iOS 14: HOW TO MAKE YOUR iPHONE ‘AESTHETIC'

BY USING SHORTCUTS TOGETHER WITH CUSTOM WIDGETS AND THE APP LIBRARY, YOU CAN BUILD A TOTALLY UNIQUE HOME SCREEN LOOK.

- JASON CROSS

With iOS 14 (go.macworld.com/14tp), Apple has finally given you the ability to customize the layout of your home screen to some extent. Instead of just repositioning icons, you can totally remove them thanks to the new App Library (go.macworld.com/aplb). With the new Widgets (go.macworld.com/widg), you can finally fill your home screen with something other than just apps.

But the new “aesthetic” iPhone trend goes a lot further. By combining Shortcuts with custom icons and highly customizable widgets, you can give your iPhone a dramatically different look.

Here’s how to get started making your iPhone “aesthetic.”

FIRST, GRAB SOME ICONS

Before you do anything else, you’ll want to grab some images to use as icons. There are lots of designers with matching icon packs on the web; just search for what suits you. Some are free, while others, like Traf’s popular minimalist icons (go. macworld.com/traf), are quite expensive.

A great way to find some free icons is to search Twitter for “aesthetic iOS 14” (go. macworld.com/as14) and just start poking around to see what’s there.

You’ll want to add your icons to your Photos library. On your iPhone, long-press an image and choose Add to Photos. If you’ve got a Mac, you can drag images into your Photos app.