Lance Whitney

The Home screen is the key way you interact with your iPhone, so you want it to be visually appealing and easy to navigate. In the past, customizing your Home screen was challenging and limited. But with iOS 18, Apple has simplified and improved how you can tweak the screen.

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With the new OS, you can directly add a widget to any part of the screen. You're able to change the size of the icons and the color theme. You can add, remove, and reorder each screen. And you can accomplish all of these tricks without even leaving the Home screen. Plus, there are some other tricks up iOS 18's sleeve.

The same options are available on an iPad with iPadOS 18 if you want to customize your tablet's Home screen. Now, here's how all this works.

How to tweak the Home screen on your iPhone with iOS 18

1. Install iOS 18

To take advantage of the new home screen settings, you need to be running iOS 18. Make sure your iPhone is compatible, then download and install the new OS, which is currently available as a public beta.

Screenshot by Lance Whitney

2. Add a widget

Find an area of the Home screen where you want to add a specific widget. Press down on any empty area of the screen, and the icons perform their usual jiggling dance. Tap the Edit button at the top and select Add Widget. Swipe down the screen to see all the available widgets.

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You can add a widget for Clock, Calendar, Contacts, Weather, Maps, Music, News, and other apps and content. You can even add a Smart Stack, which lets you access different widgets on the Home screen by swiping up or down on the stack. Tap the widget you want to add and then place it in the desired spot on the screen. You can add multiple widgets if you like. When finished, tap Done.

Screenshot by Lance Whitney

3. Customize the look of the Home screen

Press down on any empty area of the Home screen, tap Edit, and select Customize. Here, you can tweak a variety of settings. Tap the sun icon to switch the screen between bright and dark. Tap Large to increase the size of the icons but note that doing so removes the name of each app. Tap Small to return to the smaller size.

Screenshot by Lance Whitney

4. Customize the color theme for the Home screen

Next, you can experiment with different color themes. With Light the default theme, tap Dark to darken the screen. Tap Automatic to change the look based on the wallpaper and background color. Finally, tap Tinted to apply tints to the icon. With this option, move the slider on the two bars at the bottom to play with different tint colors.

To try a custom tint color instead, select the eye dropper icon at the right and move the large grid circle over the color you want to capture. Tap any area of the screen when you're done.

Screenshot by Lance Whitney

5. Add, remove, and reorder your Home screens

You likely have more than one Home screen. For example, I have one screen with individual icons for the apps I frequently use, a second screen with folders for an assortment of other apps, and a third screen for apps I'm currently using but haven't yet organized. With IOS 18, I can tweak the settings to display only certain screens and reorder the ones I want to see.

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Again, press down on any empty area of the Home screen, select Edit, and choose Edit Pages. Tap the circle to check any page you wish to see. Tap the checkmark for any page you don't want to see. To reorder the pages, just drag and drop them to new positions. Tap Done, and your phone will reflect the new layout of pages.

Screenshot by Lance Whitney

6. Turn an app into a widget

Another move you can perform is to turn an app into a widget. Not all apps support this maneuver, so you'll have to use some trial and error to see which ones will work.

Press down on an app. If it's capable of becoming a widget, up to four small layout images appear in the menu. The first image keeps the app as a regular icon. The second image turns it into a small square widget. The third turns it into a larger rectangular widget. And the fourth turns it into an even larger square widget. Play with the different sizes to find the one you like best.

Screenshot by Lance Whitney

7. Rearrange the icons

In the past, each icon on the Home screen had to be organized into a grid of rows and columns with no empty spaces. With iOS 18, you can move the icons around the screen into almost any type of order you like. To try this, press down on one of the icons and select Edit Home Screen. Drag and drop an icon into any spot on the screen. Continue doing this until the icons appear in your preferred layout. When finished, tap Done.

Screenshot by Lance Whitney

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