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The best apps to customize iPhone

This isn’t just about changing the wallpaper. We’re going to explore a range of apps that allow you to tweak everything from your home screen aesthetics to your app icons, widgets, productivity workflows, and even the way you interact with your device. Prepare to unlock your iPhone’s hidden potential!

The Cornerstones of iPhone Customization

Before we jump into specific apps, it’s important to understand the key areas where customization is possible on an iPhone:

Home Screen: This is where the magic truly happens. The ability to rearrange app icons, add widgets, and now, with iOS 14 and later, use custom app icons and themed layouts, has opened up a whole new realm of possibilities.

Widgets: These interactive elements allow you to get information at a glance, straight from your home screen. The right widgets can drastically improve your productivity and personalize your information flow.

App Icons: While Apple doesn’t officially support changing individual app icons, creative workarounds using Shortcuts and third-party apps allow for incredible custom icon themes.

Shortcuts & Automation: Apple’s Shortcuts app is a powerhouse for creating personalized automations and workflows, streamlining tasks and interactions with your device.

Wallpapers: A simple change of wallpaper can dramatically alter the mood and feel of your device.

Lock Screen: Introduced in iOS 16, the Lock Screen is now a canvas for widgets, customized fonts, and more.

The Best Apps for iPhone Customization

Now, let’s get to the good stuff: the apps that will turn your iPhone into a truly personal experience. I’ve categorized them for clarity:

1. The Home Screen Makeover Masters

Widgetsmith (Free with in-app purchases): Widgetsmith is arguably the king of customizable widgets. It allows you to create widgets of various sizes and styles, displaying information from calendars, weather, photos, health data, and more. Its real strength lies in the sheer level of customization: you can choose fonts, colors, background images, and even create timed widgets that change throughout the day. It’s the perfect app to build a truly bespoke home screen.

Why it’s great: Powerful customization, variety of widget types, ease of use.

Ideal for: Users wanting total control over their widget aesthetics and functionality.

Color Widgets (Free with in-app purchases): This app focuses on aesthetic appeal, offering a vast library of pre-designed widgets spanning various themes and styles. It’s a great choice if you want to jump right into a beautiful home screen without having to design everything from scratch. Color Widgets is easy to navigate and offers a quick way to add polished-looking widgets to your iPhone.

Why it’s great: Easy to use, pre-designed aesthetic widgets, wide variety of styles.

Ideal for: Users wanting quick and stylish home screen customization with minimal effort.

MD Clock (Free with in-app purchases): If you’re a fan of minimalist and modern design, MD Clock is for you. This app focuses on time-related widgets, offering stylish analog and digital clocks in various designs. It’s a fantastic way to add a touch of elegance and sophistication to your home screen.

Why it’s great: Beautiful clock widgets, minimalist aesthetic, great for design-focused users.

Ideal for: Users seeking stylish and functional time widgets.

2. The Icon Theme Architects

Shortcuts (Free, built-in): Yes, Apple’s Shortcuts app is technically not a third-party app, but it’s absolutely crucial for icon customization. Using a clever workaround, you can create custom icons that launch your apps through shortcuts. While it involves a slight delay (the shortcut needs to launch before the app opens), the level of customization it provides is unparalleled. You’ll need to find or create custom icon images for this to work. There are many online resources providing free or paid icon packs.

Why it’s great: Allows for full app icon theme customization, free and readily available.

Ideal for: Users willing to put in the effort for a complete custom icon theme.

X Icon Changer (Free with in-app purchases): X Icon Changer simplifies the process of replacing app icons, using a more straightforward interface than Shortcuts directly. It provides a collection of pre-made icons, or you can import your own. While the basic version is free, it includes ads and might have limited options; the premium version offers a wider array of icons.

Why it’s great: Simple and easy to use for replacing app icons, offers pre-made options.

Ideal for: Users who want an easier way to customize app icons but aren’t as comfortable with Shortcuts.

Aesthetic Icons (Free with in-app purchases): This app provides a wide range of aesthetically themed icon packs, covering a multitude of styles. Aesthetic Icons is a great starting point if you’re looking for a complete theme for your phone. Simply select a theme you like, and it provides you with the necessary images for use with the Shortcuts method of icon changing.

Why it’s great: Provides complete pre-made themed icon packs, variety of styles.

Ideal for: Users who want to easily apply a theme to their icons without having to find images themselves.

3. Wallpaper Wizardry

Vellum (Free with in-app purchases): Vellum is a treasure trove of high-quality, curated wallpapers. The app features stunning photography, abstract art, and unique designs. New wallpaper packs are added regularly, ensuring you always have fresh options. The app is exceptionally well-designed and makes it easy to browse and find the perfect wallpaper to match your style.

