Home screen changes in iOS 18: How Apple is beautifying the iPhone home screen
With its next iPhone operating system, Apple is allowing significantly more creativity in the design of the icon view. It will be colorful and empty if desired.
Three home screen variants that were previously not possible: free icon rows with coloring (left), everything in dark mode (middle), icons without labels (right).
(Image: Apple)
The iPhone home screen used to be completely static. You weren't even allowed to move icons around. Apple gradually opened up the configuration options, and most recently you were even allowed to integrate widgets or banish icons to an app library. With iOS 18, the settings functions of the home screen have become even more powerful: users can now finally (almost) completely customize it to their needs. Apple has even thought about coloring icons. And: the new features will also be part of iPadOS 18 right from the start.
Everything is so colorful here – and potentially confusing
So that users don't lose track, there are various templates, for example, for the possible colors. The new, free arrangement of icons is still based on a grid, but for the first time it is possible to leave free areas on the home screen. This helps, for example, to separate important work areas on the device or to allow a background image to shine through more beautifully. For the first time, it is also possible to change the size of icons and color them, as mentioned.
Adjustments in dark mode have also been considered, and Apple has also revised the widget view. Which icon areas are left free can be set completely freely – if you like, you can even place just one icon per page. Icons can have a variant for standard and dark mode, i.e., their appearance can be changed to suit. If you don't want certain apps to appear at all, you can move them to a "hidden" folder. This can then be secured using biometrics (Face ID or Touch ID).
Control center and assignable lock screen buttons
Apple has also tidied up other areas. In iOS 18, for example, there is a completely redesigned control center that can now have multiple screens. There will even be a kind of store with collections, for example from vehicle manufacturers. The look has been improved and some areas of the Control Center have been tidied up, for example for controlling a HomeKit or Matter setup.
Apple is also going into great detail in other areas: for the first time, the company is allowing users to change the two large icons on the lock screen, which are currently used to quickly access the camera and flashlight. Apple now allows you to place two of countless functions on the buttons – from the translation to the stopwatch. Animations have also been tweaked, so you can see directly on the display when you press one of the buttons (such as the volume or action button).
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