iOS 14, the new iPhone generational update, has reached undeniable levels of hype on social media, particularly with people showcasing their new aesthetic backgrounds. Before the death of TikTok, influencers started a trend of showing off their new home screens, giving people ideas and claiming theirs is the best. In this age of quarantine and isolation, even students struggling to get out of bed have spent hours making their apps and widgets look perfect (myself included). But how useful is this update really? Is it only about appearances?
As with every iPhone update, iOS 14 came with issues. People have reported random resets to the default settings, malfunctioning news widgets, and wifi connectivity problems and camera preview issues. However, Apple quickly released iOS 14.0.1, claiming it fixed some of the bugs. Forbes, however, claims this update is more trouble than it’s worth since, given their research, the new update ultimately fails to fix the identified problems.
It’s important to note that many of these issues are minor and don’t affect every iPhone. The biggest problem is actually that the change in the home screen aesthetic doesn’t make the phone easier to navigate. In order to change the pictures of apps on your phone, a user must create a shortcut, set a picture and name the app. This allows users to use whatever picture they want and rename the app whatever they want. At a glance, the function provides users the freedom to customize apps in a way iPhone never allowed until now. However, the shortcut function makes it so whenever you click on the app not only does the desired tab open but the shortcut opens too, causing users to have two tabs open instead of one. Because the update is still new, there are no statistics yet on how this affects battery life. However, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to think that opening more apps will drain your battery quicker.
TikTok influencers have also promoted the use of the app “Widget Smith” that creates widgets with favorite characters or inspirational phrases to appear on your home screen. Although these widgets may look nice, they don’t actually do anything—they don’t link to another function on your phone. They are just there for appearance. Apple does provide widgets to connect users to their alarm clock, calendar or notes. However, these widgets are not what has created stirs on social media that seems to promote style over function.
These new features on iPhones are also not revolutionary. The freedom to customize your home screen has been offered on Android phones almost since their conception, but they don’t feature the shortcut middle man that Apple does. The update, though, can be used to promote further functionality of your home screen. Apps can be easily organized and Apple’s widgets can provide easy access to different everyday apps. The update’s usefulness lies with the users, and as the battle of aesthetic versus functionality races on, maybe Apple will be able to combine the two in their iOS 14.2 update.