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The other day I got lost for a couple of hours with customising my iPhone 15 Pro Max’s home screen. This is something that I have toyed with in the past but not really ventured into as it can be a bit long-winded (or it was the last time I tried), but seeing lots of really cool Home Screen posted on Social Media, I thought I am going to give it a go. I am going to say that it’s not as easy as it is with an Android device, as we all know, but it’s not as hard as you think.
You will need a few things to be able to start customising your iPhone’s Home Screen.
- Choose Your Background/Wallpaper
- Download the Widgy Widget App
- Download an Icon Pack
- Shortcuts App
So here we go. Here is my step-by-step guide to how I customised my iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Choose Wallpaper:
This might seem like a strange and obvious place to start. The reason I am starting with this is because I had a vibe in mind (dark) so I went hunting for the wallpaper that would fit the look and my icon pack.
There are a load of apps or creators selling wallpaper that you can download but a great free option which I used for my setup is unsplash.com. Once you have this it’s just a case of selecting it and set it as you home screen wallpaper.
Widgy WidgetsApp:
This is the App that I use to get different widgets to change up the athletics of my phone. There are so many to choose from, and they come in Small, Medium or Large sizes, so you can have multiple widgets if you like. I personally have chosen to go with the Large Widget to try and keep my home screen looking a minimal as possible, it also pushes the Apps to the bottom to the screen.
Downloading the App:
It is really easy to set these Widgets up. first up, head over to the App Store and download the app. Just type in Widgy and select Widgy Widgets. Once it is downloaded, you can head into the app and hit the explore tab. You can search for the Lock or Home screen widget, but for my setup, just use Home.
Setting Transparent Background:
In order to get the widget to blend in with the wallpaper you choose, you will need to set up your transparent background on the app. This is fairly straightforward by following the below steps:
- Go back to your iPhone Home Screen, and hold down on the screen to enter jiggle mode.
- Swipe to the right to get a new blank screen and take a screenshot, save to your photos.
- Go into the Widgy App and into the Manage Tab.
- Go to Setup Transparency at the top of the screen.
- Tap on Add Wallpaper and select the photo you have just taken.
- Press the ✅, and your transparent background is set up and ready to go.
Choose your Widget(s):
Head to the explore tab at the bottom of the apps screen. select Home, which is what you will need to create your new Home Screen look. From here you can just look through the large number of widget and choose the one that you want to use, I would say that you will need to check that it’s a transparent background widget. This is easy to find out by just pressing into the app and looking at the data information. From there, you simply import the widget.
Adding Widget to Widgy Slot:
The last step in the Widgy App itself is to now add the widget you have chosen to a slot so you can add it to your Home Screen. This, again, is straightforward:
- Go into Manage
- Select an empty slot for your size widget
- Scroll down to the widget you have imported and tap on it.
- You will get a screen that shows the widget placement. Press ✅
Your Widget is now allocated to that slot. And that is it for the Widgy App. You will just need to add the widget to your home screen by going into jiggle mode and press ＋ and type Widgy into the search widget box, and from there, select your widget. Job done.
Download an Icon Pack:
If you don’t want to change the look of your apps and are happy with the ones you get as standard, then you can skip the next two sections. For those of you wanting to go all in, let’s go.
First things first, you will need to download an icon pack. Now, you can find packs that are free, but I did pay for the icons that I have on my phone, and I got them from https://iosicons.com/category-dark. Once you have chosen your Icon Pack, download them, and you are ready to add them to your Home Screen then.
Creating a Shortcut
It is not quite as simple as applying the icon pack. To change your icons up, you will need first to create a shortcut using the Apple Shortcuts app. Below are the steps you need to for this.
- Open the Shortcuts app on your iPhone / iPad
- Tap on + on the top right to add a new shortcut
- Tap the + Add Action button in the new shortcut
- Tap the ‘Scripting’ option
- Tap the ‘Open App’ option
- Choose the app you want to customise with a new icon
- Tap on Share Icon at the bottom of your screen
- Tap on the ‘Add to Home Screen’ button
- Add the name of the app and tap the default icon > Choose Photo
- Choose your icon from your icon pack
- Tap ‘Add’ on the top right of your screen
- Your new app icon will be added to your device.
As you read this, you might think this is long-winded and that it is a bit just to add a new icon, but once you have done it once, it doesn’t take that much time. I found that choosing a wallpaper and icon pack took me longer than setting up the shortcuts 😂.
Now, there are a couple of things to note when using shortcuts for your apps.
- You will see the app open in Dynamic Island or the Shortcuts app first if you have an iPhone before the 14 Pro.
- You will not get notifications badges on the app (not nessessarily a bad thing)
Final Thoughts:
So there you have it, my guide to creating a customised iPhone Home Screen. Don’t worry if it seems a bit daunting. If I can do it, anyone can, and for the time you have invested, you get the Home Screen that you want. I put off doing this for a while, but I am glad that I have delved into the world of iPhone customisation.
Please drop me a comment below if you found this useful or if you have any Icon Sites that you would recommend.