Today I mentioned on IG that I force my phone to load the old brown app icon.
I did this because it reminds me of the early days when IG was just for fun. But you can also change any app to any other icon. Like magic. ✨
This is a little thing, but it’s something I interact with everyday and therefore part of my creative ecosystem.
Several of you asked me how to do this. Here’s how it works on iPhone. (I’m sure other phones can do this too. Just search “custom icons” and your phone model.)
You can see I went a little crazy with customizing icons last winter. 😂 But I never found a Notion or Safari design I liked. Instagram is usually in a folder, but I dragged it out for this screenshot. 📸
Use the Shortcuts app. It’s free from Apple.
2. Tap the plus in the right hand corner.
3. Tap suggestion “Open app.”
(If that doesn’t show up click “Add action.” Then type “Open app.)
4. Type in “Instagram” (or whatever app you’d like to customize.)
5. Tap the “Share” button with up arrow at the bottom of the page.
6. Click “Add to Home Screen.”
7. Tap default icon and “Choose Photo.” (I just did a Google search to find the old logo.)
8. Type “Instagram” into the text box.
9. Tap “Add.”
You are essentially making a shortcut so you have to save the actual apps in a folder somewhere. If you delete them your new icons won’t work.
Huzzah! You’ve done it!