How to customize ios 14 home screen

If you’ve seen all the cool custom iOS 14 home screens all over the internet and you want to join in on the fun, you’re in luck because this guide will teach you everything you need to know about the new customization options.

The first thing to understand is that this is purely for aesthetics and will come with some serious drawbacks, including the speed at which your apps open. Beyond that, the change really only applies to the home screen, so other aspects of the OS like System Search and the new App Library are still going to feature the regular app icons.

If that all sounds fine to you, then you’re ready to get started.

Replacing your app icons

The first thing you need to become familiar with is iOS’s Shortcuts app. You’re going to be using this a ton if you want custom app icons, but basically, Shortcuts allow you to accomplish things like setting timers, opening and closing garage doors and more with a single tap. 

The way to get custom app icons is to set a home screen Shortcut to open your app. Then you can select whatever image you want for that app.

The steps involved

1. Open the Shortcuts app and select the ‘Plus’icon
2. Tap on ‘Add Action’
3. Search for and then select ‘Open app’
4. Choose the app you want to replace with a new icon
5. Open the three-dot menu in the upper right
6. Name your Shortcut
7. Tap on ‘Add to Home Screen’
8. Choose your custom image and give the app a name

To demonstrate this, I decided the grey out all of the apps on my home screen, but I’ve seen people make cool Windows 98 and Xbox 360 themes that were much more creative.

The only downside of this is now each time you want to open one of these apps, your phone will open the Shortcuts apps first, drastically slowing down app load time.

Widgets

The custom Widget space is a little less free form since it more or less rests on the shoulders of developers behind apps like Widgetsmith.

If you’ve yet to test out any of the new iOS 14 widgets, I’d suggest starting with those. If you’ve already tried them and you’re not satisfied, download Widgetsmith.

This handy little app allows you to create a ton of new widgets. Some of them are more useful than others, but overall there are a ton of options packed into this app.

Obviously, this isn’t going to cover everyone’s use cases, but the simple fact that it has a custom colour picker should help people match their icons and wallpaper.

Another cool thing it can do is display a single photo that lots of people have been using to tie their custom designs together.

It’s also worth mentioning that you can stack same-sized widgets on top of one another to create your own stacks.

The steps involved

Once you get into the app, you’re presented with six widget canvases. Choose a size and then tap on the widget once on the next screen to start tweaking it.

The ‘Style’ section is where you select what the widget will look like. Some of the others like ‘Font’ and colour are self-explanatory, but I will mention that you need to scroll to the bottom of the colour picker to find the custom option.

The same goes for ‘Background colour’ and ‘Border colour’ if you choose to edit those too.

Once you’ve built the widget of your dreams, head over to the home screen and start rearranging it. Tap on the ‘plus’ icon in the top left and choose Widgetsmith.

From there, select the size of the widget you customized and place it where you want.

Once you’ve placed it, you can hold on it to edit. Editing is where you select your custom widget from the list of widget canvases.

Once you’re done, hopefully, you’re looking at a really cool iPhone home screen. The only question will be how long you can deal with the annoying app opening times and design inconsistencies.

Since the release of Apple's iOS 14 in 2020, you've had the ability to customize your iPhone's home screen. So instead of using the boring default design that everyone else has, you can create home-screen themes filled with your own unique app icons and widgets.

When paired with a custom wallpaper, personalized themes can create quite an aesthetic effect. Also, with Focus Mode you can design completely unique home screens for different locations or times of the day.

Setting up these custom widgets and app icons requires two iPhone apps -- one lesser-known native app and one third-party app that's free in the App Store. Read on to learn how to customize your home screen.

For more, learn how to optimize your iPhone's performance and seven ways to Android-ify your iPhone.

How to change your app icons on your iPhone

The applications that live on the home screen have their own logos, but you can use a native iOS feature to change the look of any app icon:

1. Open the Shortcuts app on your iPhone (it's already preinstalled).
2. Tap the plus icon in the top right corner.
3. Select Add Action.
4. In the search bar, type Open app and select the Open App action.
5. Next, tap App and select the app you want to customize.
6. Then tap the downward-facing arrow next to Open App at the top.
7. From the menu, tap Add to Home Screen.
8. Where it says Home Screen Name and Icon, rename the shortcut to anything you'd like.
9. Next, go into your web browser of choice and find a new icon image. You can search for something like "Facebook icon aesthetic." When you find an image you like, save it to your photos.
10. Go back to the Shortcuts app and tap the icon under Home Screen Name and Icon. Select Choose Photo and tap on the image you just saved. You can zoom in or out on the image. Tap Choose.
11. Finally, hit Add. 

Now you have a customized app on your phone (it's actually a bookmark). You can delete the original app from your home screen, but you'll easily be able to find it in your App Library.

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Customize the widgets on your iPhone home screen

Apps aren't the only think you can customize. With the help of this third-party app, you can also add a little flavor to your widgets:

1. Download the Widgetsmith app on your iPhone.
2. In the app, select the size of the widget you'd like to customize -- your options are small, medium and large.
3. Tap the widget to customize it. You can change the font and colors. Go back once you're done and tap Save.
4. Go to your home screen and hold and press down anywhere on the screen.
5. Once you're in edit mode, tap the plus icon in the top left corner and search for Widgetsmith. Tap the icon.
6. Select the widget size you'd like to add to your home screen and tap Add Widget.
7. You can change the widget by pressing down on the app and selecting Edit Widget. That's all! Now your home screen has different-size icons for a customized look. 

You can create widgets for certain features and applications, including photos, time, date, Weather (paid), Health, battery, Calendar, Reminders, tides (paid), and astronomy.

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