Has anyone gone 'all in' with the App Library?

[Paco II]

First let me say that there is already an 'I hate the app library', so if you've come to say that, please just do it there. Please.

For those that like the app library, have any of you gone all in? As in change the iOS setting to not even bother putting new apps on the home screen. Getting rid of all your non-essential apps and folders from your home screens entirely.

How's that going? Has it been a weird transition?

 

[BigMcGuire]

I'm in the process of doing so. I've spent years with one home screen loaded with folders. When app library came out I was not fond of it, but I'm growing to like it. I've wiped out most of my folders on my home screen and am utilizing the app library a little bit. Interestingly enough, I'm using "Pull down from top and type in first few characters of app" to run everything now. It's a lot faster than clicking on a folder, swiping, and trying to remember where I hid everything.

So ... kinda? My usage has definitely changed but I'm not really ... using it.

 

[C DM]

First let me say that there is already an 'I hate the app library', so if you've come to say that, please just do it there. Please.

For those that like the app library, have any of you gone all in? As in change the iOS setting to not even bother putting new apps on the home screen. Getting rid of all your non-essential apps and folders from your home screens entirely.

How's that going? Has it been a weird transition?

Does anyone just use the App Library now ?

Just curious have you deleted all your folders and just use the App Library and the default home Screen ...If so do you find it easier to navigate.. Thanks all

forums.macrumors.com

 

[throAU]

Yup, I'm all in with it, no regrets.

I was basically using "search" (and Siri suggestions if they came up before typing into search) to find my stuff before and gave up managing my icons. This is better, and now I can have something actually useful on the home screen (widgets) rather than a mess of icons sorted by age (which is typically the reverse of what I'd actually want).

My home screen consists of a couple of informational widgets, a widget stack and a siri suggestions widget.

Everything else is in the app library apart from the 4 dock items for phone, messages safari and 1password.

 

[AZhappyjack]

Not a fan of the App Library... I just don't swipe to it... but I do like the fact that it helps remove all of the clutter of endless folders of apps that I use on rare occasions.

 

[slippy]

I have a page 1 with 16 apps + 2 widgets then App Library. It’s still taking me slightly longer to find some apps due to learning their new section and it moving the sections around from time to time, but overall I’m liking it.

I do wish I could fine tune the location of some apps in the library but hoping that will improve as apps are updated with time.

 

[throAU]

I do wish I could fine tune the location of some apps in the library but hoping that will improve as apps are updated with time.

I'm not too fussed about it, if I can't find it at a glance I just swipe down to get an alphabetical list which was never available before.

IMHO if you want to go arranging stuff into groups yourself that's what the old home screen way of doing things is for - which you can still do. Put your folders/apps where you want them. Except now you can exclude the apps you don't want on your home screens.

Also, my Siri suggestions are fairly accurate, so most of the time I can rely on the siri suggestions widget on my home screen as it knows pretty well what I use at a particular time of day and location. This is something I never had on the home screen before.


Is it perfect? No, but it's more usable for me than before. YMMV of course.

 

[robbieduncan]

Yes. My home screen (singular: all others are hidden) is all widgets although one is the suggested apps widget. All app launching other than suggested apps is from the App Library or search. I find it a much better solution with less scrolling around looking for stuff. App Library and suggested apps widget between them do a good job of surfacing the apps I want 80%+ of the time.

 

[cupcakes2000]

Yup pretty much. Have folders on the dock with most important stuff in, one for calls and messages, one for internet and social, one for camera and creative stuff, and one for system stuff like settings and passwords. I even tend to use search for these items too, but it’s good for notifications and I’m still a folders guy at heart.
The rest of the Home Screen is blank with just a photo! Love it.
I swipedown for search and suggestions, left for app draw and swipe right for widgets, as I like a long continuous list of widgets rather than several pages. Here I have things like calendar, weather, notes, shortcuts and other stuff for easy access and viewing.

 

[mgscheue]

Almost. Home page with widgets, including the app suggestion widget, a page with a few folders, and then then the library. Working well for me.

 

[Sital]

I went “all-in” with iOS 13. I removed all icons from the Home Screen, except for the dock, and used the search feature to launch apps. I found this to be quite fast and useful.

With iOS 14, I’ve actually gone the other way. I’m using two widgets on the Home Screen so now I also have some app icons on there to balance out the look.

