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

Famously, through the launch of the primary iPad, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs as soon as claimed that “expertise alone is just not 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 inventive. They need pleasing kind components. They need good fonts. They need to have the ability to draw, listen to music, and browse their images, not simply jam out spreadsheets and code in essentially the most environment friendly manner 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 strategy to exploit its philosophy that does not contain spending a fortune on new classes or kind components, and even new apps and equipment: giving clients extra methods to customise software program on a extra frequent foundation. It is a easy concept, however there’s loads price elaborating on.

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

Work to rule

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

My challenge is the remainder of the 12 months. The corporate releases a tiny little bit of Black Historical past Month materials in February, and related Delight Month materials in June…after which, just about 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 quick shrift, too. Even in case you are deeply invested in issues like black historical past and LGBT rights, you is likely to be dissatisfied by what Apple places out. The 2025 Black Historical past pack consisted of a single Unity wallpaper in a number 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 right 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 fantastic with current choices, and like their very own wallpapers anyway. I am most likely far too invested in customized wallpapers, actually — my iPhone’s homescreen cycles via 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 fantastic with a single image of their associate, household, or pet.

There’s undoubtedly a gaggle on the market, although, that might get enthusiastic about new customizations dropping each month, or a minimum of each few months. Everybody likes free stuff, and Apple has entry to lots of {of professional} artists, in addition to the center of its working methods. 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 might be a fantastic strategy to upend the pliability its rivals are identified for.

These adjustments would not essentially persuade anybody to purchase an iPhone or a Mac for the primary time, however it will be one other incentive to remain within the Apple ecosystem. Folks leaping ship to Android or Home windows may miss their month-to-month hit, a lot in the identical manner that I might miss my weekly hit from Spotify’s Launch Radar if I jumped ship to Apple Music. After I phrase it that manner, 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 ultimate ideas

The obvious clarification on paper is that Apple has restricted sources. That may sound ludicrous to a few of you, since I am speaking a couple of four-trillion greenback megacorporation, however the firm does have many various product strains, all of which demand an enormous quantity of labor simply help their current software program. The concept of splitting or increasing sources to make issues just a little prettier could also be laborious to justify, significantly 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 via merchandise like a hub show.

It is fairly clear, nonetheless, that Apple truly does have sources to spare. It spent billions of {dollars} on its Apple Automobile challenge, participating in a poaching struggle with Tesla, solely to cancel it unceremoniously because it wavered on what the last word objective was. Probably the most we bought out of it — if something — might have been CarPlay Extremely and a few enhancements to Apple Maps. If it may well afford that, it may well afford to commit a number of million {dollars} yearly in the direction of one thing extra of its clients can make the most of.

Maybe Apple is fearful about sustaining a constant aesthetic. It is a generally accepted purpose 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. Definitely, some customers appeared to throw style out the window when iOS 18 arrived.

It is as much as clients to resolve what constitutes “style,” although. Somebody who buys an Apple product would not simply take into account it a portal into different services — they (rightfully) take into account 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 likely to be their very own fault. If I do not just like the look of a neon-green kitchen renovation, I’ll 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 counsel that Apple’s large focus in 2026 might be creating an interface for the iPhone Fold, demanding not only a greater and extra versatile format, however the addition of multi-window help and another fully new features. 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 preserve the significance of personalization on Apple’s radar by making a sound enterprise case.