iPhone Customization

An invaluable button on your iPhone can do hundreds, even thousands, of amazing things, but most iPhone users don't even know it exists. You can't push it. You can't click it. You can't press it. But it's the largest button on your iPhone, more powerful than the versatile Side button, and it's hiding in plain sight.

Your iPhone only has a few physical buttons, buttons with a set number of default actions assigned to them, like sleeping your display, controlling volume levels, and even taking pictures. But as much as these buttons can do for you, they can do more. You're not stuck with the out-of-the-box defaults. Every push button on your iPhone can be customized in one way or another.

Apple has finally given Control Center the love that it needs with an updated interface design and more customizations than ever before. Taking the more customizable overhaul one step further, iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 have elevated controls beyond Control Center, so you can use controls from other places on your iPhone or iPad for even faster access to your most-used shortcuts.

If you have an iPhone 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max, your Action button has even more actions it can perform thanks to the iOS 18 software update. These actions are also available on the iPhone 16 series lineup — the iPhone 16, 16 Plus, 16 Pro, and 16 Pro Max — all of which have the Action button.

Apple just made it easier to change a widget's size on your iPhone's Home Screen, so you no longer have to delete widgets and add different-sized versions of them. With iOS 18, you can adjust a widget's size straight from its current widget size on your Home Screen. The new method also works on iPad with iPadOS 18.

Some iOS and iPadOS apps offer alternative app icons you can switch between. Beyond that, you'd have to create aliases in the Shortcuts app to customize the look of the app icons on your Home Screen. But that would mean two icons for each app in the App Library. Now, in a new software update, Apple has given us a middle ground for Home Screen icon customization.

Apple's most significant software updates for iPhone and iPad in 2024 have massive changes for apps like Calculator, Messages, and Notes, but iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 also have exciting new features for your Lock Screen.

Every year, Apple releases new wallpapers for its iPhone and iPad software updates, and that's exactly what happened with the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 updates released on Sept. 16. But you don't need iOS 18 or iPadOS 18 to enjoy Apple's new backgrounds — you can download and use them on any device, whether a smartphone, tablet, computer, or something else.

Apple offers many ways to customize the Home Screen on your iPhone, from adding widgets and scheduling rotating wallpapers to hiding apps and entire pages. But some of the best ways to customize your Home Screen are options Apple won't even tell you about, either because they haven't become official features yet or because Apple is OK with the workarounds.

Sure, you can remove apps from your iPhone's Home Screen without deleting them. But there's something satisfying about seeing them laid out and well-organized on the Home Screen, just a tap away, especially if you use user-selectable or custom icons for all your apps. Still, there may be days or situations when you want to hide apps without removing them entirely from the Home Screen.

There's a lot you can customize on your iPhone's Lock Screen — wallpapers and photos, widgets, the display mode, notifications, and even the time's font and color. But there's another feature that lets you add custom text for whatever you want, whether it's an inspiring quote, a reminder, a warning to anyone who dares touch your iPhone, or even just your name.

There seems to be no end to all the viral TikTok sound bites and trending TikTok songs, and there's a good reason why they are ingrained in the fabric of our pop culture. TikTok's short audio clips can evoke laughter, tears, and a wide range of other emotions, and many of them just happen to be the perfect length to add to your iPhone's or iPad's arsenal of ringtones.