The new iOS 14 update brings a lot of new features to the table. And, the one that attracts everyone’s attention lies in the ability to customize your home screen. With the addition of widgets, Shortcuts, and multiple home screen support, it’s now much easier than ever to customize your iPhone, without the need for jailbreaking. In this guide, we will show you how to customize iPhone home screen in iOS 14.
Widgets
Widgets has its debut in iOS 14, making home screen customization much easier for users. While the iOS 14 is still in beta, Apple still has a lot of work to do ahead of a public launch.
The widget app in iOS 14 is more than just showing your reminders, countdown timers, or notifications. In fact, a lot of new ways that help you customize your home screen are promised in future updates.
Add a widget to your home screen:
- Press and hold on any app.
- Choose Edit Home Screen or keep holding until all the apps jiggle.
- Tap the + button at top left.
- From the screen that appears, search or scroll for a widget.
- Pick the one you like.
- Swipe left and right to choose a size.
- Tap on Add Widget or drag it up from the list.
- Tap Done.
Find all of the widgets you have installed:
- Hold your iPhone’s home button until app icons jiggle.
- Tap on the “+” symbol in the top-left.
- Then a list of widgets should show up, including Apple’s and third-party apps you already have installed.
- Choose the widget you want. After that, select your own styles and edit sizes and layouts.
Also, you can mix and match widget sizes. To do this, you can long-press on them. Not all widgets can be tweaked in this way, but it’s worth a shot.
Use Smart Stack
Smart stack is a new feature in iOS 14 that offers a handful of widgets. The best part is that you can choose which widgets show up on your home screen. To do this:
- Drag a widget from the list.
- Drag it over an existing one on your screen.
- Look for a faint new border around the existing widget.
- If you see the border, you can drop your new widget there.
- Tap Done.
App Library
We no longer in the days when you installed multiple apps, but had to hide some in folders to keep them from cluttering up your home screen? Now, you can tidy apps that you don’t use every day and push them into the background easily.
Thanks to the new App Library, which acts as a place to find every installed app on your iPhone. Since you can locate all of your apps here, there’s no need to keep them apps across your home screen or hide them anymore.
To open App Library, just simply swipe to the right of your home screens. All of your apps are filtered by predetermined categories (just like in App Store). Plus, you can switch to a list view to see everything in alphabetical order or use the search bar to find a specific app. And, to delete apps from your home screen or your iPhone, click the “X” on that app in jiggle mode.
Hide Home Screen App Pages
- Long-press on anywhere on your screen (if it’s an app, hold and choose Edit Home Screen).
- Next, tap the app page dot icons in the bottom-middle of your screen.
- Uncheck app pages you want to hide.
- Tap Done in the top right corner.
- Unhide your app pages by reversing these steps.
Change Your App Icons
You’re likely to encounter all types of crazy app icons on social media recently. However, it’s not as simple as swapping images around!
What you’re actually seeing is the Shortcuts app. This app helps you build new automations to open apps. Shortcuts is a powerful tool and it’s quite easy to use once you learn all Shortcuts tips and tricks. But, first you’ll need to install the Shortcuts app. Don’t worry, it’s totally free! And, here is how to use Shortcuts:
- Open Shortcuts.
- Tap the “+” button in the top left to create a new shortcut.
- Tap Add Action.
- Then select the apps you want to change its icon.
- Tap the “…” button in the top right. In here, you can add a custom icon or a name to identify the shortcut on your home screen.
- To finish, tap Add to Home Screen and you’ll have a new icon waiting for you.
We hope our guide gives you a closer look into some of the new features in iOS 14 and tips on how to customize your iPhone in your own way. Let us know if you have any questions in the comments!
