How to customize the new Home app in iOS 16

The HomeKit Home app will be getting a redesign this fall. One of my favorite new features on the smart home platform is customization and I wanted to show you how to use it.

The options for changing how your smart home devices, rooms, and favorites appear on the screen have vastly improved. If you want to make your Favorites or Camera feeds the first thing you see when you open the app, you can rearrange your Home View.

It is possible to rearrange the individual buttons for your devices, such as lights, door locks, and shades. Your most used smart lights or door lock can be in an easier spot for you to tap quickly and you can put two related items closer together.

There are new icons that help identify a light by its type, or quickly distinguish other devices such as shades and smart plugs. Scenes, which allow multiple devices to change state at the same time, now have more icons and the option to choose a color for each scene. There are new wallpaper options for the app.

The Home app can be used on all Apple devices, including the iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. If you can't wait, you can download the public version of the game today.

You can get started with customizing your Home app in the App Store with this guide.

Customize the Home View screen

When you first start the Home app, Home View opens. The Home icon can be found in the bottom menu bar. Home View is where you can see all the HomeKit devices in action. Scenes and camera groups can be found here. These can be rearranged to better fit how you use them.

Reorder sections in your Home View

• Open the Home app on your iPhone.
• Tap the three dots in the top right-hand corner to open the Menu.
• Select Reorder Sections.
• You’ll see a list of all the Rooms and Groups (Cameras / Favorites / Scenes) shown on the Home View.
• Tap and drag the three horizontal lines next to a Room or Group and drag your selection to the position you want on the Home View.
• Hit Done, and your Home View will be rearranged.

Edit tiles in your Home View

• Open the Home app on your iPhone.
• Tap the three dots in the top right-hand corner to open the Menu.
• Select Edit Home View. (You can also long-press on any button / tile and select Edit Home View.)
• All the tiles will go into “jiggle mode.”
• Drag any tile where you want it on the screen. It has to remain in its designated Room.
• You can rearrange any tile on the Home Screen, including the new Shortcut buttons at the top, the Scene tiles, and the Camera tiles.

If the tile is under the room, you can change it on the Home view.

• To do this, tap on the tile when it’s in jiggle mode.
• A resize arrow will appear in the top-right corner.
• Tap it to make the tile large and again to make it small. There are two size options.

Hide a device from the Home View

If your Home View is too cluttered with too many devices, you can hide them to make it less cluttered.

• Open the Home app on your iPhone.
• Long-press on a device tile and select Remove From Home View.
• The tile will disappear from the Home View but will still appear in the individual Room View.
• To bring it back to the Home View, find it in the Room View, long-press, and select Add to Home View.

Customize icons in the Home app

It is possible to modify the icons for your devices and Scenes to make finding what you are looking for quicker. There are 15 options for lighting icons in the new Home app, compared to 10 before, and other categories have changed their icons to make it easier to understand.

Scenes is the largest change in icons. Compared to previous versions, there are over 100 new icons. You can choose from a roaring fireplace, a birthday cake, a book, or a ghost to help tell the story of your Scene. You can assign a color to your scene.

Change the icon for your light or other devices

• Open the Home app on your iPhone.
• Long-press the device that you want to change the icon for.
• Tap Accessory Details from the pop-up menu.
• Tap the Settings icon in the bottom-right corner (or swipe up from the bottom).
• Tap on the current icon.
• A menu of icons will appear.
• Select the new one.
• Tap Done.

Change the icon for your Scene

• Open the Home app on your iPhone.
• Long-press the Scene button you want to change.
• Tap on the icon.
• A menu of icons and colors will appear.
• Select the icon and color you like.
• Tap Done.