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

Famously, throughout the launch of the primary iPad, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs as soon as claimed that “know-how alone will not be sufficient,” arguing that it was “know-how 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 know-how should not be an insular factor. Units are utilized by people, and people care concerning the creative. They need pleasing kind components. 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 approach attainable.

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 method to exploit its philosophy that does not contain spending a fortune on new classes or kind components, and even new apps and equipment: giving prospects 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 fallacious with what Apple’s already doing?

Work to rule

I would not say Apple is doing something fallacious, per se. Its huge September updates to iOS, macOS, and iPadOS inevitably embody 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 just a few 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 yr. The corporate releases a tiny little bit of Black Historical past Month materials in February, and comparable Satisfaction Month materials in June…after which, just about nothing. There’s not often 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 in case you are deeply invested in issues like black historical past and LGBT rights, you is likely to be upset by what Apple places out. The 2025 Black Historical past pack consisted of a single Unity wallpaper in just a few 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 positive with present choices, and like their very own wallpapers anyway. I am most likely far too invested in customized wallpapers, in reality — my iPhone’s homescreen cycles by dozens of them each week, and I am at all times on the hunt for extra. I do know a whole lot of different persons are positive with a single image of their associate, household, or pet.

There’s undoubtedly a bunch on the market, although, that will get enthusiastic about new customizations dropping each month, or not less than each few months. Everybody likes free stuff, and Apple has entry to a whole lot {of professional} artists, in addition to the center of its working programs. It will probably pull off some distinctive visible aptitude. If it needed to, it may 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 positive method to upend the pliability its rivals are recognized 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 would possibly miss their month-to-month hit, a lot in the identical approach that I might miss my weekly hit from Spotify’s Launch Radar if I jumped ship to Apple Music. After I phrase it that approach, it is obscure why Apple is not already invested in an idea like theme packs.

The obstacles

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

The obvious clarification on paper is that Apple has restricted assets. Which 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 help their present software program. The concept of splitting or increasing assets to make issues slightly prettier could also be laborious to justify, notably with Apple Intelligence and Siri nonetheless languishing years behind Google Gemini. The concept of ramping up customization could not have even crossed the C-suite’s thoughts. Heck, it is on the verge of reinvigorating its smart home lineup by merchandise like a hub show.

It is fairly clear, nevertheless, that Apple truly does have assets to spare. It spent billions of {dollars} on its Apple Automobile undertaking, participating in a poaching battle with Tesla, solely to cancel it unceremoniously because it wavered on what the last word objective was. Probably the most we acquired out of it — if something — could have been CarPlay Extremely and a few enhancements to Apple Maps. If it will probably afford that, it will probably afford to commit just a few million {dollars} yearly in the direction of one thing extra of its prospects can make the most of.

Maybe Apple is apprehensive about sustaining a constant aesthetic. It is a generally accepted motive why Apple took so lengthy to allow us to tint icons a special shade, and why it nonetheless limits watchfaces. The extra customizable issues are, the upper the prospect of clashing and even damaged interface components, which could flip some folks 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 prospects to resolve what constitutes “style,” although. Somebody who buys an Apple product does not simply think about it a portal into different services and products — they (rightfully) think about 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 does 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 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 concept of extra content material releases and customization choices, maybe beginning with iOS 27? It is attainable, however I doubt it. Rumors counsel that Apple’s huge focus in 2026 will probably be creating an interface for the iPhone Fold, demanding not only a larger 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 may hold the significance of personalization on Apple’s radar by making a sound enterprise case.