How I arrange my Apps on iPhone
I don ‘t. Seriously, I ‘ve given up.
We iPhone users all start out simple “ 1 screen and 18 apps. If you ‘re like me, you downloaded apps in impulsive splurges in the first weeks and the list grew exponentially. Try this, gotta have that. So it became Swish, oh damn where did I put that, what was that app ‘s name again. Soon I needed to organise them, pronto. I gave it my best shot, moving the wiggling icons around till kingdom come. I had em all arranged then BAM a new download is a pain in the wiggling royal to squeeze into the desired line or screen. Frustration.
Patrick ranted after the SDK 3.0 came out, lamenting Apple ‘s blatant and almost unforgiveable lack of attention to app organisation optimisation. I feel the pain.
To be clear, I ‘m aware of the upcoming quick app launch via Spotlight. What I ‘m talking about is when you have apps but don ‘t remember why and what for; when you can ‘t remember the name of an app you ‘ve used before, and when you ‘d like to logically arrange the quick link icons you may have set up (e.g. in my case a quick link to a website on allergies) to fit with apps.
So, after much reflection and more experimenting, I now think Apple has given attention to this problem and has simply also given up. For the moment at least.
Still, there ‘s a chance they ‘ll eventually get around to a good working solution for all types of users, so here are options I ‘d like to see Apple implement in a future update:
One simple option “ organise alphabetically like they are listed in iTunes. Why the heck not. Perhaps a fixed Main screen for Most used and the rest alphabetical.
Another option “ grouped by categories that we can name ourselves e.g. News, Music, Tools, Photos, Games, Least Used etc. Here batch-moving would come in handy.
Another option “ how about Smart groups? iTunes does it with music, why not with apps? E.g. Most used on page 1 or Recently added on page 2. Restore to another setting with a flick. Make it happen Apple.
Another option: let us tag apps for use with Spotlight. This is handy for the names that escape us. Tagging could also be useful for unique apps that don ‘t always fit into a neat category. E.g. I ‘d tag Cocktails+ ‘reference ‘ ‘recipes ‘.
Order by color anyone? Ok, that was a bit desperate. But we need a concept. I ‘ll leave the implementation up to the experts.
At the moment iPhone has a limit of 9 screens and 148 apps. With the 3.0 upgrade we ‘ll get 11 screens and up to 180 apps. So Apple had better come up with a solution soon. We ‘d be very thankful.
(Photo source http://www.pdqmailingservices.com)
I’m curious to hear how you arrange your apps. Post a comment or message me at twitter @aliciabankhofer
Alicia – I agree with lots of the points, and certainly with the sentiment
I don't think Apple has given up on this subject – even temporarily – as apps are becoming such a critical part of the iPhone's success. I think they are well aware that it's the platform, even more than the devices, that push the success onwards. So they have to be working on ideas for how to do better in this area – is my (maybe too optimistic) thought.
I like some of the possible ways to handle things too – categories, smart lists, arranging via iTunes as in the linked video. I hope that if / when solutions come, they allow for a lot of flexibility because what works for one person, may be useless for another – when it comes to organizing stuff, I think we all have our own little favorite ways of doing it …
One of my favorite Jailbreak apps is “Categories”. It allows you to setup a category with an icon, then put apps in that “folder”. For instance, I have a “Games” icon on my Springboard instead of 20 games. Click the “Games” icon and another screen loads with all the games I've put in there.
Categories can be a little buggy though. It'd be nice to have an official app.
I have always been a bit OCD when it comes to apps. I can't let myself have more than two screens. If I really want an app, I'll find one that I dont use very often and delete it.
Yes, agreed. For me, the app screen is too simple. Besides you idea:
1. I hope there is a way to hide some app. You know, many app is not really useful(some built in app as well), but I want to keep it in my iPhone so that in case it is needed, I can still use them.
2. a way to quickly jump to a specific page, for example, a upward pan-touch to bring out a overview that list each page with their name(User can name it)
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I arrange by color. Row of blue, green, yellow/orange, and red. When no green is available then purple. This started with the free speed dial apps 1 – 4 which are colored in the same fashion.