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iOS 18 tries to override app icons with dark versions if they don’t have Dark Mode-compatible icons. However, it doesn’t always work. Hence, I use a workaround to create dark icons for apps on my iPhone that don’t have one.
This workaround comes from the Reddit userStraight_Random_2211. It involves obtaining the assets (the original app icon and iOS 18’s dark icon background) and creating a new app icon using them that you then add to the Home Screen to replace the existing one for launching the app.
Get the Shortcut to Obtain the Dark App Icon
First, you need the original icon for the app that isn’t Dark Mode-compatible. It’s easy to get this icon with the Get App Icon shortcut, which pulls app icons for a slew of iPhone apps.
Go to theGet App Icon shortcut pageand tapGet Shortcut. Then, tapOpento open it inthe built-in Shortcuts appand hitAdd Shortcutto add it to your library.
Tap the Get App Icon shortcut to run it. Now, type the name of the unsupported app in the input prompt and hitDoneto look it up. Then, tap the matching app, and the shortcut will save the app’s original icon to your Photos app.
Save the iOS 18 Dark Icon Background to Your iPhone
Next, you need a dark background. This is what we’ll replace the original background of our unsupported app icon with. Since we want all the dark app icons on the Home Screen to have the same tone, it’s best to use the iOS dark icon background.
Simply access thedark icon background page, long-tap the image, and selectSave to Photosto save it to the Photos app.
Create the Dark Mode Icon for the App
Now that we have the original app icon and the dark background, creating the Dark Mode icon for your app is easy. We’ll use Remove.bg’s Change Image Background tool to do this, which lets us remove the white background from the original app icon and replace it with our dark background image.
Head toRemove.bg’s Change Image Background toolon your iPhone. TapUpload Image, choosePhoto Library, and select the original app icon you saved to the Photos app above.
Similarly, tap theSelect Filebutton underBackground Imageand selectPhoto Library. Then, choose the dark icon background you saved previously.
As soon as you do this, the tool will generate a new app icon with a dark background. TapDownloadand hitViewon the confirmation prompt. This will open the icon in a new tab. Long-press the image and selectSave to Photosto save it to your Photos app library.
You may tap theDownloadoption in the prompt, too, but that’ll save the image to the Files app.
Create an App Shortcut to Open the App
With everything done, the final step is to create an app shortcut for the Home Screen that uses the dark icon you just createdd as its icon.
Open theShortcutsapp and tap the+button in the top-right corner to create a new shortcut.
Next, tap theSearch Actionsbar, look upOpen App, and tap the matching action to add it to the shortcut. Tap theApptext on this action and select the app whose dark icon you just created on the following screen.
Now, tap theOpen Apptext at the top and selectRename. Type the name of the app for which you’ve created the dark icon here and hitDone.
Hit the name again and selectAdd to Home Screen. On the following screen, tap the photo icon and selectChoose Photo. Now, locate and select the dark app icon in your Photos library, and hitChooseto use it.
Finally, tapAddin the top-right corner to save the shortcut to your iPhone’s Home Screen.
After you do this, you can remove the original app from the Home Screen. Tap and hold the app’s icon on the Home Screen, then selectRemove App, followed byRemove from Home Screenon the confirmation prompt.
Using the workaround above, you can easily create a dark icon for any iPhone app that doesn’t natively offer a dark app icon to match. Besides making app icons dark, you can customize your iPhone’s Home Screen to make them large and label-free orapply a custom color tint to match the wallpaper.
