How to Change Icons on iPhone: What You Need to Know
Customizing your iPhone's home screen has become one of the most popular ways to personalize the experience — and changing app icons is right at the center of that trend. Whether you want a minimal aesthetic, a color-coordinated layout, or just a fresh look, iOS gives you real tools to make it happen. The process isn't always obvious, though, and the right approach depends on how far you want to take it.
What "Changing Icons" Actually Means on iPhone
Unlike Android, iOS doesn't let you swap app icons directly through the operating system in a traditional sense. Apple doesn't provide a built-in icon picker where you select a new image and instantly replace the original. Instead, there are two main paths iPhone users take to change how icons appear on their home screen:
- Using the Shortcuts app to create a custom icon launcher
- Using third-party apps or icon packs designed specifically for iOS customization
Both approaches have real trade-offs, and which one suits you depends on your priorities.
The Shortcuts Method: Native, Free, and Flexible 🎨
The Shortcuts app — built into iOS 14 and later — is the most common method for changing app icons without any additional software. Here's the general idea:
- Open the Shortcuts app
- Create a new shortcut that opens a specific app
- Add it to your home screen
- During that process, assign a custom image as the icon
When someone taps that home screen shortcut, it briefly opens the Shortcuts app before launching the target app. That quick redirect — often called a "bounce" through Shortcuts — is the main functional drawback of this method. It adds a fraction of a second to app launch time and briefly flashes the Shortcuts interface.
The original app icon doesn't disappear either. You'll need to hide it in the App Library or move it off your visible home screen pages to keep things visually clean.
What you need for this method:
- iOS 14 or later
- The Shortcuts app (pre-installed on modern iPhones)
- Custom icon images saved to your Photos app or Files app
Custom images can be downloaded from icon pack websites, designed yourself, or sourced from creative communities. Common formats like PNG with a transparent background tend to work cleanest for icon design.
Third-Party Apps That Streamline the Process
Several apps in the App Store exist specifically to make icon customization easier. These apps typically:
- Bundle pre-designed icon packs
- Automate the Shortcuts creation process in bulk
- Offer aesthetic themes you can apply across many apps at once
The trade-off with these apps is that they still rely on the same Shortcuts mechanism under the hood — meaning the slight launch delay is still present. Some apps charge a one-time fee or subscription for premium icon sets, while others offer free collections with optional purchases.
Themes vs. individual icons is a distinction worth understanding here. Some apps let you replace icons one by one with any image you choose. Others sell cohesive visual themes where every icon is pre-designed to match — useful if you want a consistent aesthetic without designing anything yourself.
iOS 18 and the App Icon Color Tinting Feature 🖌️
Starting with iOS 18, Apple introduced a native option to tint all app icons a consistent color. This isn't full icon replacement — it applies a color overlay to existing icons to match your wallpaper or a color you select. It's found in:
Settings → Wallpaper → Customize Home Screen
This feature affects every app icon simultaneously with a consistent tint, which appeals to users who want a unified color palette without managing individual shortcuts. It's a meaningful addition for users who don't need fully custom images but want more visual cohesion than the default look provides.
Variables That Affect Your Approach
The method that works best for you shifts based on several factors:
| Factor | What It Affects |
|---|---|
| iOS version | iOS 18 tinting is unavailable on older OS versions |
| Technical comfort level | Shortcuts setup takes more steps than a third-party app |
| Number of apps to change | Bulk replacement tools matter more when changing many icons |
| Tolerance for launch delay | Shortcuts method adds a brief redirect step |
| Custom image source | DIY icons require design files; icon packs provide ready-made options |
| Budget | Free methods exist, but premium icon packs cost money |
What Happens to the Original Icons
This trips people up. When you create a Shortcuts-based home screen icon, the original app icon still exists — it just lives in your App Library. You have a few options:
- Leave the original in the App Library (accessible by swiping right past your last home screen page)
- Move it to a dedicated "hidden" page on your home screen
- Use Focus Modes in iOS to control which pages and icons appear in specific contexts
There's no official way to permanently remove a pre-installed Apple app icon from the system, though some Apple apps can be deleted entirely.
The Part That Depends on Your Setup
The honest reality is that changing icons on iPhone involves more decisions than it first appears. The Shortcuts method is free and fully within iOS, but the launch behavior bothers some users and not others. Third-party apps simplify the process but vary significantly in quality and cost. iOS 18's tinting feature is genuinely new and covers different ground than full icon replacement.
How much visual customization you want, which iOS version you're running, how many apps you're trying to restyle, and how much friction you're willing to accept in daily use — those specifics are what actually determine which path makes sense. 📱