How to Add Custom Icons and Widgets to Your iPhone Home Screen

Among the finest methods to personalize your iPhone is so as to add customized icons and tiles of varied styles and sizes for apps, widgets, and folders, wherever on your property screens. You too can swap in pictures you select and design instead of normal icons. This function has been out there since iOS 14, and within the upcoming iOS 16, you can make your custom-made house display change routinely primarily based in your Focus mode, in addition to customise the lock display.

For example of how far you’ll be able to go together with icon customization, one person on Twitter used MS Paint(Opens in a brand new window) to supply amusingly amateur-looking icons. The key right here is the Shortcuts app. Learn on to learn how to create a singular iOS house screens with customized icons and widgets.

Learn how to Create Customized Icons for Your iPhone

Open the Shortcuts app(Opens in a brand new window) in your iPhone and faucet the plus signal (+) within the higher proper nook of the display, which takes you to the New Shortcut web page.

Select Add Motion.

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Faucet on the Scripting icon. (When you’re tempted to click on on Apps, you may solely see actions created by the app maker, akin to beginning a tweet, relatively than simply opening the app.)

Choose Open App, then choose the three-dot menu icon on the prime proper to point out Particulars.

Select Add to Residence Display screen. Faucet the decrease, smaller icon subsequent to the identify of your new shortcut. The default identify is New Shortcut; faucet the circled X to rename it.

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Right here we get to the meat of the tip: The mini Edit Icon menu enables you to select a file, a photograph out of your digital camera roll, or snap an image with the iPhone’s digital camera to exchange the icon.

Faucet Add to Residence Display screen and choose the icon subsequent to your shortcut beneath Residence Display screen Identify and Icon.

Within the pop-up window that seems, choose File, Photograph, or Take Photograph. You’ll be able to crop a picture to customise what is going to present, however fortunately, the picture needn’t be sq. or a particular dimension.

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Faucet Add > Finished.

You’ll be able to see my new icons for Acrobat and AccuWeather. I used Home windows 10’s Paint 3D to create the mock Acrobat icon.

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Observe that whereas it is enjoyable to create customized icons, there are drawbacks. For one, whenever you faucet the customized icon to open the app, you do not go on to the app. As an alternative, the motion first opens the Shortcuts app, which then shunts you to the app you need.

Additionally, you lose any long-press menu choices the official icon offers. For instance, the WhatsApp icon gives beginning a chat or taking an image on an extended faucet. The one choices you get whenever you long-press a customized icon are to delete it (it is referred to as a Bookmark on this menu relatively than an App) or edit the house web page.

Customized icons are enjoyable, however I am much more excited by widgets on the house screens. Including a widget to a house web page is very simple.

Lengthy-tap on the house web page, then faucet the plus signal (+) button on the prime—it is on the left on some iPhone fashions and the suitable for others.

Choose the widget you need. You’ll be able to then scroll by no matter dimension and design selections can be found by swiping to the suitable.

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To choose, press the large blue Add Widget bar alongside the underside of the display. You will have to permit privateness info the app widget requires. That is it! Take pleasure in your new widget.

For extra on iOS customization and different tweaks, learn Hidden iPhone Suggestions and Methods to Make You an iOS Professional.