You may have already seen our Yellowchilli app icon sneak peek earlier on our facebook. Cool, huh? That was created with a a cool app that allows you to create shortcuts to custom URLs; a quick tap on an ‘app’ icon that’d quickly make a phone call to any person you designate; open a new e-mail dialogue quickly; send a new text message that’s targeted at a preset person, or just like the Yellowchilli app we showed previously, open any URL you’ve set in advance.
Before we begin, you’ll need to prepare these things before you start:
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A picture, square if possible, but not necessary;
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The iFavorite Pro app from iTunes (HKD$15.00).
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| iFavorite Pro, available from iTunes app store |
Once you’ve downloaded and installed the iFavorite app, start it up. Click on Start on the first screen you see.
On the “Step 1” screen, you’ll see a list of functions that you can set. For this tutorial, we’ll try the “Open URL”, like the Yellowchilli app we’ve created. Setup for other functions are pretty much the same, so you can try those out in your own time.
On “Step 2”, you will see two fields. You may name your app in the first field (this can be revised in a later step), and enter the URL you wish to open upon tapping on the app in the second field. When you are done, tap “Next” for Step 3.
Here is where you make your app icon. The first three options are things like frames and masks that you can add to your icon. There is quite a library of them, so you can take your own time to explore. For now, let’s try the first one. Tap on “Fx / Badge”, then select the fx that is located second on the left from the top row. Note that the badges are on the other page by tapping on “badge” at the top.
Once you’ve selected your Fx / Badge, you’ll be taken back to Step 3 selection page. For the customised photo that you’re prepared earlier, select the forth option “Bg / Photo”. Select “Photo Albums”, then select “Yes, I want to edit”. If you select “No, use it just as it is”, the icon may look distorted, especially if you don’t have a square photo prepared. Locate your photo and select it, then you’ll be taken back to Step 3 selection screen where your app icon will appear, as shown above.
Now, click on “Create”. iFavorite Pro will now load for a few seconds before it takes you to Safari, where Step 4 will appear and allow you to finalise it. Tap on the middle button at the bottom, and select “Add to Home Screen”.
Here, you can make one final revision to the name you want for your app. You can even make it more original by adding emoticons to your app name to stand it out, or just simply for the sake of knowing which icons were custom made by you, since genuine apps don’t have emoticons in their names.
Once you’re done, tap on “Add” on the top right of the screen. There you’ll see a new icon appears on your screen, and ready for use!
You can see that I’ve even made one that lets me call my wife by tapping on the icon, so this saves me a lot of time from scrolling through my phone book or dialing in a number.
We hope you like this app and tutorial. If you think this is cool, please do spread it and tell your friends.
K.A.C.
