How to Give Each Sub-Folder Its Own Look in an iPhone Widget
Quick answer: Apple's Home Screen folders all look the same. In a WidgetLoft widget, each sub-folder can now have its own style: open the sub-folder, tap Appearance, and set its own icon size, app names, spacing and colors. You can also give the folder tile a photo or symbol, restyle the back tile, and choose how folders open.
A "Games" folder with big, colorful icons and a "Work" folder with small, quiet ones is easier to read at a glance. Now one widget can hold both.
Why give sub-folders their own look
Sub-folders let one widget hold far more apps than it has slots: each folder holds up to 100 apps and 20 sub-folders, and nesting has no depth limit. When you tap a folder on the widget, it opens in place.
The catch used to be that every level looked the same. A folder with 6 apps had the same tiny icons as one with 40. With a look per sub-folder, a short folder can use big icons, and a long one can use small ones to fit everything on one screen.
Step-by-step: style a sub-folder
- Open the sub-folder. In WidgetLoft, open the group, then the sub-folder you want to change.
- Tap Appearance. Set this sub-folder's own icon size, app names (on or off), spacing and colors. The rest of the group stays as it is.
- Pick the folder tile. Choose what the folder looks like from outside: a 2×2 or 3×3 mini-grid of its apps, your own photo or an SF Symbol.
- Style the back tile. Pick its symbol, color, background, opacity and size, and drag it to any slot. Under Use This Look For, apply it to this folder, this group or every group, and choose whether new sub-folders start with it.
- Choose the animation. In WidgetLoft Settings, set Sub-folder transition to Slide, Fade, Zoom or Instant. Instant is the fastest.
What you can change, and where
| Setting | Where | Applies to | | --- | --- | --- | | Icon size, names, spacing, colors | Sub-folder → Appearance | That sub-folder | | Folder tile (mini-grid, photo, symbol) | Sub-folder settings | How it looks from outside | | Back tile | Sub-folder → back tile | Folder, group or every group | | Opening animation | Settings → Sub-folder transition | All widgets |
Need to reorganize later? You can move a sub-folder to another group, or copy it, and everything inside goes with it. New to nesting? Start with how to put folders inside folders on iPhone.
Dots on folders
On iOS 27, a folder shows a notification dot when an app inside it has one, so you do not miss a message hidden two levels deep. By default it shows how many notifications arrived; for a plain dot, turn off Settings → Notification Dots → Show the number. For the full setup, read notification badges on widgets.
Common questions
Can folders inside folders look different on iPhone? Not with Apple's folders. In a WidgetLoft widget each sub-folder can have its own icon size, app names, spacing and colors.
How many sub-folders can I make? Each folder holds up to 100 apps and 20 sub-folders, with no depth limit.
Do sub-folders show notification dots? Yes, on iOS 27. A folder shows a dot when an app inside it has one, with the number of notifications by default.
Ready to give every folder its own style? Download WidgetLoft on the App Store and open a sub-folder's Appearance.