iOS 18: Make Your iPhone Home Screen Icons Dark

[MacRumors]

In iOS 18, iPhone apps have both Light and Dark color options, making it possible to match the color of your icons when you have Dark mode enabled. Keep reading to learn how it works.

Apple's built-in apps have both Light and Dark color options in iOS 18, and now that the update is available to the public, third-party apps are in the process of providing their own Light and Dark icon alternatives to match your preferred aesthetic, but until then your iPhone will happily generate dark versions of them, too.

The Dark icons are all redesigned with a black background rather than a white or colored background, which makes them blend in better with the ‌Dark Mode‌ setting. In addition, it's possible to turn on Dark icons independently of having ‌Dark Mode‌ enabled, so you can leave Light mode on while using the Dark icon option if you prefer.

To go along with the ‌Dark Mode‌ icons, Apple also introduced a toggle that makes your wallpaper darker. The following steps explain how to switch your icon colors to match Light or Dark mode.

1. Press and hold a space on the Home Screen or an app page to enter jiggle mode.
2. Tap Edit in the top-left corner.
3. Select Customize in the dropdown menu.
4. Choose Dark, Light, or Automatic in the customization panel. (Automatic will lighten or darken the icons depending on whether Light or Dark mode is enabled.)
5. Tap anywhere outside the customization panel to close it and exit jiggle mode.

Note that the customization panel has other new settings including one to darken your wallpaper (the sun icon), an option to make icons bigger (without labels) or smaller, and a Tint option that will put a tint over all of your icons – you can even match the tint with a color from your wallpaper using the eyedropper icon.

Article Link: iOS 18: Make Your iPhone Home Screen Icons Dark

 

[iMac The Knife]

While this should've been implemented a long time ago, I'm sure it will be a welcome setting for iPhone users. I'm all for dark mode everything.

 

[clayj]

Cannot wait for this. App developers who don't already offer Dark Mode (I am looking at you, Amazon) need to get on the stick.

 

[vegetassj4]

An even easier way to make all of the home screen icons dark (the darkest ever icons in an iPhone):

 

[macjaffa]

Who cares about icons whatever…… Can apple please fix it so i can have dark mode in ANY app? Browsing at night in bed is a nightmare when suddenly a web page is bright white when it should be dark. Accessibility and Invert is a kind of fix but can they just bake this into a auto mode that inverts but doesnt invert pictures? Low light mode sucks as contrast is too low.

 

[richardsonad]

As a beta user, this has actually been incredibly annoying as now the dark semi-transparent backgrounds for modals and popups and notifications is ONLY available if you have dark icons enabled. Otherwise, it is a white semi-transparent background. If you want the pre-iOS 18 experience of light icons and a dark modal, that is no longer available with the new system

 

[acblue94]

In iOS 18, currently in beta, iPhone apps have both Light and Dark color options, making it possible to match the color of your icons when you have Dark mode enabled. Keep reading to learn how it works.

Apple's built-in apps have both Light and Dark color options in iOS 18, and third-party apps will likely provide their own Light and Dark icon alternatives to match your preferred aesthetic when iOS 18 is released to the public, but until then your iPhone will happily generate dark versions of them, too.

The Dark icons are all redesigned with a black background rather than a white or colored background, which makes them blend in better with the ‌Dark Mode‌ setting. In addition, it's possible to turn on Dark icons independently of having ‌Dark Mode‌ enabled, so you can leave Light mode on while using the Dark icon option if you prefer.

To go along with the ‌Dark Mode‌ icons, Apple also introduced a toggle that makes your wallpaper darker. The following steps explain how to switch your icon colors to match Light or Dark mode.

1. Press and hold a space on the Home Screen or an app page to enter jiggle mode.
   
2. Tap Edit in the top-left corner.
   
3. Select Customize in the dropdown menu.
   
4. Choose Dark, Light, or Automatic in the customization panel. (Automatic will lighten or darken the icons depending on whether Light or Dark mode is enabled.)
5. Tap anywhere outside the customization panel to close it and exit jiggle mode.

