How To Change iPhone App Icons And Rename Apps In iOS & iPadOS 14
How to change app icons on iPhone
Home Screen widgets have become very popular for Apple gadget owners since the release of iOS 14. However, a less known iOS 14 enhancement allows pro-users to also change the app icons, thus fully customize the look of the iPhone and iPad Home Screen.
To edit the Home Screen app icons you have to pick an image, store it in the Photos app, create a new shortcut using the Shortcuts app, add the shortcut to the Home Screen and finally place the original app in the App Library, to avoid duplicate applications.
This all sounds quite complicated but we’ve got you covered. All steps for editing Home Screen app icons in iOS 14 are detailed below. However, before you start be aware that this trick comes with two major limitations. If you decide to hack your icons you have two know that every time when you open the app in question, the launch will go through the Shortcuts app, which can result in a slight delayed loading time. Secondly, the notification badges will also become unavailable.
15 Steps To Change iPhone App Icons in iOS 14
- 1. Open the Shortcuts app on your iPhone or iPad.
- 2. In the ‘My Shortcuts’ tab, tap the ‘+’ icon, available in the top-right corner of the screen.
- 3. Select Add Action.
- 4. Search for the Open App action and tap on it.
- 5. Tap on Choose.
- 6. Search for the app that you want to change the icon of and tap on its name.
- 7. Tap on the blue three-dots icon, available in the top-right corner.
- 8. Tap on Shortcut Name and provide a name for the shortcut to better recognize it later.
- 9. Tap on Add to Home Screen.
- 10. Tap on the placeholder app icon.
- 11. Use the drop-down menu to grab the new image for the app icon. You have the options to Take Photo, Choose Photo, or Choose File.
- 12. Select the desired replacement image and tap Choose.
- 13. Tap on ‘New Shortcut’ and rename the app as you want it to appear on the home screen. You can use the original name or anything else!
- 14. Tap Add.
- 15. Tap Done. That’s the shortcut has been created and added to the Home Screen.
Return to the home screen and tap on the newly created icon to run the shortcut and load the original app!
Change iPhone App Icons Video Tutorial
For an even better demo of this trick, we’ve recorded a video guide that shows all the secrets of replacing app icons and renaming them in iOS and iPadOS 14:
Remove Original App From Home Screen
Important: You can remove the original app from the Home Screen and send it to the App Library. Don’t delete the original app because this will also stop the newly created widget from working!
How To: Long-press the original app icon and tap on ‘Remove App’ in the quick actions menu. Select Move to App Library
Although this is a complicated workaround many users have chosen to change their app icons. Do you plan to follow suit? Which app icon you intend to change? Let us know using the comments section available below.
Related: Check out these 100+ Home Screen widgets for iPhone and iPad!
This should be a standard feature not a workaround !
Yeah, it would be nice. Let’s see, perhaps iOS 15 will include something similar.
I did this but now I can’t remove them. It just says edit home screen, What do i do
If you tap on Edit Home Screen, don’t you get the option to ‘x’ them out?
Seriously? Welcome to 2003. Totally unacceptable junk.
I did not see the 3 dots. Waste of my time and I’m at 2 percent. Wait never mind I’m at 1 percent. Thanks a lot 😡