iOS 14: How to add Widgets, Custom Icons to your iPhone

May 17, 2021May 17, 2021 Pankaj 1 Comment add widgets to iphone, apple, iOS 14

One of the most notable features introducing in iOS 14, and that creating a huge amount of interest, is a combination of widgets that can be added to any page. Here are all kinds of strange and beneficial things that you can do with them, especially if you want to play with apps like shortcuts and Widgetsmith.

Touch and hold any empty area on your home screen until the app get vibrate and show the minus symbol.
Tap the plus sign in the upper-left corner, and you’ll bring up a menu of existing widgets.
Tap on the widget you want to add.
Swipe left and right to choose the widget’s size and shape.

One user, for example, used Ms Paint to create hobbyist-looking icons. The secret here is the shortcut app. Read on to learn how to upgrade your iOS home screen.

Note that the first time you tap a new widget, you may be asked to adjust its features (for example, to tell the weather widget that you want to report it). To move the widget around the screen or on another screen, just hold it down for a long time until it starts moving and then move it to where you want it to be. If you want to get rid of the widget, long press to bring up a removal option.

Custom icon for iPhone

Open the shortcut app on your iPhone and tap on the plus sign (+) in the upper-right corner of the screen, which takes you to the new shortcut page. Choose Add Action.

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Tap on the scripting icon. (If you’re tempted to click on apps, you’ll only see actions created by the app maker, such as starting a tweet instead of starting an app.) Tap on the open app, then again tap the three dots at right corner to show details. Top right to show details. Select Add to Home Screen. Tap on the lower, smaller icon next to the name of your new shortcut (the new shortcut is the default name; tap on the circled X to rename it).

The Mini Edit Icon menu lets you snap a file to replace the icon, a photo from your gallery, or a photo with the iPhone’s camera. Tap Add to the home screen and under the home screen name and icon, tap on the icon next to your shortcut. In the pop-up window, choose file, Photo, or Take Photo. You can crop an image to customize what you show, but happily, the image does not require a square or a specific shape.

Tap Add > Done. Note that, although this is a fun, personality-injecting activity, there are drawbacks to using shortcuts with custom icon images. You do not go directly to the application as you do with the app’s default app. Instead, the action first opens the shortcut app, which then directs you to the desired app. Also, you may lose any long press menu options provided by the official icon.

iOS 14 widgets

However, customizing icons is a fun thing to do, far more excited by widgets on the home screen. iOS has offered widgets for a while accessible by swiping from left to right on the home page, but the home page can only contain icons, that isn’t cool. With iOS 14, this changes: So now you can place large widgets for the clock, weather, maps, or stock prices on your home page.

Adding a widgets in iOS 14 home screen is quite simple, all you need to do is long-press the empty area of home screen. Tap the plus sign (+) at the top left corner. Select the widgets idea you want to include. To customize it, you can then swipe to the right and scroll through any of the size and design options offered by the app developer.

To make selections, press the Add Widget button at the bottom of the screen. You may need to allow privacy information to require an app widget. That’s it! Now enjoy your new widget.

Most of the options now belong to Apple services, although as developers update their app, you should be getting a lot more in the coming days. Google has updated its widgets in new styles, such as DuckDuckGo and Night Sky.

Most of the options are now Apple services, though as developers update their apps, you should get a lot more in the coming days. Google has updated its widgets to the new style, as have DuckDuckGo and Night Sky.

However, a good way to do this is to scroll down to the section of the old-style third-party widget, where the page stays in the same position the next time you swipe it. The pre-iOS 14 widget-only page is still behind the left swipe, but these widgets are in newly redesigned, round-the-corner shapes — at least first-party ones, as long as third-party developers recode their apps.