Using custom app icons just got smoother with iPhone 14 Pro

Apple has never officially allowed users to change iOS app icons. However, thanks to the Shortcuts app, anyone can create a home screen shortcut with a custom icon that opens a specific app. This process comes with the downside of displaying a huge banner every time a user clicks an icon, but the iPhone 14 Pro and Dynamic Island make using custom app icons much smoother.

Custom App Icons on iPhone 14 Pro

As noted before Parker OrtolaniHome screen shortcuts with custom icons no longer display a large banner at the top of the screen, at least on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. This is because, on these models, iOS now displays a small animation on Dynamic Island to confirm that the shortcut was successfully executed.

Previously, the logo also caused a delay in the time it took for the user to interact with the app. This delay has now been removed. Unfortunately, the change is only valid for iPhone 14 Pro users. Those with other iPhone and iPad models still have to deal with the banner when the home screen shortcut opens with a custom icon.

Since iOS 14.3, Home screen shortcuts no longer open the Shortcuts app Before running the application you set. This alone made the choice compelling to many users despite the presence of a banner on the screen. Of course, “changing” app icons in iOS still requires a lot of effort compared to Android.

However, there are a lot of iPhone and iPad users who create completely unique home screens with custom icons. Besides home screen widgets, also introduced with iOS 14 in 2020, users have found Many creative ways to change their home screens.