If you’ve ever had the privilege of boasting a jailbroken iOS device, then you ought to know that being able to download and apply themes to your device is one of the powerful aspects of device freedom. At one point it became extremely popular for modification lovers to insert a number of blank icons onto their home screen to allow them to create patterns with the standard app icons rather than having to conform to the uniformity which Apple requires.
Thankfully, we don’t always need to rely on a jailbreak to perform a task like this. We have a very handy and relatively easy way of creating black icon spaces on the home screen of the device that doesn’t require a jailbreak. Follow the very simple steps below to get up and running.
Step 1: The first step in the process is to fire up the App Store on the iOS device in question and search for the free-of-charge Picup app to download. Alternatively, you can go directly to the app on the device by following this link.
Step 2: When the app has downloaded, press and hold an app icon to put the device into edit mode. Scroll to a blank home screen page and press the power and home buttons together to capture a screenshot of the blank screen.
Step 3: Open Safari on the iOS device and point the browser to iempty.tooliphone.net. Press the CUSTOMIZE button before selecting the CUSTOM Mode option at the bottom of the first table view.
Step 4: Press the Add button to continue, before selecting the Upload Photo option that is listed under the “Picup App” method.
Step 5: When the alert view is shown, press the Open option to invoke the previously installed Picup app.
Step 6: When the Picup app has been opened, select the Photo Library option. Find and select the picture of the blank screen screenshot that was taken in step 2.
Step 7: Select the Upload Files option which will perform a little maintenance before invoking Safari and providing a success message. Scroll to the bottom and select Let’s GO!
Step 8: The next screen will provide a picture of the iOS device’s home screen with a number of locations for the blank icon to be added. Tap on the location that you want the blank icon to be added.
Step 9: Tap on the action button in iOS (the one with a box with an arrow going outwards) and add the icon to the home screen. Make sure to move it to the specified location that you selected from the list from step 8 as it contains the correct portion of the wallpaper to blend in.
Step 10: Repeat the process for all blank(ish) icons that you want to add to the display.
Thanks, Caleb for the hat tip!
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