How To Change Home Screen On Iphone Ios 14

How to brand the most of iOS fourteen widgets and iPhone home screen customization

You lot've probably seen the screenshots going around that prove iOS home screens that differ considerably from the stock options that Apple provides. Aye, if you're an Android user you're probably laughing at iPhone owners for finally (nearly) catching up to the customization features they've had for years, but if you're an iOS fan, y'all probably just want to know how to join in. It'southward actually relatively like shooting fish in a barrel — provided you lot've got some time to spare, and you don't mind a few slightly hacky workarounds (don't worry, no jailbreaking required).

Widgets

The big new addition that's prompting all the shared screens beyond social media are domicile screen widgets, which are supported nether iOS xiv for the commencement time. These can exist either first or third-political party, and are included with apps you download from the App Store. In that location are a number of developers who pushed to ensure they were prepare at or almost the launch of iOS, and Sarah has created a growing listing of some of the best for yous to bank check out if y'all're not sure where to starting time.

One of my personal favorite widget apps is Widgetsmith, an app that, as its proper name suggests, was created pretty much entirely for the purpose of making them. It allows y'all a range of customization options, has a number of handy, useful functions, including agenda, weather and clock, and comes with different font choices to all-time suit your fashion. I've ever aimed to create a clean, unmarried-tone look with iOS every bit much as possible, and Widgetsmith is the best I've found so far for creating home screen displays that look similar they're borderless (provided your iOS wallpaper is a solid colour that matches one of those the app supports).

Widgets are great at providing right on your habitation screen (where you lot need it) at-a-glance information that y'all don't typically want to dive into an app to think. Some can shortcut to useful features, like the search widget congenital into Google'due south iOS app, but most are made primarily to reduce the amount of time you spend actually within the apps themselves.

Custom app icons

While Widgets are new, another big component of this customization push is not: the power to create custom home screen icons for iOS apps. That's been around ever since Apple tree introduced its Shortcuts app on iOS a couple of years agone. But many people are discovering the feature for the start time equally a result of the increased attention around home screen customization with the introduction of Widgets in iOS 14.

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Creating custom icons on iOS isn't really doing that, strictly speaking — what you're in fact doing is creating new Shortcuts that trigger the launch of an app, and using a custom image for that bookmark that then lives on your dwelling screen instead.

This is not an platonic solution, because information technology means that A) yous won't have any notification badges on your "apps," and B) the system beginning directs you to Apple's Shortcuts app, which opens for a split-2d before bumping you into the actual app you lot selected for the shortcut.

Apple conspicuously didn't design this Shortcuts feature for this employ (opening a target app is meant to exist the start of a cord of automated actions), but Apple also hasn't really ever seemed interested in letting users cull their own custom icons, so it's the best we can do for now. Luckily, the procedure is relatively simple. Unluckily, at that place are a lot of steps involved, so it's pretty time-consuming to customize your entire home screen.

Here'due south a video of how to do this as simply as possible:

Image Credits: Darrell Etherington

There are some fantastic examples out there of what creative individuals have been able to practise with this, given a petty time and some elbow grease. With more than widget options coming online all the fourth dimension, nosotros've probably simply begun to run into the limits of testing the boundaries of what'south possible nether Apple's rules, besides.