Even though everybody else also owns an iPhone, you can still make yours stand out from the crowd. We'll show you how to customize your iPhone's Home Screen with widgets and unique app icons so it truly reflects your style.

How to Add Widgets to Your iPhone's Home Screen

A widget is a light version of an app that displays information and lets you interact with it directly on the Home Screen. With the release of iOS 16, you can even add widgets to your Lock Screen.

You can customize your iPhone's Home Screen with widgets for almost every stock Apple app and a growing selection of third-party apps. To add one:

  1. Tap and hold in a blank space on your iPhone's Home Screen to enter Jiggle mode.
  2. In the top corner, tap the Add (+) icon to view your available widgets. Search or scroll through the selection to find the widget you want.
  3. After selecting a widget, swipe left and right to view different versions of it, then tap Add Widget.
  4. Drag and drop to move the widget around your Home Screen just like you would with any other app. You can even drop it on another widget of the same size to create a widget stack.
  5. Tap Done or click the Home button to exit Jiggle mode.

If you aren't sure where to start, take a look at our rundown of all the best iOS widgets.

Change the Size of Your Widgets

Most iPhone widgets are available in three sizes: small, medium, and large. To change the size of a widget, you need to delete it from your iPhone's Home Screen, then add it again in a different size.

Here's how to do this:

  1. Tap and hold in a blank space on the Home Screen to enter Jiggle mode.
  2. Tap the Minus (–) icon on a widget and confirm you want to Remove it. Alternatively, tap and hold a widget, then tap Remove Widget from the quick action menu.
  3. Finally, tap the Add (+) icon and repeat the steps in the previous section to add the widget again in a different size.
iPhone widget remove widget options

Customize the Widget Settings

A lot of iPhone widgets let you customize some basic settings to change how they work. This could mean changing the location displayed in the Weather widget or changing the list shown in the Reminders widget.

If you create a widget stack, you can also enable Smart Rotate or edit the arrangement of widgets in the stack. Here's how to change them:

  1. Tap and hold on a widget until a quick action menu appears.
  2. Choose to Edit Widget or, if available, Edit Stack.
  3. Change the relevant settings, then return to the Home Screen. For a widget stack, tap a widget to view its settings or drag and drop it to change the order.
Reminders widget settings on iPhone

How to Hide Apps From Your iPhone's Home Screen

Apple also allows you to hide apps from your Home Screen. This means you can personalize your Home screen layout by only including the most important apps. Here's how:

  1. Tap and hold on an app until a quick action menu appears.
  2. Choose to Remove App.
  3. Then choose to Remove from Home Screen.

When you remove an app from the Home Screen it goes to the App Library. This means it remains installed on your iPhone, despite vanishing from the Home Screen. If you choose to Delete App instead, it vanishes from your iPhone entirely.

To view the App Library, swipe left on your last Home Screen. You should find every app on your iPhone automatically categorized into smart folders. You can also tap the search bar to search for an app or view them all in an alphabetical list.

Hide Entire Home Screens

Rather than sending every app to the App Library individually, you can also choose to hide entire Home Screens on your iPhone. When you do this, your iPhone saves the Home Screen layout so that it's easy to bring back if you ever change your mind.

Below is how you hide or change Home Screen layouts:

  1. Tap and hold in a blank space on the Home Screen to enter Jiggle mode.
  2. Tap the Home Screen dots at the bottom of the screen. You should see a zoomed-out view of all your Home Screens.
  3. Tap the checkmarks to select or deselect each Home Screen, choosing whether to hide it or not.

How to Create Custom Widgets and App Icons

We've seen a lot of stylized Home Screens that use custom widgets and iOS app icon packs to create an inventive new look. Creating a custom Home Screen like this can be a time-consuming endeavor, but it pays off in style.

Create Custom Widgets for iPhone

Several apps on the App Store allow you to create custom widgets for your iPhone's Home Screen. You can use them to choose color schemes, icons, and widget sizes.

Most of these apps are free to download at first but offer in-app purchases or subscriptions to unlock more customization options. By far, the most popular widget-customization app is Widgetsmith.

Here's how to use it to create custom widgets on your iPhone's Home Screen:

  1. Open Widgetsmith and tap a small, medium, or large widget to start editing it.
  2. Scroll through the Widget tab to choose the type of widget you want to create. There are options covering everything from photos to astronomy.
  3. After picking a widget type, use Theme and other tabs that appear to customize other aspects of your widget.
  4. When you finish customizing the widget, tap Save.
  5. To add Widgetsmith widgets to your Home Screen, enter Jiggle mode and tap the Add (+) button, then search for Widgetsmith. Choose the widget size you created a widget for. Tap Done.
  6. After adding a generic Widgetsmith widget to your iPhone, tap and hold to Edit Widget, then choose your custom widget from the dropdown menu.

Download: Widgetsmith (Free, subscription available)

Create Custom App Icons

Although you might have seen what look like custom app icons on someone else's iOS Home Screen, they're actually just shortcuts for those apps.

The built-in Shortcuts app allows you to set custom icons and names for shortcuts before you add them to the Home Screen, and they can be aesthetic to look at.

If you're sure you want to customize your app icons on the iPhone, there are two methods you can use. The first method is to get Home Screen customization apps for your iPhone.

These apps offer lots of free themes and app icon packs. Just pick one you like and follow the on-screen instructions to install them on your device. The app will automatically create and match your existing app icons to the custom ones.

The second method is to manually create a shortcut for each app and set its icon one by one. Although this is more time-consuming, it's suitable if you don't want pre-made icon packs and instead prefer to use simple graphic design apps like Canva to design your app icons beforehand.

Here's how to do it:

  1. Design the app icon you want to use. Download and save it to your iPhone's Files or Photos app.
  2. Open the Shortcuts app on your iPhone.
  3. Tap the Add (+) button to create a new shortcut.
  4. Tap Add Action and search for the Open App action, then tap App and select the app you want to open.
  5. Use the Info (i) button to open the menu, then tap Add to Home Screen.
  6. Tap the app icon and use the popup menu to select the custom icon you want to use from the Files or Photos app on your iPhone.
  7. Name your shortcut after the app, then tap Add to add it to your Home screen. You can move it around the Home screen just like you would any other app.
  8. Repeat this process, creating a new shortcut for each app you want to customize.

Find Even More Ways to Customize Your iPhone

Customizing the Home Screen is only the first step to personalizing your iPhone. To create a truly unique device, you should also change the wallpaper, choose your own ringtone, and get a case to make sure your iPhone is as stylish as possible.