As a designer and creator, I am always looking for ways to personalise the technology I use,
align them with my aesthetic and keep things minimal so I can focus on what’s important
to me.
Over the past couple of months, I’ve been working on a super clean and minimal icon
set that I think gives my iPhone 13 Pro Max a whole new clean look, and I am really happy
with how the icons have turned out.
Hello, this is Semplist.
In today’s video, I'll be showing you what’s on my iPhone 13 Pro Max and my custom minimal
icon set.
If you are interested in checking the icons out for yourself, I have left a link in the
video description below.
For my home screen, I have kept it minimal, distraction-free and chosen a select few icons,
four to be exact.
Starting top left we have the Google Calendar widget, which as standard in IOS dark mode
looks clean and minimal .
Over to the right, I have four apps stacked in two columns.
I have the YouTube app so I can easily access new content during my downtime in the evening.
To the right of the YouTube app, I have the Google Home app which allows me to control
all of the lightings in my house.
In the bottom left, I have the Lightroom app which I use to edit all of the photos that
I upload to Instagram.
And finally in the bottom right I have the camera app so that I can quickly access the
camera if I want to take photos whilst I’m out and about.
In the dock, I have WhatsApp on the left which is the app I use for all of my messaging needs,
I can’t remember the last time I used the standard messages app.
Next to that, I have the Gmail app which I use for all of my personal and business emails.
To the right of the Gmail app, I have Chrome which is my browser of choice across all devices,
although I have recently been thinking about switching to Safari.
Finally, on the right, I have Instagram.
I like how these custom icons don’t show active notifications, which keeps my home
screen setup completely distraction-free and further adds to that minimal look I wanted
to achieve.
The background I am using is from Unsplash, and I have also left a link to that in the
video description below.
Since IOS 14 I have utilised the App Library which I think helps with keeping my phone
organised and allows me to only display the apps I use most often on the main screen.
With this in mind, I have organised my most often used apps into folders.
Starting with the first folder I have Entertainment which includes Netflix, Disney+, AppleTV,
Prime Video and the Playstation app.
Next up we have Finance which includes Natwest, PayPal, Coinbase, and Monzo.
Then onto Productivity which is the Nike running app, Unsplash, Photos and YouTube Analytics.
It can seem a little strange to group them but Photos and Unsplash I associate with Photography,
which to me is part of being productive whether for personal or business purposes.
The next folder I have is Shopping which includes Amazon, eBay and Dominos.
Next, I have Social, where I keep the Phone app and Twitter.
Next to that folder, I have Travel which includes Google Maps and Uber.
After that, I have Utilities where I have the App Store app and Lifx which I will use
sometimes to change the lights behind my TV.
The folder below that is Weather which just has the standard IOS app.
I used to have another weather app in here which is more local, however, I have just
narrowed it down to one.
So let’s take a more in-depth look at the icons.
All of the icons are 24px by 24px contained within the Apple app icon specification - this
makes them smaller than what you would usually expect but it helps achieve a more minimal
look.
I have designed 60+ icons for my favourite apps and in three different colour variations;
The Matte Black icons are my favourite and suit my aesthetic looking really clean and
super minimal.
I love how they match with the Google Calendar widget as well.
The icons pair well with all the widgets in dark mode and I would recommend switching
to dark mode all the time if you are using these icons or standard black icons.
Next up, we have the standard black colourway which again looks clean.
These icons in this colourway again look great when paired with the widgets in dark mode.
Finally, we have the white icon set which again looks great when paired with an all-white
background, and looks clean.
When I’ve had these particular icons for my setup I have used them in light mode on
IOS.
Setting up custom icons for IOS 15 can be difficult the first time, and being completely
honest it is a tedious task as you have to repeat the process for each app that you wish
to change.
However, once it’s complete, and you want to change the icons again it makes the process
much easier.
To start customising icons, you first need to navigate to the Shortcuts app on your phone.
Once you have located the shortcuts app, you want to navigate to the top right and tap
the plus icon.
Once you have tapped the plus icon you will see a call to action that states ‘Add Action’.
Tap Add Action and you will be presented with a few options.
The option we are looking for is ‘Scripting’.
Once you have tapped ‘Scripting’, tap ‘Open App’ which is where we are stating
what we would like our shortcut to do.
After tapping ‘Open App’ you next want to click ‘App’ next to open.
After tapping ‘App’ you will be presented with a list of the apps that are currently
installed on your device.
Either type in or scroll to find the app you wish to customise.
Once you have selected the app you wish to customise, in the top right, you will see
a filter icon.
Tap the filter icon and tap ‘Add to Home Screen’.
When you’ve reached this modal, press the X icon next to ‘New Shortcut’ as this
will remove the name under the app and help us achieve a more minimal look.
Once you have removed the name, tap the shortcut icon to the left.
If you have downloaded my icon set using your phone, you will need to unzip them before
you can browse for each icon.
To do this go to Files app on your phone, tap the zip file and this will unzip the folder
ready for you to use.
Go back to where you left on the shortcut app.
Tap the shortcut icon to the left and search for the folder you have just unzipped.
Once you have located the folder, click into the folder and tap the search bar.
Using the tabs along the top you can tap the specific folder you want and begin searching
for which app you wish to customise.
In this example, we will use the Playstation app.
Tap the app you want to use, and then click add.
Then click done, and ‘X’ in the top right.
If you now navigate to your home screen you will notice that the app icon has changed
and you’re done.
You just now need to repeat this process for each app that you wish to customise.
When you go into the app you will notice that you get this banner along the top every time
you open the app.
You can leave it the way it is if you like, but for me, it was becoming annoying.
So to remove this, navigate back to the Shortcuts app.
At the bottom menu tap ‘Automation’.
Tap the plus in the top corner.
On the next page, tap ‘Create Personal Automation’.
Scroll down to ‘App’
Make sure ‘Is Opened’ is checked and then press ‘Choose’.
Here you can scroll through and check all the apps that you have assigned custom icons
for and this will prevent the notification from showing.
Sometimes you may get an additional banner along the time that will state, automation
applied to X amount of apps.
If you are getting this and want to change it as it can become annoying every time you
open an app.
Go to Settings.
Scroll up and in the search bar type ‘Screen Time.
When in screentime tap ‘All Activity’.
Scroll down to Notifications at the bottom and look for the Shortcuts app.
Sometimes IOS won’t let you tap into Shortcuts straight away, so to fix this just scroll
backwards and then forwards and you will notice that you can now tap Shortcuts.
Once you have tapped shortcuts you will now be able to turn off notifications by tapping
the toggle.
And once you have completed these steps your icons are ready to go.
Should you decide to change them again in the future it’s just a case of going back
to the shortcuts and changing out the images.
Optimising your home screen and giving it a minimal look can help with your productivity
throughout the day and avoid unnecessary distractions and I think this has been the case for me.
If you are interested in the icons and would like any particular apps adding then please
let me know in the comments down below and I will make sure to add them.
If you would like to see a full review of the iPhone 13 Pro Max, you can watch that
here.
Thank you for watching and I will see you in the next video.