Note that the customization panel has other new settings including one to darken your wallpaper (the sun icon), an option to make icons bigger or smaller, and a Tint option that will put a tint over all of your icons (you can even match the tint with a color from your wallpaper using an eyedropper icon).

Article Link: iOS 18: Make Your iPhone Home Screen Icons Dark

Wow, the innovation

 

[ShawnTXDFW]

I don’t understand why Apple can’t implement this in Safari. This way it all works together. I hate having to install a 3rd party app to do it. Noir to be exact. And the pages crash sometimes. And I’m not sure why. Dark Mode should be throughout the whole phone. Not just parts here and there. Doesn’t make sense to me.

 

[ShawnTXDFW]

And I just talked about this in my previous post. Apple needs to get with it!

 

[surfzen21]

I have the public beta on an iPhone 11.

I am glad they added this but I wish they would allow it to be per wallpaper and not system wide.

There are some wallpapers I have that look better in light mode and vise versa and Id rather be able to set it and forget it.

 

[CVUSA]

Skype icon now on dark mode . Photomator app and hue Philips icon still in the light mode however if set on Large icon it become dark color mode. iOS 18.1 Dev Beta (22B5023e)

 

[klasma]

Who cares about icons whatever…… Can apple please fix it so i can have dark mode in ANY app? Browsing at night in bed is a nightmare when suddenly a web page is bright white when it should be dark. Accessibility and Invert is a kind of fix but can they just bake this into a auto mode that inverts but doesnt invert pictures? Low light mode sucks as contrast is too low.

For web pages, there are Safari extensions like Noir.

 

[Englishmike2]

NOBODY NOTICE? It doesn't work correctly!

When I customise "Light" Icons I have the Wallpaper Light

When I customise "Dark" Icons I have the Wallpaper Dark

When I put it into Auto, these settings don't carry over!!

When System Dark mode kicks in and the Icons change to "Dark" the Wallpaper is light!

CRAZY! This is not how it should be.

 

[Royksöpp]

Wow! So innovative!

 

[jblank]

Just a word of warning based off my experience with iPadOS 18 betas, once you change them to a dark icon mode, in storage, the icons in there PERMANENTLY stay dark, even if you change them back to light/normal and further still, even if you reset the iPad Pro. Maybe this is different with the phone but this is what I have experienced with the iPad Pro 12.9 4th gen, 18 betas.

 

[PsykX]

NOBODY NOTICE? It doesn't work correctly!

When I customise "Light" Icons I have the Wallpaper Light

When I customise "Dark" Icons I have the Wallpaper Dark

When I put it into Auto, these settings don't carry over!!

When System Dark mode kicks in and the Icons change to "Dark" the Wallpaper is light!

CRAZY! This is not how it should be.

Just noticed, it's most likely a bug.

 

[WiseAJ]

I wish the dark mode icons would show up in CarPlay as well

 

[socialwill]

This will be coming to macOS 16 next year 🙂

 

[Apple Fan 2008]

My icons are dark with an orange tint.

 

[stigman]

I love bigger icons without descriptions. They look amazing

 

[svish]

Good article. Like the new customisation options.

 

[antonrg]

The more I read about iOS 18, the less I am inclined to upgrade. Probably won’t upgrade for months or might even skip it altogether.

 

[Englishmike2]

Just noticed, it's most likely a bug.

Reported it since day 1! ☹️

 

[Grayburn]

NOBODY NOTICE? It doesn't work correctly!

When I customise "Light" Icons I have the Wallpaper Light

When I customise "Dark" Icons I have the Wallpaper Dark

When I put it into Auto, these settings don't carry over!!

When System Dark mode kicks in and the Icons change to "Dark" the Wallpaper is light!

CRAZY! This is not how it should be.

It's a B E T A

 

[Englishmike2]

It's a B E T A

REALLY?!!

Considering they have changed the lay out and the way this customisation functions since the first version, you would think this would be fixed by now if they considered it a Bug. I've reported it 8 times now.