Published on December 28, 2021, 08:39
You no longer have to stare at a grid of icons every time you unlock your iPhone. Apple has finally given you the ability to customize your home screen layout. Instead of just repositioning the icons, you can remove them completely using the App Library. And with a huge catalog of home screen widgets, you can add more than just apps, too.
But iPhone personalization goes much further. By combining shortcuts with custom icons and widgets, you can give your iPhone a radically different look. Here's how to start making your iPhone yours.
First, grab some icons
First of all, you need to grab images to use as icons. There are many places to find icons on the web, just search for "iOS icons" or "iPhone icons" and dig around to find what works for you. Read also: Nintendo Switch promo: many essential games at -20% today. Some are free, others (like Traf's popular minimalist icons) are a bit pricey, so take the time to research.
Once you find a set you like, you'll want to add the icons to your Photos library. On your iPhone, long-press an image and choose "Add to Photos". If you have a Mac, you can drag the images into your Photos app and access them on your iPhone.
Next, minimize your apps and home screens.
Apart from hiding apps, Apple has given users the ability to hide apps and even entire home screens so they can clean things up quickly. To hide an entire home screen, press an empty part of the home screen until the apps start hopping. Then tap the pages icon above the dock. See article: Xiaomi could activate remote censorship on its phones. Images of all your home screens appear, and you can tap the circle under any of them to show or hide it. If you want to remove an icon, long press until the menu appears, then tap Remove app. On the next screen, tap Remove from Home screen.
Use shortcuts to replace apps
To replace all your app icons with your own designs, you need to replace the current apps on your home screen with shortcuts. See also: Back Tap: The best iPhone feature you're not using.
Related to this article:Black Friday 2021: The Dell Tomtoc Thumb Case will also be on sale on AmazonOpen the Shortcuts application (it is installed on your iPhone).
Tap the + button in the top right to create a new shortcut.
Touch the word App and select the app you want to open with this shortcut.
Tap the settings icon in the top right and select Add to Home Screen.
Give your shortcut a name (app name is a good idea).
Tap the image to the left of the name and select Choose Photo. Select the image from your Photos library that you want to use as the new icon. (If you want a real icon photo, download one to your Mac and upload it to Photos.
Tap Add in the top right, and you'll see a pop-up telling you that the shortcut has been added to the home screen.
Back on your home screen, you can see your new shortcut. If the original app icon is still on the home screen, long-press it, choose Delete app, then Move to app library to remove it from your home screen .
Repeat this process for each app you want to keep on your home screen, and remove all others, leaving them in your app library.
There are three caveats to be aware of when replacing your apps with shortcuts in this way. First, you won't get those little red notification badges in the corner of your shortcuts like real apps do. Second, when you launch an app from a shortcut, you'll first see a short shortcut banner notification before the app launches. Finally, you'll lose the ability to long-press the app icon to access the quick actions it has, because the shortcut won't have them.
To match your custom app icons, you will need custom widgets. New apps like Widgetsmith and Color Widgets are popular options.
You'll use the app to design your own widgets, choosing what information they'll display, fonts, colors, borders, and more. Once you've created your widgets, it's time to add them to your home screen.
Press and hold any empty area on your home screen until you enter "jiggle mode".
Tap the + sign at the top left of the screen.
Related to this article:Tesla Review: The 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 is better than the Tesla Model 3 in drivingSelect the Widgetsmith or Color Widgets app (or whatever custom widgets app you used) and the size of the widget you created.
Position the widget on the home screen and, while it's still in hip mode, tap it to change its options – you may need to choose the particular widget you customized.
Tap Done in the top right to exit hip hop mode.
There are limits to what you can do with custom widgets at this time, but the capabilities of these apps continue to expand.
If you're willing to accept the limitations of using shortcuts to launch your apps and using custom widgets, you can create truly unique home screens!
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I've written professional articles on technology for my entire adult working life – over 20 years. I enjoy understanding how complex technology works and explaining it in a way everyone can understand.