One of the best things about Android is that it gives users a lot of options to customize. You can personalize your screen exactly the way how you want it to look. From the wallpaper to clock display format, everything can be changed. So, if you have brought a new Android phone and wish to change the Home Screen, then here is how to personalize or change Android Home Screen to change your likeness.
Android offers a variety of options that don’t quite require downloading any third-party apps. Here are some ways to customize your Home Screen:
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Wallpaper
Wallpaper of the phone is the first thing that we view when we have our smartphones in our hands. We like to have different Home screen and lock screen pictures displayed. Some like it to be personal clicks the others like to have live wallpapers, 3D wallpapers, etc. So, here is how you can change the wallpaper of your Android phone.
If you want to put a personal picture as wallpaper
Go to Gallery.
Locate the picture that you want to use as Home or lock screen.
Click on the Menu which is the three vertical lines on the top right side of the screen.
Select Set as Wallpaper and you will get 3 options under this – Home Screen, Lock Screen, and Home & Lock Screens.
Make your choice, and you will get an option to adjust the selected picture on the Home screen. Along with this, you will get the option to add motion effect (check the box if you want this feature) for some phones.
Now click on Set as Wallpaper after you have adjusted the picture as you would like to see.
Exit the screen and check to see if your favorite picture has been set as wallpaper or lock screen.
You can have two different pictures for Home screen and lock screen or use one for both. The choice is entirely yours.
If you want to put a different wallpaper other than ones from your personal collections
Every phone company has their own set of wallpapers available. You can pick one these to set as your wallpaper.
On your Home Screen long press on an empty space and you will be prompted some options.
Click on the first option which is Wallpapers.
It will take you a huge collection of wallpapers that have been sorted in different galleries. There are paid and free ones, you can decide whether buying one is worth it or you can simply pick a free one.
Browse to pick your favorite wallpaper.
Click on Download.
Once the download is done, you get the option to Apply.
You will get the similar prompts as mentioned above – Home Screen, Lock Screen and Home & Lock Screens.
Make your choice and you will get an option to adjust the selected picture on the Home screen. Along with this, you will get the option to add motion effect (check the box if you want this feature) for some phones.
Now click on Set as Wallpaper after you have adjusted the picture as you would like to see.
Exit the screen and check to see if your favorite picture has been set as wallpaper or lock screen.
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Add App Shortcuts to your Home Screen
You can add your favorite app icons to the Home Screen to access them directly.
Open the app drawer.
Tap and hold the app that you want to create a shortcut for on the Home Screen.
You will get a small pop-up right over the app with different options.
Click on Add to Home.
This will create a shortcut of the app on the Home Screen.
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Organize Apps in a Folder
You can arrange similar apps in one folder so you can find them easily. For instance – shopping apps in one folder, games in a different one, entertainment apps in one folder and so on.
Long press an app.
On the pop-up that you get, click on Select Items.
All the apps present on your app drawer will give you the option to select them.
Select the apps for which you wish to create a folder.
On top of the screen on the right side, you will get the option to Create Folder.
Click on it, and the selected apps will be placed in a folder.
You can name the folder and exit.
You can add more apps to this folder later by clicking on Add Apps option which you get when you go in this Folder.
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Add Widgets to the Home Screen
A widget on your Home Screen displays the most important functions which the user can open directly without having to locate and open the app. This is why placing important and useful widgets can be really useful. Here is what you need to do:
Go to Home Screen of your smartphone.
Tap and hold an empty space on the screen.
From the options you get, tap on Widgets.
You will find different widgets, including Calendar, Weather, Google Keep Notes, Clock, etc.
Select your favorite ones and place them on Home Screen.
Besides these things mentioned here, you can also use different launchers that can change the layout and even the functions of your Home Screen. You can use Nova Launcher, Action Launcher, Microsoft Launcher, Smart Launcher 5, etc.
Experiencing difficulties with your Device, check out our “How To” page on how to resolve some of these issues.
