Apple will announce its biggest iPhone update in June at its WWDC 2024 event alongside watchOS 11, macOS 15 and a bunch of other updates to its products. While Apple has invested heavily in bringing generative AI technology to the platform, it might not be the only addition you should be excited about. According to recent news, iOS 18 will finally give users the ability to create free spaces on the iPhone home screen with more customization controls.
iOS 18 to allow customization of app icons on iPhone home screen
iOS 18 will be Apple’s biggest update to the iPhone, and generative AI utilities will help make the update the biggest since the handset debuted. Analyst Mark Gurman recently noted in his latest Power On newsletter that Apple plans to add more customization options to the iPhone’s home screen with the release of iOS 18. While he wasn’t able to pinpoint specifics, we’re now hearing more details about the changes and how they’ll affect the user experience .
According to sources familiar with the matter, iOS 18 will allow users to create empty spaces on the home screen, including empty columns and rows (via MacRumors). Currently, app icons on the iPhone home screen are tied to an imaginary grid that cannot create empty space. This means that the app icons will automatically fill any empty space, making the home screen look a bit cramped. However, that will change with the upcoming update as Apple has finally decided to allow the home screen to create free space without any app.
Note that sources suggest that apps will still stick to the grid, but users will have the ability to customize the layout more freely. MacRumors suggests that users will be able to create free space on the home screen, which can be an entire row or column. This will be a big deal for the iPhone because Apple has never allowed blank spaces on the iPhone home screen before.
If you like messing around with default settings, you’d know that creating a black space on iPhone is currently possible with iOS 17. However, it requires the use of Shortcuts and Widgetsmith, which offer a workaround but aren’t official features advertised by Apple. In addition to this, iOS 18 will be full of new generative AI features for the iPhone, including a revamped Siri and Spotlight Search. All these features combined could make iOS 18 Apple’s biggest iPhone update yet.