On December 11, Apple released iOS 18.2, which included several Apple Intelligence capabilities for certain iPhones, such as Image Playground and Genmoji. However, Apple made a significant and long-overdue update to the iPhone in September with the introduction of iOS 18: the option to personalize your home screen.

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Among many other things, iOS 18 allows you to rearrange applications on the screen in new ways, delete app labels, and alter the color of app icons. Therefore, if your background is red, you may make your app icons green, or vice versa, to add some festive happiness to your iPhone.

Read more: iOS 18 Upgrades Your iPhone with These Features

You can personalize your home screen in a variety of ways to make it as enjoyable and distinctive as you are.

How to get rid of iOS 18 app labels

The iOS 18 home screen customization menu
To eliminate app labels and make your applications a little bigger, tap Large.
Zach McAuliffe/CNET screenshot
1. To activate jiggle mode, which causes all of your applications to shake, long-press on your wallpaper.
2. In the upper left corner of your screen, tap Edit.
3. Select “Customize.”
4. In the new menu that shows up at the bottom of your screen, tap Large.

The labels below your program icons will vanish as they enlarge. I think this is much cleaner, and I have no intention of ever again showing app labels.

Tap Small and repeat the previous steps if you don’t like this. The labels will resurface and the applications will return to their original size.

How to alter the app icons’ color

1. To activate jiggle mode, which causes your applications to shake, long-press on your backdrop.
2. In the upper left corner of your screen, tap Edit.
3. Select “Customize.”
4. Tap the Tinted symbol located in the far right corner of the menu at the bottom of your screen.

You may scroll the gradient scale that appears at the bottom of this option until you achieve the exact shade you want.

iOS 18’s home screen customization option displays app icons with tints.
The symbol on the far right depicts the appearance of a colored application.
Zach McAuliffe/CNET screenshot
To choose a backdrop color that more closely matches your icons, you may also hit the eyedropper icon in the menu’s upper right corner. In this manner, you avoid dragging the sliders and becoming irritated because the colors don’t match—not that I experienced this, of course not. All of your app icons will be impacted by this modification.

Additionally, you may make the backdrop of certain of your applications darker.

1. To activate jiggle mode, which causes your applications to shake, long-press on your backdrop.
2. In the upper left corner of your screen, tap Edit.
3. Select “Customize.”
4. In the Dark menu at the bottom of your screen, tap the symbol to the left of the center.

The backgrounds of Apple’s first-party applications, such as Safari, Messages, and others, will now be almost black. First-party Apple applications and a few third-party apps, such as the YouTube and Bluesky apps, are affected by this modification. Instagram, Snapchat, and other third-party applications remain unaltered.

Selecting Dark will make your backdrop darker, which may lower your iPhone’s power consumption and increase battery life.

How to make your background simply darker

You may make the icons stand out by darkening your backdrop if you have colored your app icons or prefer a lighter look for the icons. Here’s how.

1. To activate jiggle mode, which causes your programs to shake, long-press on a portion of your backdrop.
2. In the upper left corner of your screen, tap Edit.
3. Select “Customize.”
4. In the upper left corner of the newly displayed menu, tap the sun symbol.

Your app icons won’t change; this will just make your background darker.

How to set up applications on your home screen

A white and brown dog sporting a pink birthday cap with the number one
Zach McAuliffe/CNET screenshot
You may still arrange applications on your home screen in the same way. To activate jiggle mode, you may either tap and drag an app to a new place or long-press on a blank area of your backdrop and then drag applications where you want them to move.

All of your applications may be positioned close to the bottom of your screen, framed, or arranged in any other manner you like. I positioned the majority of my applications on the right side of my screen since I’m a right-handed person and can touch them without worrying about dropping my phone. If your backdrop is a photo of a pet or a loved one, this also makes it simple to make sure you see it.

You can’t put applications too close together or on top of one another since the grid is still there. The distance between the lowest row of the grid and your dock at the bottom of your screen will be rather significant if you extend your applications. Although it seems to be large enough to accommodate another program icon, you are unable to— I made an unsuccessful attempt.

See our iOS 18 cheat sheet and what you need to know about iOS 18.2 and 18.1 for additional information on iOS 18. You may also see what iOS 18.3 could bring to your iPhone.