Dave, I suspect my eyesight is going because I find it hard to differentiate app icons on my new Samsung Galaxy S23. Is there a way to make them bigger on screen? Thank you.
Between simple flip phones and folding dual-display screen devices, smartphones nowadays come in quite a variety of display sizes. Some have tiny screens the size of traditional business cards while others – of the “max” or “fold” variety – have screens just a tiny bit smaller than a tablet. In all cases, however, the incredible density of the display technology means that these phones can jam more and more onto the screen. The result? Too often, everything gets too darn small for anyone with less-than-perfect vision.
Simultaneous to this evolution of display technology there have also been enormous improvements in accessibility and I recommend that everyone at least explore the accessibility options with their modern devices. Samsung has a very good tutorial you can check out for more information: Accessibility Settings.
Samsung also layers “OneUI” atop Android on your Galaxy phone, so not only are there Android accessibility and user interface options, but there are OneUI options too. Not to worry, it’s all tightly integrated so most people don’t even realize that the extra layer exists on their devices. I have a Galaxy A15 that I’ll use to demonstrate how this all fits together; we’ll shrink the home screen grid to allow app icons to enlarge. Ready? Let’s do it!
SAMSUNG GALAXY A15 ONEUI HOME SCREEN
Lots of tech behind the scenes, right? Modern times. Here’s my home screen on the A15:
Count across and you’ll see that this has 5 icons per line and, while the top line is empty, it has space for six lines of icons, or a 5 x 6 grid. This maxes out at 30 app icons, meaning that each needs to be fairly small to fit. The system resizes icons automatically but they are small and they are dense. To fix that, we’ll need to jump into Settings.
HOME SCREEN LAYOUT OPTIONS
In the Settings app, look for the “Home screen” entry, as shown below:
If you’ve a stock Android phone from a different company, like a Google Pixel, you might notice that your Settings options are slightly different. That’s the OneUI difference. For Samsung phones, find and tap on “Home screen” to proceed.
For now, I’ll focus on the top portion. The home screen grid, as already mentioned, is 5 across x 6 down, or 5 x 6. That’s the highest density (depending on screen size: much bigger screens might have additional density options). A tap on “Home screen grid” and it shows the various options in a neat preview mode:
Notice along the bottom the four options for this A15 phone: 4×5, 4×6, 5×5, and 5×6. The lower the density, the larger the app icons. Simple, right? I’ll choose “4×5”:
Notice how many app icons just vanished from the home screen at this lower density: It will never assume it can grab another row from the layout, so apps just “fall off” onto the subsequent screen. Look good? Tap on “Done” to accept it.
WHAT ABOUT APPS SCREEN DENSITY?
There’s another place where you see app icons on your screen, in App View (aka the “Apps screen”). That’s when it shows every app on the phone, typically accessed by swiping up from the bottom of the display. That has its own settings and options too:
This one’s 5×5 because I don’t mind it being a bit denser in the interest of not being too long. Again, to accept the change, I’ll simply tap on “Done“.
While we’re in Home Screen settings, a few of the lower options are worth considering:
The “Add media page to Home screen” gives you a Google-generated news screen if you swipe left-to-right from the home screen. Enable it if you want to keep up on the news. I like the Apps screen button, which makes it easy to get to that all-apps view (you can still swipe up from the bottom too). I recommend not locking the home screen layout so you can move things around as desired. “Add new apps to Home screen”? Useful if you add apps and then can’t figure out where they went and how to access them.
Finally, if you have some apps you want to hide for whatever reason (typically a teen hiding apps from dear old Mum & Dad, but that’s another story), the very last option on this screen is where you can set that up.
All looks good? Let’s see what we’ve created! A tap on the home button reveals the new, improved home screen:
Bigger app icons! The 3×3 dot grid button on the lower right is the “Apps screen button” enabled in Settings too. Notice it jams in, making that row 5 icons wide, even though we set it to be 4 wide. Easily remedied by moving one of the others off the bottom bar. That’s it. Easy, right? Now make some changes and see if it makes your Samsung phone easier to use.
Pro Tip: There are lots of ways to manage your Android devices and ensure the best possible experience. Learn more by checking out my extensive Android help area while you’re here!