How to customise your iPhone homescreen (2024)

By Alex Blake

published

Make your iPhone more personal with these tips.

How to customise your iPhone homescreen (1)

One of the best things about iOS is how much customisation it gives you over how your Home Screen and Lock Screen look and feel. For example, you can place small widgets on your iPhone's Lock Screen that show your activity rings, upcoming reminders and much more. There are toggles to change Lock Screen Fonts, wallpaper colours, gradients and effects, and even add wallpapers that sparkle with beautiful animated effects of show the weather in real time.

To get all this to work, justensure your iPhone is compatible. Home Screen widgets require iOS 14 or later. For Lock Screen widgets, it’s iOS 16. If you need an upgrade, see our best iPhone 14 deals. Let’s dive in.

01. Customisation basics

How to customise your iPhone homescreen (2)

(Image: © Apple)

Adjusting your Home and Lock Screens is easy: just tap and hold on your Lock Screen then tap Customise. Next, tap either Lock Screen or Home Screen and you’ll see various options, from adding new widgets toapplying gradient effects.

Widgets live at the top of your Lock Screen. Tap one to replace oredit it. You can move or rescale the wallpaper by pinching your fingers together or apart. Swipe left or right or tap the dots to apply a colour effect to your wallpaper. Change your wallpaper or apply a depth effect by tapping the buttons in the bottom corners.

02. Add a new screen

How to customise your iPhone homescreen (3)

(Image: © Apple)

Tap and hold your Lock Screen and add a new screen by scrolling all the way to the right, then tapping ‘+’ below Add New. Choose a Lock Screen style – there are screens with photos, colours, emoji and more – and tap it to begin.

03. Add widgets

How to customise your iPhone homescreen (4)

(Image: © Apple)

Tap the date at the top to open a widget list. You can scroll through any app that supports widgets below. Apple’s Weather app can display the weather at your location, moon cycles, wind speeds and more, for instance.

04. Add smaller widgets

How to customise your iPhone homescreen (5)

(Image: © Apple)

Below the time is an area for smallerwidgets. Tap a widget (or tap AddWidgets if the area is empty), then tap an option to add it to the Lock Screen. You can drag widgets to this area or rearrange them into a new order.

05. Switch themes

How to customise your iPhone homescreen (6)

(Image: © Apple)

Touch and hold your Lock Screen to see your existing screens. Changing your theme is as simple as swiping between them and tapping a new choice. Or you can swipe up and tap the trash can icon to delete a theme entirely.

06. Add animated wallpapers

How to customise your iPhone homescreen (7)

(Image: © Apple)

Touch and hold your Lock Screen to add a new screen. The wallpaper gallery contains a few interactive options. Tap Weather to see an animated view of your forecast, or tap Astronomy to see the moon or your location on Earth.

07. Add depth effects

How to customise your iPhone homescreen (8)

(Image: © Apple)

After adding a photo wallpaper, tap the ‘…’ icon (bottom right) to add a depth effect. This places a subject in front ofthe time (you might need to remove widgets first). You can also swipe left orright to apply colourful effects.

08. Change the photo

How to customise your iPhone homescreen (9)

(Image: © Apple)

Change the photo Touch and hold the Lock Screen and tap Customise > Home Screen. You’ll see a preview of the Home Screen, along with options at the bottom. Tap Photo if you want to choose a different wallpaper than the one used on your Lock Screen.

09. Change colour or gradient

How to customise your iPhone homescreen (10)

(Image: © Apple)

Now tap Done, tap Customise again, then tap your Home Screen. At the bottom, tap either Colour or Gradient, then tap the ‘+’ to change the hue. You can pick from 18 options and tweak eachone’s tint using the slider

10. Pair wallpapers

How to customise your iPhone homescreen (11)

(Image: © Apple)

On the same screen, tap Pair to match the Home Screen background to the Lock Screen one. If they are paired, you can tap Blur to cloud the wallpaper. This could help your Home Screen apps and widgets stand out a bit more.

This is an extract from an article that originally appeared in MacFormat magazine. Subscribe to MacFormat.

Get the Creative Bloq Newsletter

Daily design news, reviews, how-tos and more, as picked by the editors.

How to customise your iPhone homescreen (12)

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

How to customise your iPhone homescreen (13)

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

How to customise your iPhone homescreen (14)

Alex Blake

Alex Blake is a freelance tech journalist who writes for Creative Bloq, TechRadar, Digital Trends, and others. Before going freelance he was commissioning editor at MacFormat magazine, focusing on the world of Apple products. His interests include web design, typography, and video games.

Related articles

  • The best horror film posters of all time
  • Did Lenovo just confirm plans for a Legion Go 2?
  • Lucozade flips its identity with refreshing new logo
  • The celebrity Google search conspiracy theory that won't go away
How to customise your iPhone homescreen (2024)

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Cheryll Lueilwitz

Last Updated:

Views: 6472

Rating: 4.3 / 5 (54 voted)

Reviews: 85% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Cheryll Lueilwitz

Birthday: 1997-12-23

Address: 4653 O'Kon Hill, Lake Juanstad, AR 65469

Phone: +494124489301

Job: Marketing Representative

Hobby: Reading, Ice skating, Foraging, BASE jumping, Hiking, Skateboarding, Kayaking

Introduction: My name is Cheryll Lueilwitz, I am a sparkling, clean, super, lucky, joyous, outstanding, lucky person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.