The update to iOS 18 brought a wave of freedom to iPhones that its users had been waiting for for a long time. It is finally possible to personalize, at least a little more, the phone’s home screen, so that now more ‘themes’ can be applied, changing the tone and chromatic variation of our interface.
In my case, I had been working for some time on customizing my device as much as possible, with the aim of reducing addiction to social networks and spending less time per day with it.
To do this, I reduced the number of widgets and icons (since it is possible to delete the icons without deleting the app completely), and I turned the screen black and white. I also established a large text menu so that various apps can be accessed from text, instead of via icon, as you can see in the image below.
But now, with the new possibilities of iOS 18, I have gone a step further to create a minimalist, elegant and monochromatic environment. My home interface is made up of two screens, the one you can see in the previous image (the main one) and a secondary one in which it showed the icons of the most essential apps, like the one that comes to you on a new iPhone as soon as you launch it. .
This screen is important to me to access other apps for which I do not have a shortcut configured on the first screen. Therefore, I also use it quite a bit.
I explored what I could tweak from the new ‘Custom’ menu and did the following: I made the icons large, and selected the “tinted” layer so that they would display in black and white, without needing to have monochrome enabled from the menu. mobile accessibility. With just these two tweaks (which add to the style that I already had applied before, with an opaque and dull background, why are we kidding ourselves), I can say that my iPhone looks more elegant – and relaxing – than ever.
A less impressive environment
With these quick adjustments, what I think I get is a much more visually friendly environment, reducing the bright colors that distract you and encourage you to ‘zap’ with your apps to pass the time. You can also get a similar effect if you apply the dark filter instead of the tinted ones.
On the one hand, by making the icons larger, you don’t have to strain your eyes as much to recognize them. Since you know by heart which icon each app represents, you can do without the text. By eliminating text, there are fewer visual elements that you have to deal with, which, added to the black and white, I think greatly reduces the attractiveness of the screen.
Yes, it’s bland, but it’s what those of us who want to reduce daily screen time are looking for. An environment more similar to that of an ebook, without loud colors or brightness that distract you when you just want to check your email inbox, something you can do in 5 seconds, without prompting you to also check Twitter or Instagram.
