Leading up to Apple’s WWDC24, rumors suggested iPhone would get its biggest redesign ever. Unfortunately, it’s not as big a redesign as I expected. I thought it would be on par with the iOS 7 redesign, which still stands as The Big One. In fact, the iPhone X / iOS 11 redesign was no less significant than the iOS 18 one. Also, the makeover is coming to iPad.
Homescreen
Previous redesigns affected much of how iPhone both looked and worked. That’s what I had hoped for this time, like making buttons look more like buttons than text links. This redesign seems more about the look of iPhone, with some exceptions.
After many years, you can FINALLY put app icons anywhere you want (on the homescreen grid). Android showed the way; iPhone follows. Better late than never. Seriously, I’m eager to have this freedom I once enjoyed back in my Android days. This change alone is worth getting excited about. Not only that, it will be easier to resize active widgets too. Yes!
Another welcome customization: dark mode for app icons. Yassss! The journey to the Dark Side is complete! This is going to make dark mode darker better.
And speaking of app icon color changes, you will be able to truly personalize your app icons with any tint you want. But most examples I’ve seen look bad or gross. I’m not enthused about this change, but maybe it’ll be okay.
There’s more. Now you’ll also be able to choose a large icon mode that makes app icons a little bigger while also removing the tiny text labels underneath them. It gives a cleaner look to the homescreen. I think I’ll be living large…in large mode.
Control Center
Now this is interesting. There is going to be an actual power button in Control Center. Hmmmm…
Overall, there will be more options for controls, control sizing and positioning, and better organized controls with easy swipe-down quick access. I think this will be quite nice. Related to this, you’ll be able to change the two buttons on the lock-screen that are currently locked to Flashlight and Camera. I think I’ll swap out one of them for Quick Note.
Overall
There are more changes coming to Apple’s software over the next year, but these are the ones about customization and personalization that stick out to me. My favorite has to be the ability to place app icons anywhere. Second fave: dark mode icons.
I’ll enjoy this on both iPhone and iPad. Still hard to believe that, after all these years, a key differentiator between iPhone and Android is being swept under the rug. Never say never, eh?
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