How To Change Home Screen App Icons On iPhone and iPad

One of the new features available with the release of iOS 10.3 is the ability to change the icon of the apps that are available on your iPhone’s Home Screen. This adds yet another level of customization for Apple mobile device users. It’s the small things that make the difference between the Cupertino-based tech giant and their competitors and this option widens the gap. However, the initial version is limited, because it isn’t available for all apps just yet.

At the moment, the ball is in the developer’s half. The app coders have to provide a series of icons that you can set as home screen appearance for their own apps. This means that if the application owners don’t play along, you don’t have an option to add a new icon yourself. The small images have to be already featured within the software, at the time of download. Also, don’t expect for the app icons to change in real-time. You won’t see the weather app to change its home screen icon dynamically, and provide weather updates directly on your home screen, but I’m sure that Apple already considers this as a possible extension for its future iOS versions.

How To Change App Icon
Things are quite simple at the moment. As mentioned above, the primary condition for being able to change the home screen app icon is that the developers should include this feat when coding the software. If you scroll down you’ll find, a frequently updated list, with apps that include this option.
1. Make sure that your iPhone or iPad is running iOS 10.3 or later.
2. Open the app that allows home screen icon customization and browse for the Settings screen.
3. Look for an option called “Set Home Screen Icon” and tap on it.
4. Select the new icon from the ones available in the list and save your option.

Fact: Not only the home screen icon of the app changes, but all other icon appearances within the iOS interface, like Settings menu, for example. You can notice this in the print-screen available nearby.
Tip: Some apps will automatically suggest you to change the home screen icon when you perform the initial setup.
For example, MLB.com At Bat demands you to choose your favorite team when you install the app and asks you if you want to change the home screen icon with your preferred team’s logo!

iOS Apps That Include This Feature
The first two apps that have been marketed as the ones that implemented this new iOS 10.3 feature are:
– MLB.com At Bat and NHL. The option really makes sense because every baseball or hockey fan has at least a team to root for and placing the logo of the favorite squad on the home screen adds just another layer of loyalty. We also expect similar iOS apps like NBA and MLS to join the list and delight basketball and soccer fans too.

Other apps include:
– Pitch: is one of the smaller applications that features the home screen app changing setting. However, it does it in a simplistic mode. It changes the icon if you run the app in Dark Mode, meaning that you basically have only two icons to choose from.
– Narwhal: a news apps that brings optimized browsing for the Reddit.com social news aggregation website. It’s a gesture based app that improves lecturing for this popular discussion website. Version 2.11 brings the alternate app icons option. A feature promoted by iOS 10.3.

Fact: If you detect other App Store software that allow home screen icon change, don’t hesitate to contact us and asks us to add your finding to the collection displayed above.