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

Famously, through the launch of the primary iPad, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs as soon as claimed that “expertise alone isn’t 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 usually taken as a bit pretentious on Jobs’ half, however the final level was that expertise should not be an insular factor. Units are utilized by people, and people care concerning the inventive. 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 manner doable.

Apple has principally carried on that precept, if not taken it to extremes when you think about units just like the iPhone Air. However for all of that, it appears to me that the corporate is lacking out on an apparent solution 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 lots value 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 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” shade palettes. Apple is overdue for launching a third-party face gallery, however I digress.

My situation is the remainder of the yr. The corporate releases a tiny little bit of Black Historical past Month materials in February, and comparable Delight Month materials in June…after which, nearly nothing. There’s not often any materials linked to Christmas, Eid, Hanukkah, Diwali, or different main non secular holidays, and principally secular occasions like July 4th and Halloween get quick shrift, too. Even if you’re deeply invested in issues like black historical past and LGBT rights, you could be dissatisfied 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 have to 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 truthful, lots of people are positive with present choices, and like their very own wallpapers anyway. I am in all probability far too invested in customized wallpapers, in reality — my iPhone’s homescreen cycles via dozens of them each week, and I am all the time on the hunt for extra. I do know lots of different individuals are positive with a single image of their companion, household, or pet.

There’s undoubtedly a gaggle on the market, although, that will get enthusiastic about new customizations dropping each month, or no less than each few months. Everybody likes free stuff, and Apple has entry to lots of {of professional} artists, in addition to the heart of its working methods. It may pull off some distinctive visible aptitude. If it needed 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 positive solution to upend the flexibleness its rivals are recognized for.

These modifications 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 would 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 last ideas

The obvious rationalization on paper is that Apple has restricted sources. 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 help their present software program. The concept of splitting or increasing sources to make issues a bit of 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 could 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 mission, participating in a poaching warfare with Tesla, solely to cancel it unceremoniously because it wavered on what the last word aim was. Probably the most we obtained out of it — if something — could have been CarPlay Extremely and a few enhancements to Apple Maps. If it could actually afford that, it could actually afford to dedicate a couple of million {dollars} yearly in direction of one thing extra of its prospects can reap the benefits of.

Maybe Apple is nervous 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 possibility of clashing and even damaged interface parts, 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 determine what constitutes “style,” although. Somebody who buys an Apple product would not simply contemplate it a portal into different services and products — 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 could 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 choices, 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 doable, 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 greater and extra versatile structure, however the addition of multi-window help and another utterly new features. It is not 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.