iPadOS allows you to customize your home screen app icons

It has been years since Apple has really integrated any “customization” features into iOS. That all is changing with iOS 13 and iPadOS as we now have Dark Mode and a few other new features

Related Reading

• Everything in the new Files app for iPadOS
• Why do apps want permission to access Bluetooth in iOS 13?
• These new multitasking and UX features in iPadOS will bump your productivity
• Is your iPad compatible with iPadOS? Here’s what you should know

Since we like to live on the wild-side of technology, we have installed the iPadOS beta onto our 2018 iPad Pro. This gives us access to many of the features that will be coming this Fall. One such feature has made its debut in iPadOS Beta 5.

Customize app icons on iPadOS

The Home Screen on iPadOS already allows for more app icons to be viewed, along with the ability to view the Notification Center. However, with the latest iPadOS beta, users can now adjust whether they want to have more screen real-estate or larger icons.

To a certain extent, this is already available with the help of Display Zoom. The Standard view shows more content, while the Zoomed view gives you larger icons and larger controls.

With iPadOS this is bumped up a notch as there is a new section for *App Icon Size*. Here is how you can customize app icons on iPadOS:

1. Open Settings
2. Tap on Display & Brightness
3. Scroll down to the bottom under App Icon Size

From here, you are able to adjust the icon size between “More” and “Bigger”.

• More – Displays up to 30 smaller app icons on each page
• Bigger – Displays up to 20 larger app icons on each page

This is absolutely fantastic for iPadOS users, as it gives you just a bit more customization and control over your Home Screen.

What’s the catch?

While it’s all fine and dandy to be able to adjust your app icon sizes, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any caveats. With the recent update to iPadOS, the same rings true, as there are some potential issues for those wanting bigger icons.

The first of which is the inability to have your widgets stay on your Home Screen. This functionality was introduced at the WWDC ’19 Keynote, and gives users easier access to those. With the “Bigger” selection chosen, you are instead greeted with the traditional Home Screen layout.

Another caveat to changing your icons to the “Bigger” selection comes down to the grid layout. Under the standard format, you have a desktop grid of 6 x 5, providing up to 30 icons. This is true regardless of whether you are in landscape or portrait mode.

When making the change to Bigger, Apple gives users a 5 x 4 grid in landscape and 4 x 5 in portrait. If you are someone who doesn’t like folders and has a lot of apps, be prepared to see them spread out across multiple pages.

Pinned Widgets and Home Screen widget shortcuts

Apart from the app icon sizes, iPadOS also features additional widget features that allow you to personalize your home screen space. These include pinned widgets and a tighter app grid.

Furthermore, by taking a few extra steps, you can easily attach your favorite shortcuts to your home screen widgets.

If you do not like the new pinned widgets feature, you can customize your Home Screen to remove the widgets all together.

Conclusion

This functionality is really awesome as it gives users even more control over how they view their iPadOS Home Screen. Additionally, this kind of came out of left field, but, has us even more excited about what Apple is doing with iPads.

If you run into issues when trying to switch between these two modes, let us know in the comments and we’ll be happy to help. In the meantime, sound off and let us know about your favorite iPadOS feature to date.

Andrew Myrick

Andrew is a freelance writer based on the East Coast of the US.

He has written for a variety of sites over the years, including iMore, Android Central, Phandroid, and a few others. Now, he spends his days working for an HVAC company, while moonlighting as a freelance writer at night.