Apple has been slowly but steadily opening up iOS customization. First came lock screen personalization. Then home screen widgets. Then icon tinting. iOS has become more individualistic with each release, and that's a great thing.
But there's one area where iOS still lags behind Android: system-wide color theming.
What Material You Got Right
Google's Material You, introduced with Android 12, was a revelation. The system extracted colors from your wallpaper and applied them across the entire operating system — notifications, settings, widgets, and even third-party apps that adopted the API. It made every phone feel personal in a way that static themes never could.
iOS 27 hasn't even been released to the public yet, so perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself. But thematic app color schemes on top of just light and dark mode would be a logical next step for Apple. I'm essentially asking for a replica of Material You on iOS, except instead of being wallpaper-based, it'd be icon color-based — though Apple would probably also offer an option for wallpaper matching[reference:82].
The Building Blocks Are Already There
Apple introduced the ability to tint home screen icons in a recent iOS update. Last year, the company introduced a feature to have your icons match the color of the MagSafe case you're using[reference:83]. Earlier this year at WWDC, Apple introduced color themes in Xcode, their IDE for building Apple software[reference:84].
The pieces are in place. The question is whether Apple will connect them.
Why It Matters
Color theming isn't just about aesthetics. It's about making your device feel like yours. Android users have had this level of personalization for years, and it's one of the platform's most beloved features. Bringing something similar to iOS would be another step in making the iPhone feel less like a generic slab and more like an extension of the person using it.
Even the Mac, as things stand today, allows you to set a system-wide tint color for third-party apps[reference:85]. It's strange that the iPhone — the device most people use more than any other — doesn't offer the same option.
What It Could Look Like
Imagine opening Settings and seeing a color picker that lets you choose a system-wide accent color. Apps would adopt that color for buttons, highlights, and UI elements. Notifications would carry that color. The lock screen, the Control Center, the keyboard — all would shift to match your chosen palette.
It wouldn't be a radical redesign. It would be a subtle but meaningful layer of personalization that makes the iPhone feel more like yours.
The Bottom Line
Color theming on iOS would look really good, and it would serve as another step in the direction of allowing more customization. Apple has already shown it's willing to open up the operating system. Now it's time to go all the way.