Skip “iPhone X style,” it’s a phone Apple stopped selling in 2018. Install a current icon pack styled on today’s iOS, the kind branded “iOS 26” rather than “iPhone X,” which mimics the Dynamic Island and current app icons instead of a notch nobody’s phone has anymore. For the swipe gestures the original iPhone X made famous, skip a launcher entirely: Android has had the same gesture navigation built in, natively, since Android 10 in 2019.
Why “iPhone X style” is the wrong target now
Apple discontinued the iPhone X in September 2018, about a year after it launched, one of the shortest sale windows of any modern iPhone, per AppleInsider’s report at the time. Its signature look, the black notch cut into the top of the screen, is gone from every iPhone Apple currently sells. Starting with the iPhone 14 Pro in 2022, Apple replaced it with the Dynamic Island, a pill-shaped cutout that expands to show live activity like a timer or a song. That’s standard across the current 17 lineup, confirmed in MacRumors’ iPhone 17 roundup. Current flagships also have hardware the X never did: the customizable Action Button (2023) and Camera Control (2024). A guide that still says “make it look like an iPhone X” is describing a screen shape nobody’s iPhone has.
Get the current look with an icon and widget pack
The apps that do this have moved with Apple’s design too. Search Google Play for “Launcher iOS,” and the actively updated results are versioned to match current iOS, “Launcher iOS 26” is one such listing, with tens of millions of downloads and updates as recently as December 2025, and “Launcher iOS 27” listings already exist. That version number in the app’s own name is the tell: the entire category rebrands itself every year to track current iOS, so an app still marketed around “iPhone X” would be a stale listing worth avoiding, not a working option.
Install one of the current, actively updated listings, apply its icon theme and widget style, and you get today’s rounded-icon, Dynamic-Island-adjacent look rather than a five-year-obsolete notch silhouette.
Skip the launcher for gestures, Android already has them
The 2017 pitch for these launchers included faking the iPhone X’s swipe gestures on Android. That reason is gone. Android has shipped its own gesture navigation natively since Android 10 (2019): go to Settings, then System, then Gestures, then System navigation, and choose Gesture navigation over the three-button layout. On a Samsung phone, the same toggle lives under Settings, then Display, then Navigation bar, worded slightly differently but doing the same thing.
So the honest 2026 pitch for one of these apps is visual only, icons, widgets, and Dynamic-Island-style pill animations. If gestures were your reason for wanting this, your phone almost certainly already has them, and you don’t need a launcher app at all.
Frequently asked questions
Is the iPhone X look still worth copying? No. Apple replaced the notch with the Dynamic Island in 2022, and that’s what current iOS actually looks like. Look for icon packs branded around current iOS versions instead.
Do I need an app to get iPhone-style swipe gestures on Android? No. Gesture navigation has been built into Android since version 10 in 2019. Turn it on in Settings rather than installing anything.
How do I know if an “iOS launcher” app is current? Check its version number and last-updated date on the store listing. Apps still named after the iPhone X, or last updated years ago, are stale even if the listing is still live.
I am the chief editor of TheLeaker. I also maintain the backend stuff of the site. I’m a tech enthusiast and loves to do Python coding in my free time. I have worked at many giant publications like XDA Developers and NXTtech before starting TheLeaker.
You can get in touch with me at Garv[at]theleaker.com.