iOS 27 Home Screen Ideas: Five Setups Using the New Options

iOS 27 gives you four tools that change the look of a Home Screen fast: extra-large widgets, the Liquid Glass slider, icon styles (Dark, Clear and Tinted) and a larger icon size without labels. The five setups below combine them. Each takes a few minutes and is easy to undo.

What’s new to work with

• Extra-large widgets: a new Home Screen size on iPhone, listed in Apple’s overview of iOS 27 ↗. Only some apps offer it.
• Liquid Glass slider: Settings → Appearance → Liquid Glass moves menus and controls from clear to tinted, per Apple’s display settings guide ↗.
• Icon styles and size: touch and hold the Home Screen, tap Edit, then Customize. Apple’s customization guide ↗ covers Dark, Clear, Tinted and large icons.

Five setups to try

1. One big widget

Put a single extra-large widget on the first page and keep only your most-used apps in the Dock. A calendar, photos or an aquarium works well because it fills the space with something you enjoy looking at. Touch and hold a widget and choose the largest size if the app offers it, as described in Apple’s widget guide ↗.

2. Clear glass over a photo

Choose a calm photo wallpaper, set icons to Clear and move the Liquid Glass slider toward clear. Keep the photo simple, such as sky, water or sand, so labels stay readable. If text gets hard to read, switch the icons to Clear with Dark, or nudge the slider toward tinted.

3. One-color tint

Pick Tinted and use the eyedropper to take a color straight from your wallpaper. A teal or blue tint over an ocean photo gives a coordinated look in seconds. Tinting also applies to widgets, so check that the information in them is still clear.

4. Big icons, no labels

Turn on the large icon size in Customize. App names disappear, so this works best with a short list of apps you recognize by shape and color. Pair it with a plain color wallpaper from the wallpaper gallery, following Apple’s wallpaper guide ↗.

5. Day and night

Set icons to Dark with Auto, so they switch to the dark look at night. Add a wallpaper with a dark version and a medium clock or calendar widget. The screen feels softer in the evening without any manual changes.

Keep it usable

Leave your daily apps in the same spots whichever look you choose. Use a second page or a widget stack for the rest. If an idea doesn’t work for you, open Customize and choose Default, or set the Liquid Glass slider back to the middle.

If you want a living centerpiece for the first setup, Aquarium Widgets (our app) has an extra-large aquarium on iOS 27 with room for up to 12 fish. The app is free to download; showing any aquarium on the Home Screen requires its premium upgrade (subscription or one-time purchase).

For more on each tool, read iOS 27 extra-large widgets, the Liquid Glass slider and how to change app icons.