iOS 14 Lets You Change iPhone App Icons to MS Paint Versions if You Want

iOS 14 Lets You Change iPhone App Icons to MS Paint Versions if You Want

2020 has been the sort of year where an acceptable response to doing things you wouldn’t normally do has been ‘fuck it, why not?’ That’s probably what this Twitter user did when he recreated iPhone app icons using MS Paint in Apple’s iOS 14.

Twitter user Thomas Reisenegger, or @olima, did the Good Thing when he decided to use some of iOS 14’s new features to mix up the icon page.

You see iOS 14 allows you to change the icons you’re so used to seeing and replace them with whatever you want from your camera roll.

But that would be a little confusing to some who rely on a familiar layout and image for quick access. So, Reisenegger did the logical thing and simply replaced them with MS Paint versions of each icon.

Subtle. Beautiful. Artistique.

How to chaotically change up your iPhone app icons in iOS 14

If that’s what your life has truly been missing, we’re happy to inform it can be done at even if you’re a iPhone illiterate.

You’ll need to use Shortcuts because it’s not actually changing iPhone app icons for good.

To get started, courtesy of this Nerds Chalk guide, download and open the Shortcuts app. You’ll want to add a new shortcut so tap the ‘+’ and hit ‘add action’.

The action you’ll need to search for is ‘open app’ because essentially, you’re creating a shortcut with a customisable icon. Then choose the app you’re wanting it to link to.

Once that’s sorted, you can edit the name and icon that appears on the home screen and this is where the magic happens. Choose whatever name you want the app to appear as and then select an image from your camera roll or take a selfie — at this point, nothing matters anymore anyway.

Then, bam. You’re done.

If you don’t want to double up, you can remove the actual app from your home screen and send it to the ‘app library’ so only your chaotic app icons appear.

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