How To Setup and Use CocoPPa on the iPhone and Android

CocoPPa is a very popular mobile app that lets you customize your icons and wallpaper. With 1.2 million designs available from within the app, there is huge scope for making your phone home screen truly personal. Here is how to set up and use CocoPPa on iPhone and Android.

Android users are no strangers to Home screen customization but iPhone users are more limited in their freedom. While there are other apps out there that can personalize your phone, few have quite the depth and breadth of design of CocoPPa. As the app and the designs are free, why shouldn’t we have a little fun?

There are optional in-app purchases, so care should be taken when using it to make sure you know which is which.

CocoPPa is available for both iOS and Android. While the branding is most definitely feminine, the app isn’t just for girls. There are more gender neutral designs within it than you may initially think.

CocoPPa was originally designed for the Asian market which means there are a lot of cartoons and designs of Asian influence. Some of the descriptions are in Asian script too. Since being released elsewhere, the number of more western designs has increased massively. So don’t be put off by your initial findings. Give it some time and searching and you will find something you like.

CocoPPa creates icons as shortcuts so you will need to put your original app icons somewhere safe and out of the way. You will also obviously need to keep the apps installed and just move the icon, not remove the app itself.

Set up and use CocoPPa on iPhone

CocoPPa offers some valuable freedom to customize the iPhone and seems to have gone down very well with users. Reviews and feedback on iTunes is very positive and people seem to like it a lot. Good enough for me!

1. Download and install CocoPPa on your iPhone.
2. Open the app, select Sign Up and set up your profile.
3. Select Icons or Wallpapers from the top of the app.
4. Browse the findings and tap a design you like.
5. Select Like to save the design and it will be saved in Mypage.
6. Continue browsing to find more to like or select Set up link in the icon page.
7. Select App Search to replace an app icon.
8. Select the app you want to replace from the next window.
9. Set the name and decide if you want a glossy or flat look, rounded corners or not.
10. Select OK and Yes at the confirmation popup.

The icon for your selected app should now change to the one you selected in CocoPPa. This works fine for downloaded apps but not for Apple default apps such as iMessage, Music, Photos, Mail and so on.

For that you need to change the process a bit. Follow steps 1 through 6. Then:

1. Select URL instead of All Search.
2. Add a URL string into the box that appears and select Done.
3. Select Okay at the Confirmation screen.

The URLs you will need are:

• Music type ‘Music:’
• Photos type ‘Photos-redirect://’
• Calculator type ‘calshow://’
• iMessage type ‘sms:’
• Maps type ‘Maps:’
• Mail type ‘Mailto:’

You cannot change all of the default Apple apps as you can see. However those listed above do work.

You can also use the above to change your Home screen wallpaper. Just select Wallpaper instead of Icons. The process is much the same from there.

Set up and use CocoPPa on Android

Setting up CocoPPa on an Android phone is much the same as on iOS but there are a couple of differences. Android users do have much more freedom to customize their phones anyway but CocoPPa is still a decent app to try.

1. Download and install CocoPPa on your Android.
2. Open the app, select Sign Up and set up your profile.
3. Select Icons or Wallpapers from the top of the app.
4. Browse the category and tap a design.
5. Select Like to save the design and it will be saved in Mypage which is like favorites.
6. Select Set up link in the icon page.
7. Select App Search to replace an app icon.
8. Select the app you want to replace from the next window.
9. Set the name and then select glossy or flat look, rounded corners or not.
10. Select OK and Yes at the confirmation popup.

The same process works for Wallpapers too. Browse, Like and/or select and select ‘Set as wallpaper now’.

Stamps in CocoPPa

You may have noticed when browsing for Icons or Wallpaper that there was a third tab, Stamps. I haven’t played with this function much but they look like stickers that you can send to friends using social media or their phone number.

Issues with CocoPPa

While reviews overall have been good, quite a few issues have also been highlighted. Some users complain that when they set an icon it doesn’t then appear on the Home page. Apparently this is a common issue and a refresh of the Home screen or a reboot usually fixes it.

Another common complaint, especially now CocoPPa has been out a while is server messages appearing. Users quite often see either ‘no connection’ or ‘communication failed’ when browsing the app. Again, a refresh or three will usually address this problem.

Finally, whether using the iOS or Android version, when your phone updates, icons revert back to their originals. If you do change all of your icons, it makes sense to Like them in CocoPPa as well as use them. That way you can just go to Mypage and select them all again when your phone does an update and reverts them. It is a pain but will be quicker than browsing and trying to find them all over again.

So that is how to set up and use CocoPPa on iPhone and Android. I must admit that the app isn’t quite my thing but you may get much more out of it.

Got any hints or tips for using CocoPPa? Share them with other TechJunkie readers if you do!