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With the ability to add custom widgets to iOS 14, there has been a huge increase in iPhone theme with such settings going viral on social media. I recently hooked up with Thientam Bach AKA Surenix, a well known graphic designer behind jailbreak themes like Ayecon and Ayeris. He recently uploaded a version of Ayeris to his website specifically with the theme of iOS 14 in mind.
In this how-to video, I show you how to emulate the Ayeris theme on your iPhone with the help of the Shortcuts app. It’s not as clean as a real iOS jailbreak theme, but if you’re looking for a way to further customize the look of your homescreen, it’s an option.
How to theme iOS 14 on iPhone using shortcuts
Note: As mentioned, this tutorial uses the Shortcuts app, which acts as an intermediary between the thematic icons you create and the apps linked to those icons. Therefore, when launching applications with these custom icons, the Shortcuts application appears on the screen for a short moment before forwarding the user to the desired application. This is definitely not the most ideal method of implementing themes, but it is the easiest and most accessible method without jailbreak. There are other methods of adding themed icons to your iPhone that don’t require the Shortcuts app to appear on the screen, but even that is limited in some ways.
Step 1: Prepare your home screen.
You can prepare the home screen by enabling the motion mode and touching the page dot indicator on the base. In the Edit Pages interface, disable all but one home screen page to remove most of the home screen apps.
On the screen that remains, you can remove all the apps from the app library. Watch our how-to video below for a quick method showing how to remove these apps with ease.
You should now have a blank canvas to work with, allowing you to add new app icons and widgets that complement your theme.
Video: iOS 14 theme with Ayeris!
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Step 2: Create or download icon packs in the Files app.
In this example I’m using Ayeris, which is available in a limited way for free through the Surenix website, and available in full with over 200 icons for your Patreon followers. However, keep in mind that you don’t have to pay for the icons to use them as the basis for your custom themes. You can always design the icons yourself or download free icon packs that are available online.
Step 2: Launch the Shortcuts app and go back to the root of the app to create a new folder to house all your icon-related shortcuts. In this example, I created a folder called Ayeris to house all my shortcuts with the Ayeris theme.
Step 3: Open the Shortcuts folder that was created in the previous step. Tap the + button in the upper right corner to create a new shortcut.
- Touch Add Action and select Scripting. Tap Open application → Choose and select the application for which you want to create a new icon.
- Tap the ellipsis button in the upper right corner. Name your shortcut, ideally the same name as the app you want to apply as a theme, and tap Done.
- Touch the Share button at the bottom of the screen and select Add to Home Screen.
- Tap the placeholder icon and select Choose File, which will open the Files app interface. Navigate to the folder containing your themed icons that you downloaded in Step 1 and select the icon that belongs to the app.
- Tap Add in the upper right corner and then tap Done to finish the process. Your new themed icon (bookmark) should now be available on the home screen.
Step 4: You want to repeat the actions in Step 3 for as many icons as you want to create. Duplicating the initial shortcut, as I show in the video, can help speed up this step.
Step 5: If your theme contains a custom wallpaper, save it to the photo library and enable the wallpaper through the Share menu in the Photos app, or in Settings → Wallpaper.
Step 6: Arrange all the new app icons on the home screen as you see fit. You can also add widgets to the mix to bring it to life. I recommend exploring Widgetsmith if you are interested in creating custom icons.
Step 7: To help with the awkward intermediate shortcut transition that occurs when opening apps with the newly created app icons, you may want to go to Settings → Accessibility → Motion and enable the Reduce Motion option. This will provide a smoother transition when launching applications.
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It’s definitely not perfect, and it’s not as clean as a genuine jailbreak theme, but if you’re looking for a way to add a different look to your iPhone, this is one way to do it. Hopefully, Apple offers users more options to customize their iPhones in future versions of iOS.
I am also aware that there are alternative methods to implement custom icons on iOS, and I can explore those options in a future video and post if interested. Let me know your thoughts below in the comment section.
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