Earlier this week, Apple made several big announcements at its annual developer seminar, the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Among the major announcements were iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence.
iOS 18 is one of the most interesting updates, thanks to the new home screen customization features, all-new control center, and Apple Intelligence features. For customization lovers, Apple introduces several new features this year that allow you to personalize your phone aesthetically, making it truly your own.
You can already customize your iPhone’s lock screen the way you want and now it’s the time for your iPhone’s home screen. Let’s explore the new capabilities of iOS 18’s home screen customization.
Rearrange The Home Screen
Apple has finally introduced the ability to place icons anywhere on the iOS 18 home screen grid. Previously, users were restricted in to place app icons or widgets in any open space on the grid, but with iOS 18, this limitation has been removed, bringing a new level of customization capabilities to the home screen.
Users can now arrange apps and widgets in any open space on the Home Screen, including placing them right above the dock for easy access or perfectly framing a wallpaper.
Apple
If you want to rearrange the app icons on your iOS 18 home screen, then simply press and hold any app icon, once you enter the jiggle mode, move the icon and place it anywhere you want.
If you are an Android user who has been wondering, “Seriously, iPhone users couldn’t place icons anywhere until now?” — Android has had this feature for over a decade. But now it’s a iPhone time to shine, let them celebrate this new addition.
Theme Engine
Apple has added a new theme engine to iOS, this new theme engine can change the colors of app icons and widgets on the home screen. There are four options to choose from – automatic, dark, light, and tinted. Additionally, users can now choose between two new app icon size options: small and large.
Apple introduced new Dark theme icons to the iOS, you can select the Dark option in the theme engine to apply the new effect. Currently, this theming option is limited to default Apple apps and widgets, with the App Store being an exception. Additionally, a new wallpaper tint option is available, which applies a black tint to the background, enhancing the visibility of icons.
Light mode is nothing but the original theme which we have been using for years. Automatic, as the name suggests, will automatically change the icons’ colors based on Light or Dark appearance.
Tinted icons are the main attractions of the new theme engine, allowing you to choose any color for home screen app icons and widgets to match your wallpaper. This functionality is similar to the new Dark theme, offering the ability to change the icon’s foreground color.
Currently, the new Tinted feature works great with the first-party Apple apps and widgets, there are some third-party apps that support the new customization feature, but most unsupported apps and widgets look ugly and will ruin your home screen.
Update After Second Beta – The second beta of iOS 18 improves the contrast of tinted icons for several apps, including Maps. Additionally, the App Store icon gets support for the tint feature. The tinted wallpaper toggle kicks in automatically on the second beta. However, the feature remains quite buggy, and further incremental updates will be necessary for refinement.
I’ve personally tested the new theme engine and Tinted option and also seen many rough home screen customizations shared by users across social media platforms. I would say you can use the new Tinted app icons can enhance the appearance of your home screen, they may also result in less visually appealing outcomes in many cases. Opting for select bright colors can often render widgets unreadable and look ugly.
Google introduced the Dynamic Theming feature, Material You, to Android with Android. Meanwhile, iOS 18 introduces the Tinted feature, which changes the color of icons and widgets. Material You on Android not only changes the color theme across the device but also applies to default apps, settings, app icons, navigation bar, and widgets.
I feel the Material You icons appear more visually appealing compared to iOS 18’s tinted icons. What are your thoughts on these two different theme engines?
Large Home Screen App Icons
In addition to the new theme engine, Apple introduced new Large app icons option. One thing to keep in mind is, that opting for large home screen icons will hide the app labels.
Redesigned Control Center
Apple has redesigned the Control Center to offer easier access to many controls. Additionally, users have the option to customize the Control Center by adding their favorite controls and shortcuts. By default, there are four control screens in the control center with the main screen providing access to most-utilized controls, the second is the new now playing music widget, home controls, and the last screen lets you access connectivity controls.
If you want to add new controls to the control center, simply tap the plus icon at the top left corner of the screen and choose the controls from the gallery. In the first beta, it is also possible to add multiple controls to the Control Center. It remains to be seen whether this is a bug or intentional functionality from Apple.
In terms of design, the new Control Center looks better than the older one. However, there are a few things to keep in mind. Apple states, “Control Center has been redesigned to provide easier access to many of the things users do every day, and it gets new levels of customization and flexibility.”
However, things seem different as enabling mobile data now requires a two-step process within the iOS 18 Control Center. This contrasts with the simpler one-step method available in iOS 17’s Control Center.
Apart from that, the new control center isn’t super refined yet, we’ve to wait for a few more beta releases or the public release of iOS 18 to get better experience.
More Lock Screen Shortcuts
Apple has been diligently working on making the iPhone lock screen better. It all started with iOS 16 with things get better with iOS 17. Now with iOS 18, Apple has introduced more shortcuts to the lock screen.
On iOS 18, you can change the controls at the bottom of the lock screen and choosing any control from the controls gallery, you can even put controls for third-party apps like Snapchat or remove them entirely from the lock screen.
Hide Apps and Lock Apps
Apple has added two new privacy features for home screen apps. One lets you hide any app completely from the home screen, these hidden apps will be available in the app library’s new Hidden folder available at the bottom of the app library. The second feature lets you lock any app with Face ID. Both new privacy features are a great addition to iOS.
What do you think of these new customization features of iOS 18? Do let us know in the comments box.
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