6 ways to customize your Android smartphone that iPhone owners can only dream of

1. Change launcher

Android setting: you can change the launcher

The iOS home screen is good, but even it gets boring someday. Besides, it doesn't have that many settings. And you cannot change it: it is built into the system.

This is not the case on Android. Here, the home screen is just another application. You can install any launcher from Google Play. For example, there is a Barephone for minimalists who don't want to be distracted by anything. Or, on the contrary, options with a bunch of chips.

2. Change icons

Android customization: you can change icons

Apparently, Apple thinks that the icons in iOS are so good that it is simply blasphemous to change them for handicrafts of outside designers. This, of course, can be done, but with the help of informal crutches or manually. The process will be especially fun if you have more than 10 apps on your home screen.

There are no problems with changing icons on Android. There are many sets of icons that can be installed with a couple of taps in any launcher.

3. Add new functions to the lock screen

Android customization: you can pump the lock screen

On iOS, the lock screen is unchanged. From it you can only launch the camera, turn on the flashlight or other options in the "Control Center".

On Android, you can install a third-party lock screen, and that's where you can roam. For example, the LokLok blocker allows you to draw notes on your smartphone and leave notes to friends. Solo Locker changes the dots in your graphic key to the selected photos so that it will be easier for you to remember it. KLCK lets you create a theme for your lock screen yourself, and AcDisplay just looks good.

4. Change the default browser

Android setup: you can change the browser

Surprisingly, iOS still doesn't allow its users to change the default browser. Apple gave you Safari, so use it.

Even though Chrome, Firefox, and Opera are on iOS too, they cannot be made the mainstream. By the way, all these programs in iOS are forced to use the Safari rendering engine, being, in fact, just add-ons above it.

Android, on the other hand, offers many browsers with a wide variety of capabilities. Select any, and all links from third-party programs will open in it. To do this, you need to click "Settings" → "Apps and notifications" → "Default applications".

5. Upgrade the notification curtain

Android customization: you can improve the curtain

Like other elements of iOS and macOS, the "Control Center" is a beautiful thing, convenient and rather short in terms of settings. You can only choose which applications and in what order to display there.

The Android shutter has a lot more customization options. With the help of third-party applications, you can change its appearance, customize colors, resize icons, add notes or icons of arbitrary programs to it. Yes, you can even add a second curtain if you wish.

6. Install third-party firmware

Android setup: you can reinstall the firmware

Android setting: you can reinstall the firmware

Android is open source, and the community creates many firmwares for a wide variety of smartphones. You are not satisfied with something in the OS from the manufacturer - install another, and that's it.

Such custom firmwares, like and provide your gadget with many interesting features and interface settings. For example, you can set skins or change the order and appearance of icons in the status bar.

The iPhone has only one operating system - iOS. You cannot replace it.