How to Customize Your iPhone’s Home Screen in iOS 18

On October 13, 2024By Yukito

When Apple unveiled iOS 18 at WWDC 2024 in June, it teased the introduction of much more flexibility to the iPhone home screen.

Now that iOS 18 is available, you are no longer limited by the layout and colors that Apple and app developers have chosen for you; you can now change these things yourself, giving much more color and freedom to your device.

If you’re wondering how to customize your iPhone’s home screen in iOS 18, you’ve come to the right place. Here, we’ll walk you through the steps required to give your home screen a little more personality, from creating new layouts to shading your app icons in entirely new shades. What’s more, each method is very easy to understand, which means you’ll be up and running in no time.

Tools and requirements

Quick steps

To start editing, press and hold on an empty area of the Home screen until the icons start moving, or hold on any app and select Edit Home Screen
Click Edit in the upper left corner of the screen
From the drop-down menu you can add widgets, edit pages and customize your home screen. We will focus on the latter, using the methods described below.

How to darken app icons

1. Enter edit mode

Several iPhones on a blue background, each showing different ways to edit the home screen in iOS 18.

(Photo: © Przyszłość)

First, press and hold an empty space on the iOS home screen. Alternatively, you can long press the app icon and select Edit Home Screen from the displayed menu. Either method will cause your app icons to start shaking. Now, tap the Edit button then in the upper right corner of the screen select Customize.

2. Select Dimmable

You should see this in the menu that appears Dimmed button in the lower right corner. Click this.

3. Customize with the sliders

Two sliders will now appear. The upper one is used to set the color of applications and widgets, and the lower one adjusts the color intensity. Play with the sliders until you get a color combination you like. You’ll see your apps and widgets updated in real time.

4. Tap the eyedropper

Eyedropper tool in iOS 18

(Photo: © Future / Alex Blake)

Tap the eyedropper icon in the upper right corner of the menu. All apps and widgets will disappear and an eyedropper overlay will appear above the wallpaper. Move it around the screen – when you release, the selected color will be applied to the app icons.

How to switch app icons to dark mode

1. Enter edit mode

Several iPhones on a blue background, each showing different ways to edit the home screen in iOS 18.

(Photo: © Przyszłość)

Still, long press the iOS home screen so that the icons move tap the Edit buttonand then Customize.

2. Switch between light and dark mode

At the bottom of the resulting menu there are several buttons you can act on switch app icons between light and dark modes: Light, Dark and Auto. Not surprisingly, the Light and Dark buttons make icons always appear light or dark. Automatic switch every time your iPhone enters or is in dark mode.

3. Tap the sun-shaped icon

In the upper left corner of this menu there is a sun shaped icon. Click this and Your background will switch between light and dark mode independently application icons. This allows you to have, for example, a dark wallpaper but light icons.

How to use grid layouts

1. Enter move mode

Several iPhones on a blue background, each showing different ways to edit the home screen in iOS 18.

Touch and hold the home screen to go into jiggle mode, but this time you You don’t want to touch the Edit button. Just leave shaky icons on the screen.

2. Move icons

Now, move the app icon or widget anywhere on your home screen. Unlike iOS 17 and earlier versions, you can do this place your icons yourself in the empty space. Icons are still snapped to an invisible grid, but you have much more flexibility in how you arrange them.

How to remove app labels

1. Tap and hold an empty area

Several iPhones on a blue background, each showing different ways to edit the home screen in iOS 18.

Tap and hold an empty area on the iOS home screen AND tap the Edit button then in the upper left corner select Customize.

2. Tap Large or Small

At the bottom of the screen you will notice two tabs: Small and Large. Tap Large to increase the size of app icons and remove their labels. Then you can touch anywhere on the screen or slide the menu down to exit edit mode.

Additional information

The Home screen isn’t the only thing you can more freely customize in iOS 18. You now have much more freedom to customize Control Center to your liking, and you can also change the tools that appear on the iOS Lock screen.

However, the home screen probably provides the most space for adding personal touches. While previous versions of iOS have achieved similar results – mostly using third-party apps like Widgetsmith – flashing these controls to iOS makes the whole process much simpler.