iOS 14 has seen the introduction of homescreen widgets on the iPhone, and that alone should cause a tsunami of creative customization on the platform. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. Although it has been possible for a few years now, regular consumers have found that they can create custom icons using the Shortcuts app. We’ve seen an explosion of custom icon packs, widget design apps, and tutorials on how to make your iPhone look very specific. If Apple wants to lean into customization, it could do so in a number of ways that still allow it to maintain control over the basic design of the platform.
I have selected three key features that Apple could implement to extend personalization. They’re all very straightforward and, frankly, very familiar to Apple.
Ambient theming
iOS now offers two separate system themes: a light mode and a dark mode. It also offers a timed option which allows your iPhone to automatically switch between the two on a schedule. But Apple has the technology to go beyond that.
Apple already uses the ambient light sensor in iPhones to adjust the brightness of your screen. It could also use the ambient light sensor to switch between light and dark modes. If you turn off your lights, dark mode activates automatically. When you open your blinds in the morning, the light mode is activated. Even something as simple as going from a bright room to a dark room would change the theme.
Dark icons in dark mode
To complement ambient and dark themes, you can enable dark icons in dark mode. Apple apps that use white backgrounds could finally gain black backgrounds when dark mode is on. It is currently quite shocking to see so many glowing white icons in dark mode.
Accent color
This is a feature that Apple is quite familiar with. It’s been on the Mac for a while now, and it’s an incredibly simple yet delicious customization feature. The Mac allows you to set a single color that is applied to menus, buttons, highlights, and more on your system. Apple should bring this to iOS, but with a unique approach.
Instead of offering a range of universal color options, Apple could offer colors that match the device family. It would make certain colors exclusive to certain devices and encourage customers to choose certain products.
Changing your accent color on iOS would change buttons in navigation bars, tabs, switches, check marks, highlights, etc. You can also choose to use the default multicolor color system. It would work well in light mode and dark mode.
Home screen icons
This particularity is delicate for several reasons. First of all, Apple probably doesn’t want to allow users to change its own iconography. I understand that. Apple wants to control and promote its services and brands. Second, he doesn’t want to be hit with costumes from brands that don’t want icon packs altering logos. He certainly doesn’t want to be hit by the costumes, as designers are starting to sell icon packs with brand logos that Apple doesn’t get cut off from.
But customers are already on their knees in icon customization. It took off like a rocket as soon as people discovered they could define their own designs with shortcuts. Apple has gradually made it easier to set up custom icons for customers, like how Apple removed the need for a shortcut to launch the app before switching to another. Now it only shows a short term notification. But since this icon customization is now so ubiquitous, Apple might consider ways to implement a controlled system.
What Apple could do is create an even stricter system than the App Store. He might treat it more like a designer program than a market. Designers can submit icon packs to Apple for inclusion in the App Store and a Settings modal. Apple would need to review the icons all for legal and aesthetic reasons. They would be easy to install, easy to preview, and most importantly, easy to activate with just a few clicks.
Wallpapers
Last April,. shared leaked images of a new wallpaper picker and API that were originally planned for iOS 14. This would allow you to create “smart gradients” from images and organize your backgrounds screenshots by packs downloaded from the App Store.
This kind of extended wallpaper customization would be welcome in iOS 15, and hopefully it will finally see the light of day.
Demo
Watch a short video I made showing some of these features and let us know what you think in the comments below! Make sure to tap to watch the video in full screen on your iPhone.
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