iPhone app icon colours

[Mick F]

Asking here because this forum is the font of all knowledge.

Is it possible to change the colour of an app icon?
I'm fed up with selecting "Phone" instead of "Messages" or vice versa ................ they are both the same colour of green.

Yes, I know that Phone has a handset logo and Messages has a speech bubble ...................... but why the same colour?
Sometimes, I don't see clearly enough and press the wrong one. Having different colours would sort it for me.

Is it possible?

[Psamathe]

Not (as far as I know). Some 3rd party apps allow you to change their app icon (which mostly means select from a range of the same icon but in different colours). But not found any way for Apple apps and only a few 3rd party apps provide such a feature anyway.

For no particular reason (i.e. not to address the issue you describe) I have the "Phone" in the bottom bar and Messages elsewhere - so I tend to work by position rather than looking at the icon (for those two).

Some Apple icons are very easily ignored. The "Music" app on Mac's - something about it means I seem to be mostly blind to it.

Ian

[Mick F]

I'm minimalist with my home page.
Settings, Phone, Messages, Camera.

They are the only four I use generally, so they are there at the bottom.
If I can't change the colour, I'll have to change my layout then.

It would be so easy for software to change a colour.

[Paulatic]

I don’t know of any way to change colours. I share your pain and like Ian I’ve used placement as my guide.

Phone on bottom

[kwackers]

App icons are solid graphics and are 'baked' into the app so you can't change them.

They also don't have a background colour as such, they're simply graphics - could be a photo for example.
Any changes would have to be done by the operating system and that would require a load of chaff telling it which colours could be changed, what the allowable range was etc etc.

[Mick F]

Thanks Kwackers, I somehow thought it would be like that, but it would be so easy for the software people to give the ability to select a colour .......... or would it be color?

BTW, how do you do a screenshot?

[kwackers]

Thanks Kwackers, I somehow thought it would be like that, but it would be so easy for the software people to give the ability to select a colour .......... or would it be color?

BTW, how do you do a screenshot?

Screen shot in the traditional sense?

Some sort of bizarre button combinations - I have to google it every time I need to do one!
https://www.theverge.com/21340137/apple-iphone-screenshots-ios-how-to-take

[Maillot Rouge]

You can’t change App colours.
I have the phone and message icons at opposite sides of the tool bar for this reason.To do a screenshot you press the volume up button and on button simultaneously.

[Mick F]

Kwackers has it correct.
Home and On button simultaneously.

I have only two pages.
The little girl on the scooter at the holiday camp is Mrs Mick F.
My favourite photo of her.

[Maillot Rouge]

Sorry!
I presumed you were using a newer model iPhone.The procedure changed on the X and above which no longer have the home button.

[Mick F]

Sorry, should have said!

iPhone 6s .......... but the same icon system is in my spare phone iPhone 5c.

Any road up, all I can do is separate the apps so they aren't next to each other.
Silly system, and if I ruled the world, we could change the icon colours .............. and sizes as well maybe.

Thanks guys, for my education.

[Jdsk]

You can effectively change icon colours (and lots else) in iOS 14. Can you run that?

https://www.google.com/search?q=change+app+colours+ios+14

In previous OSs I recommend using a different location to avoid confusion, as above.

Jonathan

[al_yrpal]

What you need Mick is some clever dick to write two apps. One would open the phone app and the other would open the text app, then clear the phone app and text app from your home screen...

Simples....

Al

Any takers?

[kwackers]

You can effectively change icon colours (and lots else) in iOS 14. Can you run that?

https://www.google.com/search?q=change+app+colours+ios+14

In previous OSs I recommend using a different location to avoid confusion, as above.

Jonathan

I haven't written any iOS apps since about iOS 8* so there's obviously been a big change at some point...
They must have changed the build process so you can specify a background colour, unless they mandate a fixed background it can't work for all apps though...

As part of the build process you (used to) pass in 3 icons of different sizes, these then simply got baked into the app and where used at various points by the OS.


*Not strictly true, the stuff I'm working on now runs on iOS but I have no interest in the actual build process, that's someone else's bag, I simply push my changes to the server and it installs the latest build on my phone.

[Mick F]

You can effectively change icon colours (and lots else) in iOS 14. Can you run that?

https://www.google.com/search?q=change+app+colours+ios+14

In previous OSs I recommend using a different location to avoid confusion, as above.

Jonathan

Thanks.
I'll be checking on your link later. Off into the kitchen shortly, the roast pork needs attention!

My iPhone 6s is at 14.2 ........... latest update.