How to change the color of app icons with iOS 18

Some of the biggest changes Apple introduced with iOS 18 concern customization. You can tweak the look of your Control Center for the first time, even including buttons and controls for third-party apps. Like the last few years, Apple has also included new ways to tweak how your home screen looks. Not only can you place app icons wherever you want, but you can change the color of those icons too.

The results might not always look the best, especially for apps that haven’t been fully updated to support iOS 18, but that’s because of the surprising amount of control Apple gives you over how your icons look. If you’re planning on taking your phone customization to the next level, here’s how to tweak the color of your app icons yourself.

How to change the color of your app icons

You’re a few taps away from a drastically different home screen

By default, when you change your wallpaper and try and tint the color of your app icons, Apple tries to match the icons to your wallpaper. It also only lets you tint dark mode icons, which means, while the current interfaces of your apps will still change based on your preferred settings (whether it’s defaulting to dark mode or changing based on the time of the day), your home screen will look like it’s in Dark Mode all the time if you want to change the color of your icons.

It’s possible Apple will change that in a future software release, but it is something to be aware of if you’re extra particular about how your phone looks. With that in mind, to tint your apps you’ll need to start on your home screen:

1. Long press anywhere on your home screen.
2. Tap on the Edit button in the top left corner of your screen.
3. Tap on Customize.
4. Then tap on Tinted.
5. Your icons will shift to match your wallpaper. To make further tweaks, tap and slide on the color sliders at the bottom of your screen.
6. Once you’re happy with your changes, tap out of the menu.

Your iPhone is more customizable than ever with iOS 18

Widgets, tinted app icons, and a text-free home screen are at your disposal

Apple isn’t going to ever make the iPhone as freewheeling and customizable as an Android phone, but it’s come a long way in the last few years. You can make your iPhone look very different with only a few minutes of work, and wildly different if you’re willing to set up some simple shortcuts. That’s a pretty big change from the one default home screen early iPhones were stuck with.

Of course, customization isn’t the only benefit that iOS 18 includes, from long promised Apple Intelligence support to improvements to Apple Maps, the operating system has received a lot of new features that you shouldn’t miss.