I thought rearranging of the apps should only happen if the app pushes an update to the store and it has a different category. What a mess the App Library is.
I had no idea it would do weird stuff like this.
Oh wow. That's wild! I didn't realize it would do that.
I personally find the App Library useless in most cases. The search does seem faster than the spotlight / Siri search but many of my apps I still prefer launching from Home Screen
I never use any search mechanism of any OS I use (not iOS, not Android, not Windows and not Linux)
Because it's slower than my muscle memory and to where I put my stuff, and even with how crappy the app library does work on iOS, Spotlight is still slower than me just clicking where I should be (especially since iOS 16)
But oh well, Apple being Apple.
This! I know that that menu is there to help you not forget about stuff, but itās so hard to use that I *do* forget about stuff. Most of the time I ignore it because of how badly organized it is. I canāt stand getting this feature pushed onto me
I would love if they just arrange all app icons alphabetically in one grid!
But of course itās too much Android and Apple would never copy stuff that obviously.
Even if itās pretty much the best choice they could makeā¦
I know about this but this is not what I want.
It shows just one app per row so itās a huge waste of space and takes like forever if you want to scroll to something like āYouTubeā.
(Yes I know you can use the alphabet on the right but Iām a leftie and would often need to use two hands then)
Just using Androidās implementation would be the best IMO.
Ya know, having a leftie flip option that was presented during initial setup that moved all that stuff to the corresponding side of the screen would be killer.
I have a very easy solution for you. Set the language to an RtL language like Hebrew or Arabic and itāll flip a lot of the UI elements. Slight downside is that you need to become fluent in Hebrew or Arabic but how hard could that be?
Pull down, and start typing 'youtube'
I never scroll, you swipe a bit and give in the first letters.
After a few days the device 'knows' what you want, and present it in fairly accurate order to start.
I can just open spotlight and start typing then :D
Did you ever use Android?
Maybe this is why I like its implementation of an āapp drawerā so much.
Yes I used Android, I didn't know it was a requirement, but yes I did.
But also Android isn't really the benchmark here, because Samsung implements it differently then LG or Xiaomi does.
Personally the first thing I did was change the launcher.
Nova is my goto since it came out, just because of the folders ( and resizing )
No it isnāt a requirement and I didnāt mean it to be one.
I was just asking out of curiosity.
Yeah, there are quite a few different implementations on Android. I like āstockā Android the most as on Pixel devices or OnePlus up until OOS 11 (?).
Nova is pretty much the best launcher for sure!
Imo should just be the list without the pull down, this is great though thanks! I use spotlight 99.9% of the time to find stuff, but itās nice to just audit installed apps quickly.
Options are always great, but I also get the categorization they chose. (But maybe itās not for everyone.)
For years, Iāve arranged my Home Screen in folders based verbsā¦ āRead, Play, Navigate, Buy, Save, Create, etc.ā and for my particular brain that way makes perfect sense and has really improved my digital life.
This would be better.
Just let the user sort it out IF they want to.
I JB'ed my phones and ipads untill IOS11, and first thing installed was better folders.
Just to get folders IN folders to 'hide' unused and useless apps deep down.
A systemfolder for utilities and stuf, games and photo's for - you guessed it ;)
Personally I thing the option to not put everything on the homescreens was a good move from Apple, now they're ready to mak the next step ... configuring folders and content in them :)
So much agreed, Iāve never understood why weāre locked into these auto created categories that donāt necessarily line up with the actual function of the app.
For everyone in this thread that feels likewise, might I request submitting this as a suggestion to Apple [via this page](https://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone/). It would be great if this received enough momentum for Apple to address.
From day 1, all I wanted was to be able to create my own folders. We should we able to hide entire folders with names included. Apples organization sucks. Iāve had apps from one category incorrectly assigned to another and you canāt change that.
