Add a custom icon to your iPhone status bar with this clever trick

If there’s one knock we have against the iPhone, it’s a lack of customization. But a trick built into iOS 15 lets you get around that restriction by adding a personalized icon to your status bar.

A new feature in iOS 15 called Focus lets you set times when notifications are silenced so you can concentrate on a specific task or get some shut-eye. You can select from several preset Focuses, such as driving, working out, or reading, or you can set a custom Focus for something you often do. Within the settings it lets you add an identification icon that will appear in the status bar while in use.

The trick is you don’t actually have to set anything to turn off. Apple’s Focus customization options let you exclude any app or contact from being silenced, so with a few taps, you can use it to merely add a custom icon to your status bar. Here’s how it works:

• Open Settings.
• Tap the Focus tab.
• Tap the plus icon in the top right corner.
• Tap Custom.
• Choose a name for your Focus and an icon.
• Add people that you want to allow notifications for messages and calls.
• Add apps that you want to allow notifications.
• Click Done.
• Click on the Focus you just made in the list.
• Flip the toggle to turn it on.

Once your Focus is active, the icon you’ve associated with it will appear next to the clock in the top left corner. It’s a nice bit of customization that can add a touch of personality to your phone: a paw print for pet lovers, guitar for musicians, or as asterisk, star, light bulb or any of the 47 different icons (though sadly, none of them are the poop emoji).

For now, you can only add a single icon at a time. Plus, the Focus icon will get pushed out if the location arrow appears, however, so it won’t quite be a permanent fixture on your phone. Perhaps that’ll change if Apple eliminates the notch on the iPhone 14 as rumored, but for now, the space is limited.