Customizing your iPhone home screen, especially app icons, used to be a hassle that required complex workarounds. However, with iOS 18, you can now easily change the color of app icons right from the home screen. Here's how.
How to change app icon color on iPhone
Before you begin, make sure your iPhone is updated to iOS 18. Once you've done that, tap and hold on an empty area of your Home screen to enter jiggle mode. Now, tap Edit in the top-left corner and select Edit .
This will open a menu where you can personalize your app icons. You'll see four options: Light , Dark , Automatic , and Tint . Here's what each option does:
Light : This option keeps the app icon in Light Mode, just like before you updated your phone to iOS 18.
Dark : This new option switches app icons to Dark Mode, giving most icons a darker background. Note, however, that this option may not apply to some third-party app icons.
Automatic : This option automatically switches between light or dark icons based on your iPhone's current theme. When you switch between dark mode and light mode, your app icons will switch as well.
Tint : This option allows you to change your app icons to any color of your choice. Just select that option and drag the two sliders to whatever color and intensity you like. However, your experience can be very hit or miss, as it doesn’t look great on some app icons.
Change app icon color on iPhone running iOS 18
This isn’t the only thing you can do to further customize your Home screen. You can choose larger app icons by selecting the Large option in the Customize menu , which also hides app labels for a clean, minimalist look. You can also darken the background for better contrast by tapping the sun icon in the top left corner of the Customize menu .
If you’re not happy with the results, you can also try adding custom widgets and app icons using third-party tools for even more flexibility. Plus, now that the iPhone software is updated, you can also explore some of the best new features of iOS 18 !