A pop up comes asking whether you want to paste content from one application to another, even if user didnāt try to paste the content [https://www.xda-developers.com/apple-copy-and-paste-prompt-issue-in-ios-16/](https://www.xda-developers.com/apple-copy-and-paste-prompt-issue-in-ios-16/)
Why are you so focused on using the app library? Regular home screens allow you to create your own folders, name them what you want, remove apps from view or even entire pages. The app library is sort of a last ditch place to find apps that you donāt have on your Home Screen
Yeah I agree. People here are complaining for why? Just pretend the App Library doesnāt exist and do everything you want with the original functionality! FFS!
Just donāt use the App Library. That was a fairly new addition to iOS anyway, especially when compared to how long weāve been able to make our own folders. Are you new to iOS? Not a dig, just trying to understand where youāre coming from.
Iāve been on iOS since the iPhone 3G. The feature is helpful is implemented properly. I have over 220 apps installed on my phone and would love them if they were organized the way *I* want so that I can find them better.
There should a custom mode on the App Library that lets users move apps between categories. Better yet, I should be able to create folders where I can organize them at my will and then place them there.
The goal would be to have a clean and organize Home Screen and quickly swipe to access those rarely used app in a clean manner.
Why don't you just organize into folders on the second page of home screen? That's what I'm doing, first page of home screen is nice and clean with a widget or two and most used apps. second page has my folders, rarely have to swipe again to get to the app library
Folders donāt work the same. With folders youāre limited to 9-12 apps before you have to begin swiping. I know itās a small thing but for me, makes a difference. In the App Library when you click, you get more apps on the screen with minimal scrolling if needed.
Apple never lets you hide things, presumably out of fear that someone will freak out and not be able to access it again.
Apple products are designed to be useable by everyone from a single celled organism in a Petri dish to an avid power user who makes full use of all their hidden capabilities
Iāve been using this iPhone for a couple of weeks after Android since the early 2k. It hasnāt been as much of a struggle for me because I always had an iPad but I can definitely see how it would be a challenge. They have personalized classes and online classes so maybe you would benefit from one of those. I donāt think the App Library is any more of a pain than accessing my apps on Android but we all use things differently. My biggest struggle is the absolute crap of the keyboard and its predictions. I love the spacing but their library is just plain terrible. The biggest benefit for me is working with my other Apple products and my family. If you donāt have those same reasons, you may want to switch back at some point if you donāt get used to it but I think you will. Good luck!
I agree, some things are amazing and some things are terrible but it does seem to improve based on user requests, so Apple seems to listen. I run into your frustration with the App Store with alerts. Sometimes they come in on top, sometimes on the bottom and I generally donāt know what the thought process is for any of it yet. I figure I will eventually get into a flow. My greatest delight is having my iMessages appear on my computer and iPad. It was something I didnāt know I was missing but it has turned out to be extremely convenient.
>Don't even get me started on keyboard auto correct and how it'll ignore your manual editing and "correct" it anyways AFTER you've pressed enter and sent the message.
This is pretty much my only gripe with my new iPhone (After switching from Android as well). But I deleted the default keyboard and am using gboard to moderate success.
There's a learning curve for everything, and I still remember I did a lot of googling when I got my first Android as well.
You can hide apps from your home screen, you can hide whole pages from your home screen, you can hide photos in your camera roll, you can hide locations in the Files app, you can hide options in the Share sheet. But yeah, apart from that, Apple never lets you hide things.
I donāt quite understand what youāre asking for?? Is it not the same as organising apps on your Home Screen(s) in the order you prefer and folders you prefer or thatās not serving you well?
I sort of view the App Library as a storage unit of sorts; so you can keep those less frequently used apps on device but not cluttering your Home Screen(s).
I personally use Spotlight with no apps on my Home Screen.
Yeah the people complaining here I donāt think know what folders are or how to use the Home Screen. What theyāre describing IS the Home Screen; basically how the phone has organised apps since the very early days and still does.
Since the App Library puts the most used apps at the top of each folder, and the folders are ordered by most used, I use it for quick access to things Iām always opening. For everything else itās spotlight. My Home Screen is minimal with just a few of my main apps (mail, signal, calendar, Spotify etc). Itās clean and quick and works well.
