How I customise my Android residence display screen to make it really mine

It feels cliché to say, however solely as a result of it is by no means been extra true: Your cellphone is probably the most private pc you personal. Not solely is it so moveable that you just in some sense “put on” it, both in a pocket or a bag, nevertheless it’s the primary (and in some circumstances solely) place folks go to search out data, talk, and create. Making your cellphone really feel like your individual ought to make it really feel higher to make use of — or on the very least, it should assist it really feel deserving of the big position it performs in your life.

Not each smartphone provides the identical stage of customization, however each Android and iOS have gotten higher through the years by way of how straightforward they make it to alter how your cellphone seems to be and works ( iOS has taken huge strides), but when customization is what issues most to you, you are still going to get the most flexibility out of an Android phone. So, in an effort to have the best or no less than probably the most “me” Pixel on the market, listed here are among the steps I take to customise my cellphone’s residence display screen, that ought to be relevant to anybody else with a contemporary Android cellphone.

1 Set a brand new wallpaper

It is the visible hiding behind the whole lot

One of many easiest methods to customise your cellphone’s residence display screen is to alter its wallpaper. Because the background that lives behind principally the whole lot that’s an open app, it is solely pure {that a} wallpaper can actually change the vibe of your cellphone. You possibly can long-press in your Android cellphone’s present residence display screen ought to open up a menu that allows you to shortly change issues round.

By way of the place your wallpaper ought to come from, Google has fairly built-in choices, however should you use a customized launcher, you will get a bunch of recent wallpapers that method, too. There are additionally loads of wallpaper apps which may have one thing you need. What issues is that you just’re pleased with what you choose.

Associated

I always use these free phone wallpaper apps to decorate my homescreen

You do not have to spend $50 a yr to get some slick wallpapers in your smartphone or pill.

2 Set up a brand new launcher

A launcher can basically change how your cellphone behaves

Good Launcher 6

Good Launcher 6 is a customized launcher for Android telephones that allows you to place apps and widgets wherever you need and resize them to any form or measurement you want.

Your launcher governs how your own home display screen and app drawer work. Utilizing a brand new one could make for one of the crucial seen adjustments you can also make to your cellphone. The Pixel launcher on Google’s first-party {hardware} has sufficient options for most individuals to each construct a house display screen that appears how they need, with the precise variety of options that can make their cellphone extra helpful than distracting, too.

In case you have one thing particular in thoughts, Niagra Launcher is a good choice for a extra minimalistic strategy, with a scrollable listing of apps quite than a grid. I have been experimenting with Good Launcher 6 due to its system of adaptive widgets that may change into any measurement (Good Launcher describes this as a “Fluid Grid” system) and organizational options within the app drawer that routinely type your apps based mostly on their use-case. It is price admitting that new launchers can have a studying curve as you stand up to hurry, and, sadly, most of them require a premium subscription or the acquisition of a lifetime license to entry all of their options. Nonetheless, a launcher will change your own home display screen the quickest out of all of the choices on this listing.

Associated

Why these 9 Android launchers hold a permanent spot on my phone

Making my app drawer and display screen extra customizable and arranged, these launchers proceed to be an actual display screen saver.

3 Swap in new icons

Change how apps look from the surface

Icon Pack Studio

Icon Pack Studio is an app icon creation device that allows you to change the look, coloration, and form of your apps immediately in your cellphone.

Upon getting a launcher and wallpaper you want, you would possibly need to think about swapping out your app icons, which, subsequent to widgets, take up nearly all of house on your own home display screen. Most main third-party launchers assist icon packs. You obtain them as a easy app from the Play Retailer, then apply them to your launcher from contained in the icon app itself.

The builders behind Good Launcher have an icon-making app known as Icon Pack Studio that makes it comparatively easy to create customized packs, and even simply tweak the present choices you have already got in your cellphone. It could actually take some time, so be sure you’re keen to put aside a while to get your icons trying the way you need them to. For a pre-built choice, Retro Mode — Neon by Moertel Pixel Artwork provides enjoyable, pixelated app icons that I assumed seemed fairly good. Simply remember they do not have an icon for each app you may want.

5:36

Associated

7 ways to customize your iPhone home screen aesthetic

This is how you can create the proper iPhone residence display screen aesthetic, step-by-step, by means of the usage of customized icons, widgets, wallpapers, and extra.

You need not open an app to get issues achieved

Widgets are Android’s method of letting you entry options and knowledge out of your apps with out having to truly open them. Glanceable data that is additionally interactive. By default, there are limits on the dimensions of widgets. Most often, you will be caught with the sizes app builders present until you’ve a launcher that offers you extra flexibility or consists of its personal widgets.

It is determined by the developer, however most huge apps provide some type of widget which implies you would possibly be capable of get away with utilizing a widget quite than opening an app for many of the stuff you do in your cellphone. The opposite choice is to obtain an app like KWGT that allows you to create your individual widgets — even ones that may faucet into your Google account and entry your data. Once more, it requires experimentation, however I’ve discovered that the extra you should utilize widgets, the higher you will really feel utilizing your cellphone.

Associated

These 5 Android widgets level-up my Android phone

I all the time add these widgets first once I get a brand new Android cellphone and use them to the fullest.

5 Take inspiration from another person

The most effective designs are sometimes based mostly on pre-existing work

Customizing your own home display screen on this method requires you to have lots of opinions and to make lots of inventive decisions. If at any level that feels overwhelming, you would possibly need to base your setup on another person’s. You possibly can look by means of subreddits like r/Homescreens, however some launchers and app icon makers may even allow you to see different folks’s designs, and even use them as a leaping off level.

Beginning off with some work achieved for you is without doubt one of the greatest methods to make use of KWGT, for instance, nevertheless it’s good follow generally, too. Taking inspiration from another person’s residence display screen can in the end assist you to keep away from making one thing ugly, which you most likely need.

Associated

This is how I customize iOS 18’s iPhone Control Center to be more efficient

iOS 18 now lets customers higher curate their Management Middle to make it really their very own.

Make your cellphone your individual

It is true that it is simple to make one thing that appears dangerous. There are such a lot of choices and so some ways to tweak how your own home display screen seems to be, that you just’re certain to make one thing that is not “good design.” However no less than it is going to be yours. So long as you retain performance in thoughts and think about the way you really need to use your smartphone, you will be okay.

If the listing above does not fulfill your want for gadget customization, Pocket-lint has coated a unique tool for tweaking Samsung’s Galaxy devices and loads of other ways you possibly can make Windows a lot better.