Customization has arrived on iOS a long time time. There was a time when user-selectable app icons were unthinkable: Now you can make your apps look whatever you want. The same goes for your lock screen: for most of the iPhone’s history, you could only choose a wallpaper, but as of iOS 16, we’ve been able to fully personalize this experience as well. (Apple: I pray let’s change the flashlight and camera shortcuts.)
Although the lines between Android and iOS customization have been progressively blurring for years now, Google still outdoes Apple in one key area: app placement. You see, for all of Apple’s newfound customization options, they’ve remained committed to their network system. Apps always stick to the top left corner of the page and work from there. You get four apps in a row, and when a new row starts, the next app appears in the first space on the left side of the screen. Even when the company introduced widgets, this network system keeps them locked. If you place the widget on an empty home screen, it will jump to the top.
Android, on the other hand, doesn’t limit you like this: you can place your app icons anywhere on the screen. As phones got bigger, it made sense to put apps on the bottom row of the screen, instead of the top, to make them easier to reach with one hand. Of course, Apple is happy to let you place your most-used apps in the bottom rows on your iPhone, as long as there are always apps or widgets above them.
The thing about this grid system is that it’s good for people who don’t like to customize their home screens. You don’t have to worry about apps being out of place, because iOS will always put them where they should be. But for anyone who wants minimal control over the appearance of their home screen, this grid system is a hassle. It forces users who really want to get creative with their home screens to do things like use invisible widgets to create the illusion of negative space in the grid.
This may change with iOS 18
If MacRumors and Bloomberg are right, the rigid grid system may finally be coming to an end. Sources for both publications claim that Apple’s iOS 18 will introduce more customization to the home screen, including the ability to place app icons more freely on the page. In true Apple form, this won’t be as free as on Android: Apple is suspected of introducing invisible blocks to allow users to push apps wherever they want while still respecting the built-in network system. These blocks would act like widgets, only they wouldn’t be visible: where apps would normally snap to the top of the screen, this block would allow you to push them to other parts of the screen. You can place a few of these blocks at the top of the screen, so you can have one or two rows of apps at the bottom of the screen, or place the blocks cleverly to then sporadically place apps all over the home screen, if that’s your thing.
Essentially, Apple is working on its own version of an invisible widget, and while it would be nice to have a network-free system, I for one welcome this potential change in iOS. While I enjoy the many adjustments Apple has made to customizing home screens over the past few years, ultimately, the one change I’ve always wanted is the ability to place app icons wherever I want. Let’s hope this works out.
Although there is no definite yet, if Apple were to include this option with iOS 18, you can expect the company to announce it during its WWDC presentation. Apple has yet to confirm a date, but WWDC 2024 will almost certainly take place in June, followed shortly by the iOS 18 developer beta, for those who want to try new features early. Apple will release iOS 18 in the fall, almost certainly in September. (The last time Apple released a major iOS update in the second month was iOS 5 in October 2011.)