Apple ought to launch customization ‘theme packs’ to maintain its gadgets extra enjoyable

Famously, in the course of the launch of the primary iPad, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs as soon as claimed that “expertise alone shouldn’t be sufficient,” arguing that it was “expertise married with the liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields the outcomes that makes our hearts sing.” That was typically taken as a bit pretentious on Jobs’ half, however the final level was that expertise should not be an insular factor. Gadgets are utilized by people, and people care in regards to the creative. They need pleasing type elements. They need good fonts. They need to have the ability to draw, listen to music, and browse their pictures, not simply jam out spreadsheets and code in probably the most environment friendly means potential.

Apple has principally carried on that precept, if not taken it to extremes when you think about gadgets just like the iPhone Air. However for all of that, it appears to me that the corporate is lacking out on an apparent technique to exploit its philosophy that does not contain spending a fortune on new classes or type elements, and even new apps and equipment: giving prospects extra methods to customise software program on a extra frequent foundation. It is a easy thought, however there’s a lot price elaborating on.

What’s incorrect with what Apple’s already doing?

Work to rule

I would not say Apple is doing something incorrect, per se. Its huge September updates to iOS, macOS, and iPadOS inevitably embrace new wallpapers and customization choices, as an example altering what you are able to do with widgets or your lockscreen. tvOS will get occasional screensaver additions, whereas watchOS will get a couple of new watchfaces, and up to date “seasonal” coloration palettes. Apple is overdue for launching a third-party face gallery, however I digress.

My situation is the remainder of the 12 months. The corporate releases a tiny little bit of Black Historical past Month materials in February, and related Satisfaction Month materials in June…after which, nearly nothing. There’s hardly ever any materials linked to Christmas, Eid, Hanukkah, Diwali, or different main spiritual holidays, and principally secular occasions like July 4th and Halloween get brief shrift, too. Even if you’re deeply invested in issues like black historical past and LGBT rights, you is perhaps disillusioned by what Apple places out. The 2025 Black Historical past pack consisted of a single Unity wallpaper in a couple of variations, and a single watchface restricted to an imprecise analog dial with simply two problems. Look, a lot of my household is black — however I must know time all the way down to the minute, and I have been spoiled by the Modular Extremely face, which permits as much as seven problems.

To be honest, lots of people are wonderful with present choices, and like their very own wallpapers anyway. I am most likely far too invested in customized wallpapers, the truth is — my iPhone’s homescreen cycles by means of dozens of them each week, and I am at all times on the hunt for extra. I do know a whole lot of different individuals are wonderful with a single image of their companion, household, or pet.

There’s undoubtedly a gaggle on the market, although, that may get enthusiastic about new customizations dropping each month, or no less than each few months. Everybody likes free stuff, and Apple has entry to tons of {of professional} artists, in addition to the heart of its working programs. It will possibly pull off some distinctive visible aptitude. If it wished to, it might launch new icon packs, new filters, and new fonts, permitting everybody to create a glance that is one-of-a-kind. That may be a wonderful technique to upend the pliability its rivals are identified for.

These modifications would not essentially persuade anybody to purchase an iPhone or a Mac for the primary time, however it could be one other incentive to remain within the Apple ecosystem. Folks leaping ship to Android or Home windows would possibly miss their month-to-month hit, a lot in the identical means that I might miss my weekly hit from Spotify’s Launch Radar if I jumped ship to Apple Music. Once I phrase it that means, it is obscure why Apple is not already invested in an idea like theme packs.

The hindrances

What’s holding Apple again, and a few closing ideas

The obvious clarification on paper is that Apple has restricted assets. That may sound ludicrous to a few of you, since I am speaking a few four-trillion greenback megacorporation, however the firm does have many alternative product traces, all of which demand an enormous quantity of labor simply assist their present software program. The concept of splitting or increasing assets to make issues a bit prettier could also be arduous to justify, notably with Apple Intelligence and Siri nonetheless languishing years behind Google Gemini. The concept of ramping up customization might not have even crossed the C-suite’s thoughts. Heck, it is on the verge of reinvigorating its smart home lineup by means of merchandise like a hub show.

It is fairly clear, nonetheless, that Apple truly does have assets to spare. It spent billions of {dollars} on its Apple Automotive undertaking, partaking in a poaching struggle with Tesla, solely to cancel it unceremoniously because it wavered on what the final word aim was. Essentially the most we received out of it — if something — might have been CarPlay Extremely and a few enhancements to Apple Maps. If it might probably afford that, it might probably afford to commit a couple of million {dollars} yearly in the direction of one thing extra of its prospects can benefit from.

Maybe Apple is nervous about sustaining a constant aesthetic. It is a generally accepted cause why Apple took so lengthy to allow us to tint icons a distinct shade, and why it nonetheless limits watchfaces. The extra customizable issues are, the upper the prospect of clashing and even damaged interface parts, which could flip some individuals off and have an effect on word-of-mouth. Actually, some customers appeared to throw style out the window when iOS 18 arrived.

It is as much as prospects to resolve what constitutes “style,” although. Somebody who buys an Apple product would not simply contemplate it a portal into different services — they (rightfully) contemplate it their property and an extension of their persona. Most individuals are additionally good sufficient to acknowledge that in the event that they tweak one thing, and it would not look nice, that is perhaps their very own fault. If I do not just like the look of a neon-green kitchen renovation, I will blame my very own selections, not the corporate that offered me the brushes and paint cans.

Is there an opportunity Apple goes to take up the thought of extra content material releases and customization choices, maybe beginning with iOS 27? It is potential, however I doubt it. Rumors recommend that Apple’s huge focus in 2026 shall be creating an interface for the iPhone Fold, demanding not only a greater and extra versatile structure, however the addition of multi-window assist and another fully new capabilities. It isn’t even clear that Apple will ship on the Siri upgrades it first promised in 2024. I am simply hoping that op-eds like this can maintain the significance of personalization on Apple’s radar by making a sound enterprise case.