Why it’s great: High-quality curated wallpapers, regular additions, well-designed user interface.

Ideal for: Users who want beautiful and unique wallpapers for their iPhone.

Unsplash (Free): Unsplash is a repository of free, high-resolution photos from a global community of photographers. You can use any image as a wallpaper, and the sheer volume and quality of available images are impressive. Unsplash provides a virtually endless supply of wallpaper options, with various filters and categories to help you narrow your search.

Why it’s great: Enormous library of free high-resolution photos, great search and filter options.

Ideal for: Users who want a vast and ever-changing supply of diverse wallpapers.

Walli (Free with in-app purchases): Walli stands out for its focus on art and design. It features wallpapers created by talented artists from around the world, offering a unique and creative touch. If you’re looking for something more artistic than traditional photography, Walli is an excellent choice.

Why it’s great: Focus on artistic wallpapers, features work from talented artists.

Ideal for: Users who appreciate art and unique design in their wallpapers.

4. Productivity Powerhouses

Things 3 (Paid): While not strictly a customization app, Things 3 is a powerful task management app that can be customized to fit your workflow. With its clean design, intuitive interface, and various organizational features, Things 3 can help you streamline your tasks and improve your overall productivity. You can customize the app’s settings to tailor its functionality to your needs.

Why it’s great: Powerful task management, clean and intuitive design, customizable settings.

Ideal for: Users looking to improve productivity and organize tasks effectively.

Notion (Free with premium tiers): Notion is an all-in-one workspace that allows you to build custom dashboards, wikis, notes, and project management tools. Its highly customizable structure allows you to create a personalized system to manage your information and workflow. Notion is ideal for users who want a more flexible and customizable productivity tool.

Why it’s great: Highly customizable, all-in-one workspace, ideal for building personalized information systems.

Ideal for: Users who want a flexible and powerful productivity app with lots of customization options.

Todoist (Free with premium tiers): Todoist is a popular to-do list app that offers robust task management and organization features. It also provides a range of customizable settings and themes, allowing you to personalize its appearance and functionality. It’s a great choice for managing daily tasks and projects.

Why it’s great: Robust task management, customizable themes and settings.

Ideal for: Users who need a reliable and customizable task management app for daily productivity.

5. Lock Screen Enhancement

Lock Screen Widgets (Free with in-app purchases): This app, along with others offering the same function, specifically targets the new lock screen widget capabilities in iOS 16 and later. It provides custom widgets for your lock screen, displaying various pieces of information like shortcuts, clocks, progress bars, and app launchers.

Why it’s great: Expands on the built-in lock screen customization, provides additional widgets.

Ideal for: Users wanting to fully utilize the new lock screen features.

Any App (Free): This app uses shortcut links to make it appear you can launch an application directly from a lockscreen widget, when in actuality it opens the shortcut first, and then opens the desired app. This is a workaround to make quick launches from your lockscreen, which isn’t normally possible.

Why it’s great: Add your most used app directly on the lock screen

Ideal for: Users looking to launch specific apps quickly from their lockscreen

Putting it All Together

The beauty of these apps lies in their ability to work together. Imagine combining Widgetsmith widgets with a custom icon theme from Shortcuts and a stunning wallpaper from Vellum. The possibilities are truly endless. Here’s a suggested approach to crafting your personalized iPhone experience:

Define your aesthetic: What look are you going for? Minimalist? Colorful? Dark mode? Choose a theme and stick with it.

Find inspiration: Browse Pinterest, Instagram, and Reddit communities dedicated to iPhone customization to get ideas.

Start with the basics: Choose your wallpaper and then select compatible icon themes and widgets.

Use shortcuts for app icons: Dive into the Shortcuts app to replace default icons with your own custom images.

Experiment and iterate: Don’t be afraid to try different combinations and layouts. Customization is a journey, not a destination.

Important Considerations

App limitations: Remember that while third-party apps offer incredible customization, they also have limitations. For example, app icons using the Shortcuts method do have a slight launch delay.

Battery life: Some resource-intensive widgets, especially those that constantly refresh data, may impact your battery life.

Permissions: Always be mindful of app permissions and grant them only when necessary.

Updates: Keep your apps updated to ensure compatibility with the latest iOS features.

Conclusion

The iPhone, despite its walled garden approach, offers a surprising amount of customizability when you know where to look. The apps mentioned in this article are a gateway to a more personalized and enjoyable experience. By combining creativity, resourcefulness, and a bit of time investment, you can transform your iPhone from a standard device into a reflection of your unique personality and style. Don’t be afraid to experiment, explore, and unlock the hidden potential of your iPhone. The possibilities are endless!

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