the text messages. I used to be able to just glance at the phone while it was on my desk and see the temp or see the banner of the new text that came in (to see who it was from and if I needed to address it or ignore it for a while.) :angry: