Your iPhone will soon look more like an Android device.
IPhone users will soon be able to customize elements of the home screen as part of Apple's iOS 18 software update, the company announced at Monday's opening session of its Worldwide Developers Conference.
You'll be able to arrange app icons on your screen around your wallpaper photo of your dog, for instance, or add a colored tint to the icons, according to the presentation. All you'll have to do is press and hold on the home screen to make your selections. The icons and your wallpaper also have a new look in dark mode.
And in a feature reminiscent of Android Widgets, changes to the iPhone's Control Center mean that you'll be able to, say, swap out the flashlight button on your lock screen for something else.
"We wanted to make Control Center more extensible than ever, so now developers can include controls from their apps as well," Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president, software engineering, said during the WWDC presentation before using one such control from automaker Ford that can adjust the air conditioning in his car.
The level of customization caught the attention of tech fans on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Android fans are dying of laughter right now as Apple announces more home screen customization 💀
— Frank Passalacqua (@randomfrankp) June 10, 2024
"This is so horribly Android, I love and hate it. Thanks Apple," wrote a different user.
Another even suggested that the iOS18's new features could be enough to lure Android users to iPhones.
Android users have long argued that their devices are more innovative — and easier to customize exactly to their needs — than iPhones. Some iPhone users have come to agree after the release of the iPhone 15.
Android phones were the more popular choice among US consumers for years until 2022, when the number of iPhone users pulled ahead for the first time.
