Change app icons on iPhone It allows us to give our iPhone a touch of personalization that, until the arrival of iOS 14, was only available in a very small number of applications that offered this option.
If you are tired of always see the same icon in WhatsApp, Safari, Telegram, Notes, the application of your bank... in this article we show you all the steps to follow to change the icons of the apps on the iPhone.
To consider
First of all, we must know how it works and what it means to change the application icon. Actually, Apple does not allow us to change the icon of the applications.
What allows us, through the application Shortcuts, is to create a shortcut to an application using the image or icon that we want.
What does this mean? For each shortcut that we create to an application, we are going to have two icons to access the application: the shortcut that we have created and the application icon.
The solution to this problem is to create a folder where move original app icons and leave the new custom icons that we create on the desktop following the steps that I show you in this article.
In the App Store we can find different applications that offer us custom icon sets with wallpapers to create themes. Some of these applications also include widgets that combine both with the icons and with the wallpaper.
Change app icons on iPhone with the Shortcuts app
As I have mentioned above, to change the icons of the apps on the iPhone we must use the Shortcuts application, an application that if you do not have installed, you can Download it for free through the following link.
Once we have installed the application, we open the application and follow the steps that I show you below:
- Click on the + sign located in the upper right corner of the application.
- Next, we write the shortcut name.
- Next, click on Add action and in the search box we write open app, selecting the result shown in the section Scripts.
- In the next step, click on the text App and we select which application we want to open.
- Next, we click on the 4 horizontal lines located in the upper right corner and select Add to home screen.
- In the next window click on the logo default of the direct access and then in Select photo to select the image we want to use. We can also search for the image on our device or take a photo.
- Finally, we press Add.
On the home screen, a shortcut will have been created with the image that we have selected that runs WhatsApp. Now we must move the whatsapp app to a folder and instead, use the shortcut we've created.
Change app icons on iPhone with other apps
The application that we are going to use to change the application icons, the wallpaper and the widgets so that they all follow the same design is Photo Widget: Simple.
With this application the process to change the icons of the apps on the iPhone is much faster, since it is done collectively on the system and not one by one as with the Shortcuts application.
Photo Widget: Simple, it is an application that we can download for free. We can use the app without any type of limitation in exchange for seeing an adSo pay 22,99 euros to remove them completely.
This application is updated regularly adding new themes depending on the time of year in which we find ourselves.
If this application does not meet our needs, we can choose the alternatives available in the App Store, as long as we are willing to pay for the subscriptions they offer.
How Photo Widget Works: Simple
The Photo Widget App: Simple works through profiles. Once we have selected the design (icons, wallpaper and widget) that we want to use, the application will invite us to download a profile on our iPhone.
Once we install the profile on the device, the home screen it will display the icons of all apps along with the original ones. If we delete the profile, all the new icons corresponding to that theme will be removed from the device.
Change App Icons on iPhone with Photo Widget: Simple
Once we have downloaded and installed the application, we open it and go to the lower part where all the options it offers us are found:
- Themes. This section shows sets of icons to use on our iPhone.
- widget. In the Widget section, we find widgets that match the icon themes available in the Theme section.
- Item. Within Item, matching wallpapers are displayed with the icons available in the Theme, Icon Packs and Fonts section.
- my. In the My section, the custom content that we have created to use with the application is stored.
Since what we want is to change the icons of the iPhone apps, click on Theme and we navigate between the different images that show us how our iPhone will look with each series of icons.
- When we have found the icon pack that we like the most, we click on it to view large image.
- Next, click on Save after an ad (ad).
- Next the theme settings window will open. In this window, we can configure:
- Wallpaper. Click on Save so that the background image of the theme is stored in the Photos application and thus be able to use it as a wallpaper.
- widget. When clicking on Save, the widget that is displayed will be stored so that it can be used on the home screen of our device. We can create new widgets in the Items section.
- Icons. This section shows all the current application icons along with the icon they will be replaced with. This section allows us to uncheck the changes that we do not like and mark others that are not marked by default.
- Custom icon. In this last section, we can allow us to use any image stored in the library as an application icon (an action that we can also do with the Shortcuts application).
- Once we have completed all the steps, click on Install XX Icons, where XX is the number of application icons that will have their icons replaced.
- In the next window, click on the button Download Profile.
- Then a browser window will open, where we have to click on Allow.
- Finally a window is shown where we are invited to use the profile we have downloaded.
- Now we must install the profile that we have downloaded. This profile will show all the new icons on the home screen of our device. To install it, we access Settings > Profile downloaded > Install > Install.
- If the option is not displayed Profile downloaded, we follow the following route: Settings > General > VPN & device management > upsidedown.
- Next, we go to the Photos application and use the image that we have downloaded from the application as Wallpaper (click on the share button and select Wallpaper)
- Finally, it's time to add theme-based widgets. The process is the same as installing any other widget but by selecting the widget from the Photo Widget app: Simple.
Now, we must move all original apps to one folder and start using the shortcuts that have been created. If you don't like how it turned out, you just have to delete the profile you've installed.
Application allows us to install different profiles to combine different icon and widget designs.
How to remove the icons of the applications that we have installed
If we are tired of the new aspect that our iPhone shows or it is not what we expected, to remove all new icons, we just have to delete the profile that we have installed (when deleting the profile, the shortcuts created with the profile will be deleted, not the application).
For delete profile, we must perform the following steps:
- We access the Settings of our device and then in General.
- Next, click on VPN and device management and then in upside down.
- Delete profile.
Where to download icons for iOS
If you would like to change app icons that you usually use for other similar ones, you should take a look at the web macOS Apps icons.
On this website you will find more than 12.000 icons of all kinds, both iOS and macOS, Windows and Android applications and all of them available for download completely free of charge.
All icons are classified by categories and, in addition, it allows us to carry out searches by names of applications or operating systems.
The icons of se download in .icns format directly in the Photos app.
Another interesting website for download icon packs To customize our iPhone applications, we find it in flaticon. Although you need to register to download the icons, many are available for free.
the icons are downloaded in .png format, so they will be stored directly in the Photos app.
