When Apple announced iOS 18 at WWDC 2024 in June, it hinted that it would bring much more flexibility to the iPhone home screen.
Now that iOS 18 is available, you’re no longer limited to layouts and colors dictated by Apple and app creators. You can now change these yourself, bringing even more color and freedom to your device.
If you want to know how to customize your iPhone home screen in iOS 18, you’ve come to the right place. From creating a new layout to shading your app icons in an entirely new tone, here are the steps you need to take to add a little more personality to your home screen. Even better, each method is very easy to understand, so you can start using them right away.
Tools and requirements
easy steps
- To start editing, touch and hold a blank area of your home screen until the icons start shaking, or hold down any app and select Edit Home Screen
- Tap Edit in the top left corner of the screen
- Add widgets, edit pages, and customize your home screen using the drop-down menu. We will focus on the latter using the method described below.
How to color app icons
1. Enter edit mode
(Image: ©Future)
beginning, Long press on a blank space on your iOS home screen.. Or you can also do Long press the app icon and select “Edit Home Screen” from the menu that appears. Either way, the app icon will start shaking. now, Tap the edit button in the top right corner of the screen Select Customize.
2. Select colored
In the menu that appears, colored button in the bottom right corner. Tap on it.
3. Customize using sliders
Two sliders will appear. The top part is for app and widget colors, and the bottom part adjusts the color intensity. Try playing around with the slider Until you find your favorite color combination. You’ll see your apps and widgets update in real time.
4. Tap the eyedropper
(Image: © Future / Alex Blake)
Tap the eyedropper icon It’s in the top right corner of the menu. All apps and widgets will disappear and an eyedropper overlay will appear over your wallpaper. move this around the screen – When you let go, the selected color will be applied to the app icon.
How to switch app icons to dark mode
1. Enter edit mode
(Image: ©Future)
As before, Long press on the iOS home screen If you make the icon shake, Tap the edit buttonfollowed by customization.
2. Switch between light mode and dark mode
At the bottom of the menu that appears, there are several buttons that can be used to: Switch app icons between light and dark mode: Light, Dark, Auto. Naturally, using the “light” and “dark” buttons will cause the icon to always adopt a light or dark appearance. It switches automatically whenever your iPhone enters or enters dark mode.
3. Tap the sun-shaped icon
In the upper left corner of this menu, sun shape icon. Tap this to Background changes independently between light and dark modes of the app icon. This allows, for example, the wallpaper to be dark but the icons to be bright.
How to use grid layout
1. Enter jiggle mode
(Image: ©Future)
Long press on the home screen Enter jiggle mode, but this time I don’t want to tap the edit button. just Icons keep shaking on the screen.
2. Move the icon
now, Move the app icon or widget anywhere on your home screen. Unlike iOS 17 and earlier, you can: Place the icon by itself in an empty space. Icons will still snap to the hidden grid, but you’ll have more flexibility in where you place them.
How to remove app labels
1. Touch and hold a blank area.
(Image: ©Future)
Long press on a blank area of the iOS home screen. and Tap the edit button in the upper left corner Select Customize.
2. Tap “Large” or “Small”
At the bottom of the screen,[小]and[大]You can see that there are two tabs. Tap Large to increase the size of the app icon and remove the label. If you do that, Tap anywhere on the screen or swipe down on the menu Click to exit edit mode.
Additional Information
The home screen isn’t the only thing you can customize with iOS 18. You now have a lot more freedom to customize Control Center to your liking, and you can also change which tools appear on your iOS lock screen.
However, the home screen is probably where you have the most room to add your personal touch. While you could achieve much the same results in previous iOS versions, primarily using third-party apps like Widgetsmith, having these controls built into iOS makes the whole process easier.
