Your iPhone’s home screen deserves to be more appealing. In addition to fully configurable widgets, you should employ custom app icons to personalize your iPhone’s home screen. Whether you want to go with a monochrome layout, a color-coded theme, or go dockless, custom app icons play an important role. Let me show you how to alter app icons in iOS 15 or later with ease if you’re ready to up your customization game.
How to Use Custom App Icons on iPhone Running iOS 15 or Later
The Shortcuts app is more than capable of meeting your expectations if all you need is a great app icon changer for your iOS device without having to spend any money. Third-party icon changers, on the other hand, can provide you with a plethora of unique themes and bespoke app icons. While the majority of icon changers are free, you’ll need to pay to the premium version to get all themes.
1. To get started, launch Shortcuts app on your iPhone and then tap the “+” button at the top right corner of the screen.{}
2. Now, tap the “+” Add Action button.
Note: If the Open App option appears under the Next Action Suggestions, choose it. Otherwise, move to the next step.
3. Next, enter “Open App” in the search bar at the top and select it from the search results.
4. Next up, tap on “App” and then select the app you want to create a custom icon for. I’m going to make a custom icon for the App Store.
5. Up next, give a suitable name to the app and then tap Done at the bottom right corner of the screen.
Set a Glyph As Custom App Icon on iPhone
Shortcuts app has got an ever-growing library of objects and symbols to let you make a variety of custom app icons.
- Tap on the icon located to the left of your App Name and then choose the color for your app icon.
- Now, tap Glyph and select from a variety of possibilities. To explore different glyphs, use the custom categories at the bottom, such as Objects, Symbols, and People.
- When you’ve found the icon you want, press Done in the top right corner of the screen.
- Next up, tap the Menu icon at the upper-right corner of the screen and select Add to Home Screen.
- Do note that you can also show this custom app icon your Apple Watch, pin it in macOS menu bar, and even use it as Quick Action on your Mac.
- Finally, tap Add at the top right to finish. Your custom iPhone app icon will now appear on the home screen.
Use an Image As iPhone App Icon
If you wish to further personalize the app icon, you can choose to use a custom image as your iPhone app icon.
- Tap the menu icon located at the top right corner of the screen and then choose Add to Home Screen.
- Select Choose Photo from the default app icon.
- It’s worth noting that if the image is in the Files app, you’ll need to touch Choose File and then select the image. Tap Take Photo if you want to take a picture.
- Then, from the photo library, choose one image. Then, in the bottom right corner of the screen, tap Choose to adjust the image.
- Your image will now be set as your iPhone app icon. Finally, hit Add at the upper-right corner of the screen to finish.
That’s it! The custom app icon will now appear on the home screen. Going forward, you can launch the app by tapping this icon.
Note:
- While this hack works pretty reliably, it will first trigger the Shortcuts app before launching the app.
- If you wish to open the app without invoking the Shortcuts app, turn off Shortcuts notifications. To do so, head over to Settings app -> Screen Time -> See All Activity -> Notifications -> Shortcuts. Now, turn off the toggle next to Allow Notifications.
Best Third-Party Apps to Create Custom iPhone App Icons
Third-party app icon modifications for iPhone and iPad are a good place to start if you want to go all out. They come with a plethora of intriguing app icons and styles, giving you greater freedom to design icons to your heart’s content.
1. Aesthetic Kit
Aesthetic Kit is a feature-rich iPhone and iPad app icon changer. It differs from other icon changers in that it has a large collection of icons (more than 10, 000 icons and widgets). As a result, you’ll have lots of room to experiment. It also comes with a robust widget library that you can use to create eye-catching layouts.
Install: (free, $9.99/month)
2. Brass: Custom Items and Widgets
Brass (5+ million downloads) is another app icon changer worth checking out. It also comes with a plethora of unique app icons, themes, and widgets, allowing you to customise the look of your home screen. While Brass is free, you’ll have to pay $2.49 per week or $6.99 per month to unlock all of the icons and themes.
Install: (free, $6.99/month)
3. Icon Themer and Icon Changer
“Icon Themer & Icon Changer” is a one-stop-shop for app icons and themes that covers all the bases. This software allows you to change the color and background of your iPhone app icons. Using the professionally created themes and widgets at your disposal, you’ll have no trouble building a great layout. It, like the aforementioned icon changers, has a restricted freemium version and a premium tier ($9.99/month) that unlocks all of the icons and themes.
Install: (free, $9.99/month)
Create Custom App Icons to Design Your iPhone and iPad Home Screen
That concludes the discussion. That’s how you can create personalized app icons for your iPhone or iPad. As I previously stated, the Shortcuts app is more than capable of allowing you to generate attractive app icons for your iOS device. Third-party icon changers, on the other hand, are always there to quench your thirst for a plethora of professionally-designed app icons and themes. As a result, please provide us with your feedback and tell us about your favorite iOS icon modification.