WithiOS 18, Apple is finally opening up the iPhone home screen.
Here’s how to make the most out of the new home screen experience on your iPhone and iPad.
Place your apps anywhere
Apps and widgets are now finally free to go wherever.
The world is your oyster.
This applies to the widgets as well.
The only limits are that you still can’t overlap icons or create custom spacing between them.
Arranging app icons still works in the same way.
You press and hold the app icon and move it to where you’d like.
If there are other icons where you drop it, they will move around accordingly.
you’re able to do this by switching the home screen to the new Large mode.
This makes the apps and widgets bigger, and the labels will disappear.
Press and hold the on the background to enter jiggle mode.
Tap theEditbutton in the top-left corner.
Switch to theLargeoption from the new popup menu.
Again, from the jiggle mode, tap theEditbutton and chooseCustomize.
From the editing menu, switch to theDarkoption for the app icons.
Trust me, I used to be a connoisseur of Android app icons and skin packs.
In iOS 18, Apple has added an ability to tint the color of icons on the home screen.
This only works with app icons in dark mode, though.
Press and hold the background to enter jiggle mode, tap theEditbutton from the top and chooseCustomize.
Now, from the menu, choose theTintedoption.
First, Apple will automatically apply a tint color based on a prominent color from your wallpaper.
This, in my experience, is usually quite loud and, well, not pretty.
But you’ve got the option to enhance the result in like 10 seconds.
Once you’ve picked your color, tone down the intensity to about 50%.
I’ve found this to be the sweet spot.
you’ve got the option to also use the color slider to choose any color that you want.
Play around with it, and you’re sure to find something great that works for your background.
Choose a size and watch as the widget instantly transforms.
Simply pull the handle out to expand the widget or pull it back in to make the widget smaller.
