Apple Is Finally Adding a Feature Android Has Had for 16 Years

We all know that Apple takes its time when it comes to adding new features. Sometimes, things that are already possible on other platforms might come to the iPhone a few months later; other times these things may only show up after a decade or more.

This was the case with home screen widgets, which Android first introduced in 2009 but didn’t show up for iPhone users until iOS 14 landed in 2020.

Now, Apple is reportedly set to bring another really cool Android feature that iPhone users have been waiting on for years. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait for iOS 18 before we’re sure, but we think it’ll be worth the wait.

You’ll Finally Be Able to Place Apps Wherever You Want

As of right now, if you want to customize your iPhone’s Home Screen, you’re still stuck with Apple’s fixed arrangement system. This means that you’re forced to always organize your apps or widgets from left to right — you can’t leave any blank spaces between them.

Of course, you can use a shortcut or a blank widget that you can download from the App Store, but that doesn’t completely fix the issue. Plus, it’s only a temporary solution from a third party — and a somewhat kludgy one for something that should be built in.

Fortunately, that might soon change with the iPhone’s upcoming software update. As we reported last week, iOS 18 is likely to allow users to organize their Home Screens however they like, including leaving blank spaces between apps and widgets. 

News of a “more customizable” home screen was first reported by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, after which the folks at MacRumors checked with some of their sources to find out exactly what that meant. While it’s not a sure thing yet, it’s both likely and plausible.

After all, this isn’t exactly a groundbreaking feature. Android has had the ability to rearrange apps freely since version 1.0 arrived in September 2008. Widgets came along a few months later with Android 1.5 “Cupcake” in the spring of 2009 and could also be placed anywhere users liked.

Still, it’s better late than never, and great news for iPhone users who love customization features.

With this change, you should be able to create and customize pages however you like. If you place a single app in the bottom right corner of your screen, iOS 18 won’t automatically move it to the top left corner.

We’ll probably be stuck with the same grid system we’re used to — the same one Android phones have always used — but it’ll at least give you more freedom to customize your iPhone’s Home Screen however you want.

iOS 18 Will Be a Huge Update

Of course, while having more customization features is great, this isn’t everything that iOS 18 will bring to the table. In fact, if the rumors are true, this might be the biggest software update we’ve had in years. 

And what makes this update so great? Two words: Artificial Intelligence. According to many rumors, Apple will heavily focus on AI in iOS 18. This feature will implement Apple’s own generative AI features into many different apps and Siri, making it smarter than ever.

Besides that, Apple has already confirmed that iOS 18 will bring Rich Communication Services (RCS) support to iPhone, which will improve instant messaging between iPhone and Android devices.

Get Ready for iOS 18

While we don’t exactly know which iPhones will support iOS 18, there are a lot of new things to get excited about. 

While the full public version of iOS 18 will most likely be available near the end of the year, we’ll be able to play around with its beta version after Apple’s WWDC, which will take place from June 10 through 14.