Start Center Pro, an iOS utility that offered widgets and custom icons long before they were allowed on the iPhone’s home screen, is bringing its design tools to iOS 14. The app aims to take advantage of the recent trend in home screen personalization by bringing over 7,000 provides glyphs and emoji that can be used to create custom icons for Apple’s app shortcuts.
In addition, the app offers over 13 icon background styles, each with 15 colors, as well as other tools that you can use to create a custom experience such as glyph styles and badges. In total, the built-in tools can create 13 trillion possible symbols – and even more if you use your own photos when creating your symbols.
Credit: Contrast / Launch Center Pro
Much of the work to make this possible was already done for iOS 13 last year, says David Barnard, developer of Launch Center Pro. Thanks to the launch of iOS 14, the adjustments to the iPhone home screen could only be properly implemented this month. With the operating system update, developers were now able to deliver widgets of different sizes alongside their apps in order to offer users a more engaging experience directly. Home screens.
While the original intent was centered around bringing information updates from existing apps to the home screen, a handful of developers took advantage of the new features to create custom widget design tools. With these widget apps, users have been able to create widgets of many different sizes and sizes with different colors and styles. Widgetsmith, for example, topped the App Store charts when users started customizing their home screens.
Additionally, some users have figured out how to use the Apple Shortcuts to replace the icons associated with their favorite apps to create unique, themed home screens. Tutorials showed up on TikTok and the hashtag # iOS14homescreen started trending on Twitter as people shared the end results of their iPhone redesigns.
One roadblock to redesigning the home screen, however, was that you either had to find a number of custom icons to use or design your own with an app such as PicsArt or Photoshop. This could be a challenge for those who do not use creative tools on a regular basis. This is where Launch Center Pro comes in:
@launchcenterproCreate your own custom icons for iOs 14! More tips will follow! ## ios14homescreen ## ios14 ## Start screen♬ Original sound – Start Center Pro
The app offers simple tools that you can use to create your own symbols without having to be a design expert. Instead, just choose the icon shape, color, icon, and optionally add a frame or badge. Apples The Shortcuts app offers similar tools, but with far fewer options.
The icons you create can then either be used with the Shortcuts app by exporting the icon to your camera roll, or they can be used in Launch Center Pro’s classic Today View widgets. In addition to favorite apps, these widgets can contain specific actions or tasks – like sending messages to a favorite friend, getting directions, or anything else you normally do on your phone.
Unfortunately, at this point in time, Launch Center Pro hasn’t released any iOS 14-compatible home screen widgets.
However, the team anticipates these, along with other major updates, will be ready this fall. In the meantime, the company hopes its icon designer will come in handy in those early days of iOS 14 customizations. They also plan to release minor updates aimed at improving the icon design experience in the coming weeks.
Launch Center Pro is available for free Download from the App Store.