Your iPhone Will Finally Let You Put App Icons Wherever You Want
Good news for home screen obsessives out of WWDC. (Yes, Android could do this a decade ago.)
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At today's WWDC 2024 keynote, Apple announced that iOS 18, the latest version of the iPhone's operating system, is finally getting a feature Android users have enjoyed for over a decade. After the update, your iPhone will allow you to place your app icons wherever you want on your home screen. Previously, you could move your icons around, but it wasn't possible to place icons only toward the bottom of the screen if the top rows were empty.
During the keynote, Apple's demo footage showed how you'll be able to place app icons in all corners of the screen, so you'll be able to clearly see your wallpaper image without icons hiding the important parts (your dog's adorable face).
If you love messing with the aesthetics of your home screen, there are more features for you to try.
Dark mode filters and color tinting for app icons
iOS 18 will also bring improvements to dark mode, allowing you change the color of your app icons to match the nighttime mood (see the screenshot at the top of this post). Previously, your iPhone app icons wouldn't change color if your phone went into dark mode, but now you'll be able to control that to a degree. And not only will dark app icons be supported, but you'll be able to choose a custom tint color to make these icons fit the aesthetic of your wallpaper at any time.
It's not yet clear if developers will have to add support for custom app icon tints or if iOS 18 will let you tweak icons even if developers haven't updated their apps with this feature. But considering changing app icons and customizing the home screen required tedious workarounds in the past, it's good to have these features officially added to iOS 18.
This is a developing story. Apple's WWDC keynote is currently ongoing, with the WWDC conference set to last through June 14. Lifehacker will update this story with relevant information as it is announced.