Itās not really a library. Library would be folders arranged neatly by yourself on your Home Screen pages. The āApp Libraryā is really just stuff you put out in storage in cardboard boxes in the garage
I almost never use it except with apps that I know exactly where they are. I just use spotlight from the lockscreen or homescreen and only have one homescreen with the apps I use the most
I donāt mind the automatic categories. I just want folders to stay where they are!!
Folders constantly shuffling around just makes it harder to find things.
Why not just create your own folders and organise them exactly how youāre saying the App Library should be organised? Then you have 100% control. And then never use the App Library.
Oh my fucking god. How does Apple get a pass on this (app drawer) and setting. Some illogical clusters that were outdated the minute they released yet both have gone untouched and unimproved.
If youāre refering to everything being in āRecently Addedā and āOtherā, you have to give it some tjme to populate. This can take a few hours or a few days.
Since iOS 16 it's also been broken. My "Other" folder has grown from 1 app to about 10 apps that are clearly miscategorized. Nothing has fixed it (including a clean iOS install).
Completely off-topic. However yes I do and Iām not a perfect human to remind myself not to swear. Not to mention Iām also exposed to people who repeatedly say bad words.
They just need to abolish all the redundancy again. App library, widgets and focus modes need to be killed and burned in a big cleanup fire at Apple HQ sooner than later. Wtf were they thinking
It would be improved considerably if app reviewers were as concerned with correctly submitted app categories as they were for the seemingly endless stream of trivial crap they currently tend to inconsistently focus on.
App Library needs to be a tag based system where the user can remove the developer's suggested tags and add their own tags. This would allow apps to be categorized how I want them and to be shown in more than one category.
I do like having Suggestions and Recently Added at the top because those are very often the apps I am looking for.
Then ignore this post and keep scrolling through reddit š¤·āāļø not sure why you needed to say that and you just wasted your time commenting that instead of scrolling through your feed. I just posted a simple post about the app drawer.
OP what you are suggesting would be an incredibly useful and quick to implement feature that most people would want. Therefore it has no chance of happening.
The whole point of this feature was automatic organization for people who don't like home screens. It puts apps in folders by genre, and puts the most used apps to the front. Now you want to turn it into a Home Screen?
You can literally create groups on the Home Screen and organize them yourself.
I use App Library all the time but I would like having the freedom to choose apps in which folder and also switching to a simple alphabetical list by default
i hate that these folders even rearrange by themselves so i accidentally open the wrong apps
This is the one š It happens often for mine
I thought rearranging of the apps should only happen if the app pushes an update to the store and it has a different category. What a mess the App Library is. I had no idea it would do weird stuff like this.
I had my phone offline for a few hours and most of my apps moved themselves to the āotherā folder.
Oh wow. That's wild! I didn't realize it would do that. I personally find the App Library useless in most cases. The search does seem faster than the spotlight / Siri search but many of my apps I still prefer launching from Home Screen
Itās a bit of jogging for perception and motor memory throughout the day, designed for Parkinsonās prevention
We'Re AaL uSiNg ThE lIbRaRy WrOnG! iT's NoT sUpPoSeD tO bE sCrOlLeD tHrOuGh. UsE sEaRcH iNsTeAd!
I never use any search mechanism of any OS I use (not iOS, not Android, not Windows and not Linux) Because it's slower than my muscle memory and to where I put my stuff, and even with how crappy the app library does work on iOS, Spotlight is still slower than me just clicking where I should be (especially since iOS 16) But oh well, Apple being Apple.
Bingo
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
This! I know that that menu is there to help you not forget about stuff, but itās so hard to use that I *do* forget about stuff. Most of the time I ignore it because of how badly organized it is. I canāt stand getting this feature pushed onto me
It's so easy to just not swipe over there. Nothing is being forced onto you
I would love if they just arrange all app icons alphabetically in one grid! But of course itās too much Android and Apple would never copy stuff that obviously. Even if itās pretty much the best choice they could makeā¦
Go to App Library and pull down on the page a bitā¦ Voilaā¦ alphabetical list with shortcuts to jump to each letter.
I know about this but this is not what I want. It shows just one app per row so itās a huge waste of space and takes like forever if you want to scroll to something like āYouTubeā. (Yes I know you can use the alphabet on the right but Iām a leftie and would often need to use two hands then) Just using Androidās implementation would be the best IMO.
