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. Gadgets are utilized by people, and people care concerning the inventive. They need pleasing type components. They need good fonts. They need to have the ability to draw, listen to music, and browse their photographs, not simply jam out spreadsheets and code in essentially the most environment friendly method 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 option to exploit its philosophy that does not contain spending a fortune on new classes or type 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 a lot value elaborating on.

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

Work to rule

I would not say Apple is doing something improper, per se. Its massive September updates to iOS, macOS, and iPadOS inevitably embrace new wallpapers and customization choices, as an illustration 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” coloration palettes. Apple is overdue for launching a third-party face gallery, however I digress.

My subject is the remainder of the 12 months. 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 hardly ever any materials related 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 may 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 issues. 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 issues.

To be truthful, 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, in actual fact — 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 variety of different individuals are fantastic with a single image of their accomplice, household, or pet.

There’s undoubtedly a bunch on the market, although, that may get enthusiastic about new customizations dropping each month, or at the least 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 techniques. It might 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 will be a fantastic option 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. Individuals leaping ship to Android or Home windows may miss their month-to-month hit, a lot in the identical method that I might miss my weekly hit from Spotify’s Launch Radar if I jumped ship to Apple Music. After I phrase it that method, 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 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 various product strains, all of which demand an enormous quantity of labor simply help their current software program. The concept of splitting or increasing assets to make issues just a little prettier could also be exhausting 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 via merchandise like a hub show.

It is fairly clear, nonetheless, that Apple really does have assets to spare. It spent billions of {dollars} on its Apple Automotive challenge, participating in a poaching warfare with Tesla, solely to cancel it unceremoniously because it wavered on what the final word aim was. Probably the most we received out of it — if something — could have been CarPlay Extremely and a few enhancements to Apple Maps. If it may afford that, it may afford to commit a number of million {dollars} yearly in the direction of one thing extra of its clients can reap the benefits of.

Maybe Apple is anxious about sustaining a constant aesthetic. It is a generally accepted cause why Apple took so lengthy to allow us to tint icons a unique 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 folks 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 clients to determine what constitutes “style,” although. Somebody who buys an Apple product does not simply take into account it a portal into different services and products — they (rightfully) take into account it their property and an extension of their character. Most individuals are additionally good sufficient to acknowledge that in the event that they tweak one thing, and it does not look nice, that may 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 doable, however I doubt it. Rumors counsel that Apple’s massive 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 utterly 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 it will hold the significance of personalization on Apple’s radar by making a sound enterprise case.