Customization has always been a strong point regarding the Android operating system. The freedom to change the launcher, lock screen, fonts, and app icons – everything is possible with several apps for the Android smartphone.
So, the question I would forward to you is: Can you make your Samsung smartphone look like an iPhone running iOS 18? Yes! Yes, you can, but I can also hear you ask questions like who in their right mind would want to do anything like that?
Well, the answer is simply because you can. Also, it could be easy for someone who has been an iPhone user who feels at home with the UI navigation when using their brand-new Android smartphone. So, whether you want to have a little fun or want to build out an iOS-inspired setup for your Samsung smartphone, this is the guide for you.
Make Your Samsung Smartphone Look Like an iPhone
Now, to get the iOS 18 iPhone look for your smartphone, we will cover a list of things you will need to change. Here is what we will change on our Samsung smartphone for this guide.
- Wallpaper
- Icon Packs
- App Launcher
- Widgets
- Ringtone and Notification Tones
Changing the Wallpaper
Let’s take the first simple and easiest thing, to change the wallpaper. As you know, here at YTECHB, we have our dedicated wallpaper app PhoneWalls so getting an iOS 18 wallpaper is free and easy. Here is how you can do that.
- Launch the Google Play Store and search for PhoneWalls.
- Download the app when you find it in the search results.
- Launch the Phone Walls app and tap on the categories tab at the bottom.
- Now, tap on the Apple tile and choose any iPhone 16 wallpapers.
- You can decide between the base iPhone 16 or the Pro versions of the iPhone 16.
- Once you have selected the wallpaper of your choice, tap on it.
- You can tap on the Save icon to download it to your device or, you can tap on Apply.
- If you’re going to apply the wallpaper, make sure to select the Set Both option.
- In a few moments, the wallpaper will be applied to your lock screen and home screen.
Well, we have just finished one part of the step to get your Samsung smartphone to look like an iPhone running iOS 18. Let’s go to the next step.
Installing A Launcher
Now, getting a launcher for your Android device is simple and very easy. There are many launchers out there that can be installed. For this guide, I have installed Nova Launcher on my Samsung device. This is a free launcher but, if you want to support the devs and unlock some more features, you can purchase Nova Prime.
Now, you might say, well there are several iOS-inspired launchers that you can install directly to your Android smartphone but, they can be a headache to customize since not a lot of icon packs will work well and at times the gestures are native to your Android smartphone will have issues with the said iOS inspired launcher.
For example, if I try to bring up the control center, it would simply involve Google’s Circle to Search or at times Google Gemini. But, if you want to make use of the control center for your Samsung smartphone, then there are a few decent ones on the Play Store for free.
Also, Samsung’s notification screen/quick panel has a better interface, which you can customize by choosing your favorite quick setting tiles and making changes to the colors. When it comes to using Nova Launcher, you just need to adjust 3 things; the dock, icon labels, and the icon grid layout.
For the icon grid, make sure to set it at 4 rows and 7 columns. Additionally, make sure to keep the icon labels enabled. As for the dock, try to keep a maximum of 4 apps with the icon labels off. This will easily replicate the iOS 18-styled home screen.
Installing Icon Packs
The next part of making your Samsung’s home screen look like its iOS counterpart is the icon packs. This is another department where you are free to pick the type of icons that you like. If you want to go for the basic styled iOS type icons, there are numerous icon packs that you can try and install for free. You can try these two icon packs if you want the default iOS-styled icon.
These icon packs are great. However, the amount of ads that they have when you are setting up the icon pack is a lot, but again, that’s expected from a free icon pack.
If you don’t mind spending a small amount of money and getting some perfect and beautifully designed iOS18-styled icon packs, then the following two icon packs are your best pick.
Both these packs have numerous iOS icons and since they have the Material You design language, these icon colors can easily adapt to the colors of your home screen wallpaper. iOS 18 itself lets you choose between light and dark icons, so having these two iOS-based icon packs are perfect for your home screen. As an example for this guide, I have used the iMaterial Icon Pack. This is the dark icon pack variant, and they look pretty good for my all-blue home screen setup.
Installing iOS Based Widgets
The widgets that have finally come over to iOS are pretty good. In this sense, a lot of them are like large tiles that contain information such as the weather, date and time, battery percentage, and almost anything else that you like to see on your home screen without having to launch the app.
When it comes to getting iOS-based widgets, free pens are always there to pick from. However, if you have KWGT Pro, you can purchase the Oreo KWGT widgets pack.
No, these are not Android Oreo widgets, but a good selection of iOS-styled widgets that you can add to your home screen. And yes, all of these widgets are functional ones. When it comes to placing widgets on your iOS-inspired home screen, make sure to have a few icons on a page along with two square widgets and one rectangle-sized widget.
The reason I suggest having and installing KWGT Widgets is the endless customization options. You can change the color, font, and even the size of the widget. With this kind of flexibility, you can easily replicate the iOS widgets.
Bonus: Add A Dynamic Island
As you know, the new iPhones come with a Dynamic Island that replaces the good old notch. With the Dynamic Island being a functional element of iOS, you can also add a similar element to your Android smartphone. The Android version is called Dynamic Spot, and it mimics Dynamic Island very well.
The best part about the Dynamic Spot is that it’s a functional one. You can see your notifications show up via Dynamic Spot and can also interact with it when using streaming apps.
Ringtones and Notifications
If you are someone who loves iOS ringtones and notifications, there is no harm if you plan to use it on your Samsung smartphone. The internet has a ton of sources for you to download and set as ringtones. One place where you can search for ringtones and notification alerts is the Zedge app. This is a free-to-use app from the Google Play Store that lets you download your favorite ringtones and notification tones. The app has some ads placed around.
iOS Inspired Lockscreens
When it comes to installing an iOS-style lock screen for your Samsung smartphone, I would avoid these simply because a lot of them require you to disable the fingerprint/PIN/ Password protection that your Samsung smartphone offers you via One UI. If you don’t mind about missing such security, you can always install LockScreen: iOS from the Google Play Store. This one is a paid app, and it has the clock style and fonts that you see on any modern iPhone. You can also make use of the depth effect feature.
If you’re looking for a free alternative, then the Lock Screen OS app is the one for you. This app has a ton of themed lock screens that you can apply right away. It also lets you change the colors for various lock screen elements, such as the clock lock screen widgets.
Closing Thoughts
This concludes the guide on how you can make your Samsung smartphone look like iPhone’s iOS 18. This is good for those who simply miss their iPhone or simply like how iOS has its UI setup. Should you run something like this as your daily driver? You can, as long as the lock screen and the control center cooperate and don’t randomly stop functioning. Personally, this is a setup I would use without the iOS-styled lock screen and control center.
Also, the upcoming One UI 7 for supported Samsung smartphones will be bringing its UI elements closer to the iOS-styled UI that we can already see on several Chinese-branded Android smartphones from brands such as Xiaomi, Oppo, Realme, Vivo, OnePlus, and iQOO just to name a few.
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