For years Apple has stubbornly refused to give us a way of hiding the apps we didn't use. While on Android you could choose exactly which apps you wanted to see on your home screen(s), the rest being hidden in an 'all apps' view, Apple used to force everybody into keeping several home screens loaded with dozens of apps that couldn't be hidden (nor deleted, in the case of pre-installed ones).
So iOS users had no other choice than to arrange their icons on the home screens in a convenient way, using folders to keep similar apps together, moving rarely used apps onto the second or third screen, burying unused apps into a folder on the last screen, etc.
Now, for the first time in history, Apple has given in. They have finally decided to let us choose what to keep on the home screen(s) and to let us hide the rest. And that's great.
But if they do that, if they allow apps to be hidden away from the home screen, then they must also devise a means of accessing those apps later on. They must give us an 'all apps' view, independent of the home screen layout. Enter the App Library.
Currently it's ugly and not very versatile. But it must exist, otherwise we couldn't hide apps from the home screen lest we become unable to find them again. Given enough time, I'm sure it will evolve into something useful.
People who are determined to keep their home screen layout exactly as it is now, because it's been working perfectly for years and there's no need to change anything, find the App Library a nuisance, one more screen to avoid swiping to.
People who expect the App Library to be a complete replacement of the home screen (i.e. to rely on it exclusively) are disappointed and find it ugly and messy, with icons grouped in a way that doesn't always make sense.
However, if you see it just as a means of finding a rarely used app from time to time, complementing a home screen which now only contains frequently used apps, then it makes sense.
At first I was in the first category. I wanted to keep my home screen layout, which had served me well for so much time, and had no intention of making any change. So once I found out about the App Library and saw it for the first time, I was appalled at how ugly and useless it appeared to be.
But then I realized that I had two home screens filled with icons. And those apps were of three types:
1. Apps that I used every day, or at least once every few days
2. Apps that I used rarely, maybe once or twice a month, or even less
3. Apps I never used, but couldn't get rid of (e.g. Health)
So I thought, what if I kept just one home screen, and just the apps of the first category, and I hid the rest? And it's awesome! Now all the apps I use frequently are right on the home screen (just one screen this time, no second page, no folders), while the others are hidden. And on the once in a blue moon occasion that I need to use another app, I just pull down and search for it, or if I'm too lazy to search, I swipe left and look for it in the App Library (which, although ugly, is OK for this job).
Not only that, but keeping just the frequently used apps on the home screen has freed up enough space to also fit the weather widget, so no more swiping right to get to it.
It's great. I love it. Not the App Library itself, I don't love that, it's obviously in need of some improvements, but I do love the freedom that comes with it.
