Last updated on June 16th, 2025 at 02:45 pm
There’s something oddly personal about your phone’s home screen. It’s the first thing you see when you unlock your device, and for years, mine was an absolute mess clashing icons, random app placements, and zero personality.
I’m a little ashamed to admit how long I tolerated it, mainly because I didn’t think I had a better option. But then I discovered Nova Launcher and everything changed.
I Regret Not Using a Third-Party Launcher Sooner
For the longest time, I stuck with stock Android. It felt simple, clean, and… kind of boring. The biggest pain point?
You can’t change icons natively. I wanted to customize things, match my mood or wallpaper, maybe give my apps a fresh look with a themed icon pack. But Android didn’t want to play nice.
So I started digging. That’s when I stumbled across some names: Niagara, Lawnchair, Action Launcher all promising more control. But it was Nova Launcher that kept popping up in every “best launcher” list. I decided to give it a shot. And wow, I wish I had done it earlier.
Setting Up Nova Launcher: More Fun Than I Expected
Let me be real: I thought customizing my phone would be a chore. Turns out, it was actually kind of addictive.
Here’s what I did:
- Downloaded Nova Launcher from the Google Play Store
- Installed a few icon packs I liked — some from the Play Store, others from the Samsung Theme Store
- Long-pressed on the home screen to tweak layout, icon size, and even the animation speed
Changing individual app icons felt almost therapeutic. Just a long press, tap the pencil icon, and boom I could pick from my installed icon packs.
You can even tap the icon image directly to open a visual selector. And once I hit the Done button, it felt like I had my own custom theme without needing root access or sketchy apps.
One Annoying Shortcut Issue (and the Fix)
I did hit one snag when I tried using a shortcut maker app with my stock launcher it created these weird extra graphics on the icons. Not exactly what I wanted.
That’s when I realized: if I really wanted deep customization without the visual clutter, I had to stick with a third-party launcher. And Nova made it so much smoother.
When I Themed My Whole Phone With One Click
I’ll admit, I’m lazy sometimes. I don’t always want to change every icon manually. That’s where icon theme support really shines. Inside Nova Launcher:
- I went to Look & feel
- Tapped Icon style > Icon theme
- Chose my favorite icon pack
- Instantly, every icon was updated to match
It felt like giving my phone a fresh coat of paint. A cool side note? Some icon packs apply themselves just open the app and hit the “Apply” button. It’s fast, and kind of magical when everything just syncs together.
Material You: Cool, But Not Perfect
Then came Android 12 and Material You the design language that lets your icons match your wallpaper using a color palette. I was excited. I long-pressed a blank space, went into Wallpaper and style, and toggled on Themed icons.
Did I love it? Sort of.
It looked clean and minimal, especially in dark mode, but it only supported select apps. That left me with a mix of themed and non-themed icons, which kind of ruined the vibe. So yeah, it’s not a hardcore theme more like a light filter. Still cool, but I ended up going back to my icon pack for consistency.
My Samsung Shortcut: Using Theme Park + Good Lock
When I switched to a Samsung phone, I was worried I’d lose all this control. But Samsung surprised me.
Through the Galaxy Theme Store, I could buy and apply icon packs that worked directly with One UI no extra launchers needed. Even better? I discovered Good Lock and its Theme Park module. Game-changer.
With Theme Park, I could:
- Customize icon shape, icon color, and even the tray color
- Select icons one by one (or apply packs)
- Save and name my own custom icon pack
The learning curve was real lots of buttons, some confusing menus but once I got the hang of it, I loved the power it gave me.
Final Thoughts: Customization Shouldn’t Be This Addictive… But It Is
After going through Nova Launcher, Material You, and Theme Park, I can honestly say I’ll never go back to a default setup. I’ve themed my Android exactly how I want from color-coordinated app drawers to a layout that just feels right.
If you’re still on stock Android and wondering how to change app icons, stop waiting. Whether you’re using Nova, Good Lock, or the Samsung Theme Store, the tools are out there.
Just don’t fall into the rabbit hole of testing every icon pack like I did. Or do. No regrets.
