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iOS 14 has a lot of iPhones that look quite different these days: some with fancy monochrome color schemes, some with pastel styles ripped from Pinterest, and some that seem straight out of the box. Animal crossing or emulating Windows Mobile.
The changes are not a radical new change from Apple, but rather a viral wave of enthusiastic users taking advantage of widgets and other tweaks to bring an unprecedented level of customization to the generally rigid operating system design imposed by Apple.
Turns out a lot of people have been dying over the iOS issue, and since they show any number of viral videos showing lavishly designed home screens, they are doing their best to do so. It is proof that Apple should follow the trend in this way and allow users to have even greater control over the appearance of their smartphone, although it seems almost impossible that the company will ever do so.
Apple users have been clamoring for the ability to personalize the iPhone from the moment Apple first announced the phone. It only took weeks after the iPhone’s initial jailbreak in 2007 for the release of a custom-designed app called Summerboard, which allowed users to customize icons, replace the home screen wallpaper (something Apple took years to add in an official capability) and use new fonts throughout the operating system.
Tweaking the look of iOS has always been one of the biggest draws in the jailbreak community and it’s still a popular mod for those who are willing to mess with iOS to this day. But instead of satisfying that interest, Apple removed the jailbreak entirely.
But since the release of iOS 14, the demand for custom iPhone styles has exploded, thanks to newly added widgets and a revitalized interest in a shortcut alternative solution that allows for custom icons. Together, the two features can allow users to create a fully customized iOS experience, with a unique look and feel, complete with images, text quotes, and their own unique matching icons, provided they are willing to suffer the limitations of both. functions. .
Neither option is particularly stylish. The shortcuts method involves using the “Open App” command within the app to create a link to an app on the home screen that features a custom icon, but more importantly, tapping that icon makes those apps carry to users via the Shortcuts application, adding a few seconds of delay each time you start an application because you have to invoke the “open application” command. The new app library feature in iOS 14 makes it easy to create themes, allowing users to completely hide the original app without having to delete it.
But while customizable widgets, run by apps like Widgetsmith, give users a blank canvas to add interactive elements to their lock screen, they are still limited by Apple’s restrictions on size and shape, along with its obsessive tagging. That spoils the illusion of a perfect style. .
There is no reason why Apple can’t do more here. It’s easy to imagine Apple allowing a more direct replacement of the app icon, or users easily switching between full themes. The company could expand the widgets to make them even more functional or allow users more in-depth control over the colors and layout of general user interface elements.
The widgets have only given iOS users a taste of the levels of customization they might expect: people want more, and they are willing to do whatever they can to achieve it. Each app needs to be turned into a shortcut one by one in a time-consuming process – there’s no way to just load an icon or set everything in a batch to match a particular look, as both jailbreak and Android options allow. But, unfortunately, it’s a level of control and customization that Apple seems unlikely to bestow.
While Google has allowed Android users and developers almost free rein on the looks of its software, Apple specifically prides itself on its design. The company doesn’t just see the iOS interface and icons as a simple coat of paint on its software; it is an integral part of the phone’s design, just as much as glass and metal. Apple cares so much about those icons that it once sued Samsung for copying their designs and overall design, in a lawsuit that dragged on for seven years. No company except Apple makes a video like this to announce their latest software update, or spends as much time and effort designing app icons. I doubt they would agree with users making it look like a replica of a NookPhone.
Apple’s concessions to the personalization front have been few and far between since it was first released on the iPhone in 2007. Users can, for example, set their own custom wallpapers, something that didn’t happen until iOS 3.2 ( for iPad) and iOS. 4 (for iPhone). Developers have only been able to add custom app icon options starting with iOS 10.3, not exactly the vast set of options offered by other platforms (including Apple’s own macOS).
But there is hope that Apple will eventually give users even more control. iOS 14 and the recent additions here are the biggest change in the “Apple Knows Best” approach the iPhone has ever seen. And if the company isn’t put off by the myriad (and sometimes crude) fan creations, the future of iOS may be a lot less uniform and a lot more…. NookPhone-y.
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