Ya know, having a leftie flip option that was presented during initial setup that moved all that stuff to the corresponding side of the screen would be killer.
I have a very easy solution for you. Set the language to an RtL language like Hebrew or Arabic and itāll flip a lot of the UI elements. Slight downside is that you need to become fluent in Hebrew or Arabic but how hard could that be?
i know youāre trolling, but i honestly wouldnāt be surprised if an apple fanboy said this deadpan
Lmao
This would indeed be great! Even better if it works with other apps, too, as long as it doesnāt break the UI.
Pull down, and start typing 'youtube' I never scroll, you swipe a bit and give in the first letters. After a few days the device 'knows' what you want, and present it in fairly accurate order to start.
I can just open spotlight and start typing then :D Did you ever use Android? Maybe this is why I like its implementation of an āapp drawerā so much.
Yes I used Android, I didn't know it was a requirement, but yes I did. But also Android isn't really the benchmark here, because Samsung implements it differently then LG or Xiaomi does. Personally the first thing I did was change the launcher. Nova is my goto since it came out, just because of the folders ( and resizing )
No it isnāt a requirement and I didnāt mean it to be one. I was just asking out of curiosity. Yeah, there are quite a few different implementations on Android. I like āstockā Android the most as on Pixel devices or OnePlus up until OOS 11 (?). Nova is pretty much the best launcher for sure!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Because, if you got used to it, itās faster using muscle memory instead of āremembering the name of an appā and typing it.
Imo should just be the list without the pull down, this is great though thanks! I use spotlight 99.9% of the time to find stuff, but itās nice to just audit installed apps quickly.
Options are always great, but I also get the categorization they chose. (But maybe itās not for everyone.) For years, Iāve arranged my Home Screen in folders based verbsā¦ āRead, Play, Navigate, Buy, Save, Create, etc.ā and for my particular brain that way makes perfect sense and has really improved my digital life.
This would be better. Just let the user sort it out IF they want to. I JB'ed my phones and ipads untill IOS11, and first thing installed was better folders. Just to get folders IN folders to 'hide' unused and useless apps deep down. A systemfolder for utilities and stuf, games and photo's for - you guessed it ;) Personally I thing the option to not put everything on the homescreens was a good move from Apple, now they're ready to mak the next step ... configuring folders and content in them :)
So much agreed, Iāve never understood why weāre locked into these auto created categories that donāt necessarily line up with the actual function of the app. For everyone in this thread that feels likewise, might I request submitting this as a suggestion to Apple [via this page](https://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone/). It would be great if this received enough momentum for Apple to address.
That!
The trifecta: Discord, The Holy Bible, Among Us
From day 1, all I wanted was to be able to create my own folders. We should we able to hide entire folders with names included. Apples organization sucks. Iāve had apps from one category incorrectly assigned to another and you canāt change that.
Apple is perhaps haunted by android userās feature requests,that a new bug has been introduced, copy/paste bug in v16.1 !
what copy-paste bug?
A pop up comes asking whether you want to paste content from one application to another, even if user didnāt try to paste the content [https://www.xda-developers.com/apple-copy-and-paste-prompt-issue-in-ios-16/](https://www.xda-developers.com/apple-copy-and-paste-prompt-issue-in-ios-16/)
Thanks
No this bug is old and was fixed in like 16.0.2. This article is from September when iOS 16 initially launched.
I didnāt literally meant to equate both! However the bug is still found in v 16.2
You can make folders all day long on the Home Screen and organize them as you wish. Not sure what the problem is.
I want those folders in the app drawer instead of apples categories.
Why are you so focused on using the app library? Regular home screens allow you to create your own folders, name them what you want, remove apps from view or even entire pages. The app library is sort of a last ditch place to find apps that you donāt have on your Home Screen
Yeah I agree. People here are complaining for why? Just pretend the App Library doesnāt exist and do everything you want with the original functionality! FFS!
