How to Change App Icons on iOS 14

This article covers how to customize the look of your iPhone app icons on iOS 14 using photos using images from your camera roll and the Shortcuts app.

How to Change App Icons on iOS 14

In iOS 14, you can do a lot to customize how your home screen looks, including changing the images on your app icons. You can use any image you have in Photos. Some people like to find a set of pictures they like and customize their phone around those pictures. If that's your preference, start by deciding how many icons you want to customize, find enough images to have a different one for each icon, and then follow these instructions to customize those icons.

1. Open the Shortcuts app.

   On newer versions of the iPhone, this app is probably already installed. On older iPhones, you may need to download it from the Apple App Store.

2. Click the + (plus) icon in the upper right corner of the Shortcuts app.

3. On the New Shortcut page that appears, tap Add Action.

4. In the search bar at the top of the Suggestions page that appears, type Open app to search for the action that opens an app.

5. From the Actions section of the search results, tap Open App.

6. Then in the Scripting section of the New Shortcut tap Choose.

7. Scroll through the list of available apps and choose the one you want to create a customized shortcut for.

8. You return to the New Shortcut page, and the name of the app now appears in the Scripting section. Tap the three-dot menu near the top right corner.

9. Tap Add to Home Screen.

10. Under Home Screen Name and Icon, tap the X to the right of the New Shortcut to erase that text and add a name for your icon. If you're naming it something other than the app's name, be sure to make it something you will remember.

11. The tap the icon for the shortcut.

12. Tap Choose Photo.

    You could also tap Take Photo here and take a photo to use as the image for the app icon.

13. Navigate to and select the image you want to use as your app icon.

14. You can use pinch and pull to zoom in or out on the image on the next screen until you have it sized the way you want it. When you're done, tap Choose.

15. Then tap Add.

16. You'll see a brief confirmation that your app shortcut was added to your Home screen, then you can close out of the shortcuts app and view your Home screen to see your new icon.

    To use the new shortcut with the customized app icon, you'll probably want to remove the current app icon from your Home screen (so there aren't two icons for the same app). To do that, just long-press on the app icon you want to remove and tap Remove App, or if you're removing another shortcut, tap Delete Bookmark.

Repeat this process for each of the apps you want to change on your home screen. You can even change the app icons in the Dock (the menu bar at the bottom of the screen).