Unleash your inner creativity and jazz up your home screen.
The postman has just been, and the dogs are going crazy as usual. You’ve just made yourself a fresh cup of tea and you’re ready to sit down at the table and open up your parcel.
You almost can’t contain your excitement – you’ve finally treated yourself to a brand new iPhone. Whether that’s the latest iPhone 12 in perfect purple, our customer favourite iPhone 11 or the pocket rocket iPhone SE, you’re in for a treat.
You lift the lid off the box, and you’re met with a dazzling display. After setting it all up, inputting the necessary bits and bobs, you’re good to go.
As excited as you are, the plain Jane home screen stops you in your tracks. The default background appears to be a bunch of wiggly coloured lines or if you’re lucky you may have got the underwater scene.
It’s in desperate need of a spruce up and Apple have a few tricks up their sleeve to make this possible. Here’s a full guide on all things home screen.
Wallpapering made easy.
It’s time to change your home screen wallpaper and while the mere mention of the word wallpaper may make you feel queasy, we promise this is easier than that time you tried to decorate your living room alone.
Choosing which photo to use however may just be as difficult as choosing a pattern that matched your sofa cushions.
Will it be a photo of the kids? Perhaps you’ll go for a snap of a beach somewhere sunny to remind you that holidays are coming. Or maybe you’ll go for your favourite shot of the dogs, after all you can never feel sad looking at their faces.
When you’ve decided which photo you want, follow these easy steps:
1) Go to Settings.
2) Tap Wallpaper and select Choose a New Wallpaper.
3) Select the image you want from your photo library.
4) Move it on screen until the image looks right then tap Set.
5) Select Set Home Screen and you’re good to go.
To set a photo on your lock screen, follow the same steps but after you’ve selected Set, tap Select Lock Screen.
Widget your way around.
Widgets came with the impressive iOS 14 update and are a great way of customising your iPhone home screen to suit you. It’s a way of ensuring your favourite apps and their information stay right at your fingertips.
If you’re schedule crazy and love nothing more than having your calendar jam packed with details, add a calendar widget.
If you’re social media crazy, add a widget with easy access to your most used accounts. If you’re wanting a mix of everything opt for Smart Stack and let your iPhone decide what it thinks you want to see.
The options are endless and here’s how to get started:
1) Touch and hold your Home Screen background until your apps start to do that funny dance.
2) Tap the + in the top left hand corner.
3) Select Add Widgets.
4) Swipe through the options and tap when you find one that suits.
5) You can add more than one at a time by following the process again.
Check out your own personal library.
For those of you who love reading and can think of nothing better than a good book, this is not your sort of library. For those of you who can’t bear a clustered home screen filled with apps you barely use, listen up.
iOS 14 brought about the much loved App Library. A place that homes all the unused apps that people aren’t ready to see the back of just yet.
Those random apps that you downloaded ages ago, used once, but don’t want to delete in case you need them in the future – the App Library is where they go.
If you keep swiping left onto the last page of your Home Screen, you’ll see all your unused apps. They’re organised into categories – recently added apps and apps you use more often are put at the top of the screen for easy access.
If you want to send apps to the App Library, tap and hold the Home Screen until your apps jiggle again. Tap the dots that appear at the bottom of the screen and then select the app you want to hide. Easy.
To rescue apps back from the App Library, tap and hold the screen while in the App Library until the apps start to dance. Tap and hold the app that you want to move from the App Library and guide it with your finger to where you want to put it.
Ready, set, customise.
Make your iPhone display your own with these handy tips and tricks. Whether you’re wanting something super-pretty or something that looks beyond organised, all the tools you need are here.
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