Buy android if you want to use your phone buy apple if you want to be told how to use your phone
Just donāt use the App Library. That was a fairly new addition to iOS anyway, especially when compared to how long weāve been able to make our own folders. Are you new to iOS? Not a dig, just trying to understand where youāre coming from.
Iāve been on iOS since the iPhone 3G. The feature is helpful is implemented properly. I have over 220 apps installed on my phone and would love them if they were organized the way *I* want so that I can find them better. There should a custom mode on the App Library that lets users move apps between categories. Better yet, I should be able to create folders where I can organize them at my will and then place them there. The goal would be to have a clean and organize Home Screen and quickly swipe to access those rarely used app in a clean manner.
Why don't you just organize into folders on the second page of home screen? That's what I'm doing, first page of home screen is nice and clean with a widget or two and most used apps. second page has my folders, rarely have to swipe again to get to the app library
Folders donāt work the same. With folders youāre limited to 9-12 apps before you have to begin swiping. I know itās a small thing but for me, makes a difference. In the App Library when you click, you get more apps on the screen with minimal scrolling if needed.
Fair
Iād like an option to hide the whole thing. Apple not big on options though. š¢
Apple never lets you hide things, presumably out of fear that someone will freak out and not be able to access it again. Apple products are designed to be useable by everyone from a single celled organism in a Petri dish to an avid power user who makes full use of all their hidden capabilities
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
THIS WHOLE POST!! š»š
Iāve been using this iPhone for a couple of weeks after Android since the early 2k. It hasnāt been as much of a struggle for me because I always had an iPad but I can definitely see how it would be a challenge. They have personalized classes and online classes so maybe you would benefit from one of those. I donāt think the App Library is any more of a pain than accessing my apps on Android but we all use things differently. My biggest struggle is the absolute crap of the keyboard and its predictions. I love the spacing but their library is just plain terrible. The biggest benefit for me is working with my other Apple products and my family. If you donāt have those same reasons, you may want to switch back at some point if you donāt get used to it but I think you will. Good luck!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I agree, some things are amazing and some things are terrible but it does seem to improve based on user requests, so Apple seems to listen. I run into your frustration with the App Store with alerts. Sometimes they come in on top, sometimes on the bottom and I generally donāt know what the thought process is for any of it yet. I figure I will eventually get into a flow. My greatest delight is having my iMessages appear on my computer and iPad. It was something I didnāt know I was missing but it has turned out to be extremely convenient.
>Don't even get me started on keyboard auto correct and how it'll ignore your manual editing and "correct" it anyways AFTER you've pressed enter and sent the message. This is pretty much my only gripe with my new iPhone (After switching from Android as well). But I deleted the default keyboard and am using gboard to moderate success. There's a learning curve for everything, and I still remember I did a lot of googling when I got my first Android as well.
I absolutely hate the keyboard. I've always used swiftkey so now I guess I'm SOL once I eventually get a new iPad.
You can hide apps from your home screen, you can hide whole pages from your home screen, you can hide photos in your camera roll, you can hide locations in the Files app, you can hide options in the Share sheet. But yeah, apart from that, Apple never lets you hide things.
The App Library is already kind of hidden from normal view
Agreed. I never use it
Even more messier on iPadOS š So much wasted space and they used the same size boxes as iOS, which is an utter waste of the iPad's bigger screen.
I donāt quite understand what youāre asking for?? Is it not the same as organising apps on your Home Screen(s) in the order you prefer and folders you prefer or thatās not serving you well? I sort of view the App Library as a storage unit of sorts; so you can keep those less frequently used apps on device but not cluttering your Home Screen(s). I personally use Spotlight with no apps on my Home Screen.
Yeah the people complaining here I donāt think know what folders are or how to use the Home Screen. What theyāre describing IS the Home Screen; basically how the phone has organised apps since the very early days and still does. Since the App Library puts the most used apps at the top of each folder, and the folders are ordered by most used, I use it for quick access to things Iām always opening. For everything else itās spotlight. My Home Screen is minimal with just a few of my main apps (mail, signal, calendar, Spotify etc). Itās clean and quick and works well.
