Apple may be taking a page from Android in its upcoming iOS 18 update in regard to its Home Screen customization features. Inside sources are remarking the Cupertino-based company plans on giving iPhone users a bit more freedom in how they can arrange app icons on their smartphone screen.
It may not sound like much to some, but being able to freely arrange app icons on the home screen is a must have feature for more than a few. Apple finally seems to be listening to many of its faithful when regarding their screen envy, and are reported to be bringing more freedom to the iPhone with its much anticipated iOS 18 update. Expected changes to the home screen are believed to include the ability to create blank spaces, rows, and columns between app icons.
“I’m told that the new operating system is seen within the company as one of the biggest iOS updates – if not the biggest – in the company’s history,” Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman remarked. “With that knowledge, Apple’s developers conference in June should be pretty exciting.”
Google has allowed for arranging app icons on a grid, while leaving spaces empty, since the inception of the Android smartphone in 2008. It has been one of the features Android fans have taunted Apple users with since.
The upcoming changes follow Apple’s trend of becoming more like Android, such as when the company started allowing for more colorful wallpapers, and adding the capability for the addition of widgets to the home screen. If the reports by Gurman and others hold true, then iOS users will move ever closer to having an Android-like experience on their iPhones.
Apple is expected to announce iOS 18 at its June developers conference WWDC. The company is also expected to announce other features and updates, such as new AI functionality, and RCS support in the Messages app.