This kind of reminds me of when people would do all kinds of crazy stuff to their Myspace page and it would take like 20 minutes to load up because there was so much going on. And most of the time it looked like ****.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apps for Customizing iOS 14 Home Screens Installed on 15% of US iPhones
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Your view only makes sense if you are forced to use the customization. Which you aren't. Besides offending your sensibilities, customization doesn't affect you in any way. Yours is essentially an "I don't like it, therefore it's bad" mentality.
Your reply went tangently to my point. I do not mind paying for my premium phone as I have done for several years, I was just asking for more control and customization, I can do that.
Except users are customizing their phones for themselves vs Homer customizing a car design for his brother to sell to the masses. Pretty different context, but hilarious episode of the Simpsons.
You need to see it from a company point of view. Your product is your image, your face, your reputation. Using a design which is created by very smart and talented people signals to all other non-iPhone users what a beauty it really is. You can only keep that signal by preventing others changing it.
I'm honestly surprised that more than 1 out of 8 iPhone users both care enough about customizing icons on their Home Screen and have the technical gumption to find an app to do just that.
I would would have guessed it would've been far more niche than that.
I would would have guessed it would've been far more niche than that.
In my opinion, IOS has gotten stale. My husband has gotten around this by just jailbreaking his devices for years and downloading themes. I never did that cause knowing my luck, I would have bricked my phone.
So, when this workaround came out. I themed out my Homescreen to the Max to the point where my husband has followed suit.
I hope apple removes this workaround in IOS 15.
So, when this workaround came out. I themed out my Homescreen to the Max to the point where my husband has followed suit.
I hope apple removes this workaround in IOS 15.
I suspect many of those with these customization apps have used it only once or twice because a friend mentioned it / they saw it on twitter. Until further customization is supported natively (which I think Apple should allow to a degree - they can even limit it a bit so as to maintain a consistent aesthetic ex: would be nice to change iMessage colors) I don't think many people will spend the time to continue using these and dealing with the workaround. I know some are comfortable using it, I just don't think 15% of iPhones in the US are doing much active customization.
It's just an app. iOS already comes preinstalled with an app that lets you do just that (Shortcuts) and I would hardly call downloading another third party app particularly complicated.
I think credit still goes to Apple to implementing widgets in a manner that made it easy and unthreatening for their users to try out. This is the perfect example of how well Apple executed on widgets. Yes, there are still issues and limitations, but when you consider how apps like Hey (yes, that $100/year email app) has a widget for iOS on day one, yet hasn't felt compelled to bring the same functionality to Android, maybe limitations isn't such a bad thing after all.
Especially when it can be argued that limitations is precisely what gives the developers that structure and guidance in implementing widgets in the unified and cohesive manner it is now. I guess this really is the difference between iOS and android ultimately. Apple is consciously taking an active stance to maintain and nurture their platform, while Google is content to just let things evolve (and rot) at their own pace with minimal interference, and I guess the results kinda speak for themselves.
According to who/what? Isn’t this the very reason for customisation, so that your optimal is not my optimal.
Neither would I; that's not what I meant about the technical hurdle. What I mean is that it requires a person even be aware it's a thing they can do, and once they're aware it's a thing they can do, decide to search for an app that lets them do the thing, find the app, pick the one that seems to fit their needs, and download.
As an example, out all the people in my family that are running iOS, outside of me I only know of one that's even aware you can customize icons, let alone have enough interest in doing it to download an app for it.
I know that when iOS 14 was released, there were tons of videos on YouTube showing how iPhone homescreens could be customised with widgets and custom icons. Then there are the shares on social media platforms like Pinterest. The iPhone’s own marketing material also show widgets on the homescreen.
So I will say this has received a fair amount of fanfare. And this is just the people who downloads third party apps to do so.
For myself, I have a homescreen with a stack of widgets and 2 rows of Siri Shortcuts. I have hidden everything else, so it’s swipe right for App Library.
Plenty of options all around, and something for everyone.
I know that when iOS 14 was released, there were tons of videos on YouTube showing how iPhone homescreens could be customised with widgets and custom icons. Then there are the shares on social media platforms like Pinterest. The iPhone’s own marketing material also show widgets on the homescreen.
So I will say this has received a fair amount of fanfare. And this is just the people who downloads third party apps to do so.
For myself, I have a homescreen with a stack of widgets and 2 rows of Siri Shortcuts. I have hidden everything else, so it’s swipe right for App Library.
Plenty of options all around, and something for everyone.
I agree with everything you've posted. That said, I know that my wife, both my parents, both of my parents-in-law, and two of my kids just aren't the types of personalities to play with tech. They don't really know that you can do on screen widgets, etc. They don't watch tech based YouTube videos, or peruse tech websites, or any of it. When their phones upgrade iOS, they only notice or care about the obvious changes and aren't really exploratory when it comes to their phones.
My initial comment was just expressing surprise that there are seemingly so many people that fit those two categories: people that are tech-interested enough to play with home screen widgets and such, and those that have a desire to do custom icons.
I just want a home screen widget that shows both the time and the weather.
Why can’t I have nice things?
Why can’t I have nice things?
No, they do not. They can’t use location service 24/7. I believe it is limited to 15 minutes at a time.