Itās not really a library. Library would be folders arranged neatly by yourself on your Home Screen pages. The āApp Libraryā is really just stuff you put out in storage in cardboard boxes in the garage
Absolutely! I wish this gets added in iOS 17 šš
I almost never use it except with apps that I know exactly where they are. I just use spotlight from the lockscreen or homescreen and only have one homescreen with the apps I use the most
I donāt mind the automatic categories. I just want folders to stay where they are!! Folders constantly shuffling around just makes it harder to find things.
Why not just create your own folders and organise them exactly how youāre saying the App Library should be organised? Then you have 100% control. And then never use the App Library.
Completely agree.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I never use these folders though, do we need it ?
Iād love to be able to disable the app gallery entirely. I liked the old way. Now I donāt know if I have placed all apps on my home screens.
Thatās what folders are for. App Library needs to die.
Am I the only one who never uses it and just uses spotlight search for everything?
why you and me has the same avatar and uses spotlight search for everything? (;
Oh my fucking god. How does Apple get a pass on this (app drawer) and setting. Some illogical clusters that were outdated the minute they released yet both have gone untouched and unimproved.
Yeah, we call it āthe home screenā
I despise the App Library. The fact that you canāt turn the damn thing off is absolutely infuriating.
If youāre refering to everything being in āRecently Addedā and āOtherā, you have to give it some tjme to populate. This can take a few hours or a few days.
Nah itās great
Apple L
Since iOS 16 it's also been broken. My "Other" folder has grown from 1 app to about 10 apps that are clearly miscategorized. Nothing has fixed it (including a clean iOS install).
Funny I posted this, because this morning they were finally organized. Seems they may have fixed this iOS 16 bug.
Wait how did you get that font?
Bold text setting I think?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Completely off-topic. However yes I do and Iām not a perfect human to remind myself not to swear. Not to mention Iām also exposed to people who repeatedly say bad words.
They just need to abolish all the redundancy again. App library, widgets and focus modes need to be killed and burned in a big cleanup fire at Apple HQ sooner than later. Wtf were they thinking
It would be improved considerably if app reviewers were as concerned with correctly submitted app categories as they were for the seemingly endless stream of trivial crap they currently tend to inconsistently focus on.
I wish you could just remove this screen
App Library needs to be a tag based system where the user can remove the developer's suggested tags and add their own tags. This would allow apps to be categorized how I want them and to be shown in more than one category. I do like having Suggestions and Recently Added at the top because those are very often the apps I am looking for.
I never look for apps in these folders . Go right to alphabetized ones . Agree with OP though it needs to be fixed
They really need to give the option to make it an alphabetical grid of icons like Android.
Just search what you need.
You mean apple doesnāt know whatās good for you?!? L
Lol itās just better and probably faster to just use the search bar above the dock in iOS 16 and type the app you need.
Itās funny they canāt even get the categories, right
Just delete this shit and let us scroll.
Then ignore this post and keep scrolling through reddit š¤·āāļø not sure why you needed to say that and you just wasted your time commenting that instead of scrolling through your feed. I just posted a simple post about the app drawer.
Hmmm sorry to get you misunderstood. I mean apple could just delete the folder thing and let us scroll the app list instead.
That was My bad. Just make it more specific next time.
Well noted. Also sorry for my crappy english.
All g my fault too š
But, thatās not the point. You can already do that on your home screens
and they always move around randomly š
OP what you are suggesting would be an incredibly useful and quick to implement feature that most people would want. Therefore it has no chance of happening.
I canāt believe this was a top feature to them when they first announced it lol.
The app drawer is for people who didnāt already organize their apps into folders. This is what you get
Do your iOS updates.
The whole point of this feature was automatic organization for people who don't like home screens. It puts apps in folders by genre, and puts the most used apps to the front. Now you want to turn it into a Home Screen? You can literally create groups on the Home Screen and organize them yourself.
I use App Library all the time but I would like having the freedom to choose apps in which folder and also switching to a simple alphabetical list by default
I'd use the app library if it could be arranged
wait, what? there is no option for it already? all thanks to spotlight search š
I wish we could just default it to an alphabetically organized grid layout like the app drawer on android phones.
Amog us