 

[ian6969]

From reading reviews, I hadn’t realised how useful the App Library actually is - I had assumed it was just folders categorised by Apple. The fact that you can open the top three apps without actually opening the folder, and that those top three are chosen with some kind of learning/intelligence, puts the library well ahead of regular folders.

I’m now down to 12 apps on my Home Screen and the App Library. I wish iPadOS had the same feature.

 

[cupcakes2000]

Snip... The fact that you can open the top three apps without actually opening the folder, ...snip

I wish they would make standard folders share this ability.

 

[Paco II]

Has anyone switched the setting to install apps only to App Library? I have this weird fear of it, kind of like before I canceled cable TV

 

[cupcakes2000]

Has anyone switched the setting to install apps only to App Library? I have this weird fear of it, kind of like before I canceled cable TV

Not me! I like to make sure I want the app first so I leave it on the main page until I have decided fully then I move it.

 

[jaredwsmith]

Went all-in with the first beta of iOS 14 and haven't looked back. I have one home screen with a couple Smart Stacks and the highest-priority of apps. (I have a second page, which remains disabled, that I'm experimenting with which is even more spartan.)

App Library is one of the best features of iOS 14. I'm actually inclined to try out more apps as a result because I feel much less pressure to try to organize them into folders (which I had done previously), and it feels like much less of a burden as a result. Siri, take the wheel!

 

[macintoshmac]

I'm in the process of doing so. I've spent years with one home screen loaded with folders. When app library came out I was not fond of it, but I'm growing to like it. I've wiped out most of my folders on my home screen and am utilizing the app library a little bit. Interestingly enough, I'm using "Pull down from top and type in first few characters of app" to run everything now. It's a lot faster than clicking on a folder, swiping, and trying to remember where I hid everything.

So ... kinda? My usage has definitely changed but I'm not really ... using it.

Well, that functionality always existed in the form of Spotlight, that several members here have been fond of.

I wonder if future iOS 14 versions or if iOS 15 would bring some more notable usability changes to App Library. At the moment, the steps to pull down and type is slower than muscle memory for opening apps. I do not have that many apps on the phone, I have only the ones I use almost everyday, so App Library in its current form (with the additional steps) does not work for me.

I would appreciate if App Library could be set to show apps in alphabetical order by default. That option could be useful for me in some cases.

 

[russell_314]

Not all in but I use it. I suspect when I get my iPhone 12 I will just start from scratch and go for it. I’ve been restoring from backups since the iPhone 5 😂

 

[artfossil]

Has anyone switched the setting to install apps only to App Library? I have this weird fear of it, kind of like before I canceled cable TV

Absolutely! I love no longer having to decide where to put new apps--or anything else. I love the App Library. Much less mental overhead.

 

[wa2be]

I'm in the process of doing so. I've spent years with one home screen loaded with folders. When app library came out I was not fond of it, but I'm growing to like it. I've wiped out most of my folders on my home screen and am utilizing the app library a little bit. Interestingly enough, I'm using "Pull down from top and type in first few characters of app" to run everything now. It's a lot faster than clicking on a folder, swiping, and trying to remember where I hid everything.

So ... kinda? My usage has definitely changed but I'm not really ... using it.

I'm doing this exact same thing. Gradual phase-in with fewer and fewer apps on the homescreen and more widgets. I also find that I use the search function to open my other apps way more than I used to. So far I like the new functionality and it hasn't slowed me down from accessing the apps I need. It was shocking how many apps I had buried in folders that I was rarely if ever using!

 

[slimejester]

All in. Have usually used Spotlight to find apps. Now it’s just the one page Home Screen and App Library. Love it. Love the widgets less.

 

[tops2]

I started using the App Library too the past few days and its okay for me. For my for more used (but not super frequent) apps, its slower to type to search for it (I usually just use the spotlight search instead) compared to muscle memory. Part of the problem is I forget the exact spelling of some of these apps too! lol.

I also set the double tap on the back to spotlight search so I can pull out the search screen from anywhere (like my ipad with keyboard) instead of needing to go back to home, then swipe down to pull out the search.

The App Library does make sorting apps much less tedious and just let Apple do whatever it wants. I do have the setting for new apps to go directly go to the App Library.

My first main page has only one small stacked widget (clock, Calendars 5, Spark Mail), the Siri suggested apps, and 10 of the most "important" apps. (I'm half waiting for the important apps to get widget update so I can put it in the stack and then hide the icon). The rest of the widgets I put on the "Today screen" (screen to left of the main page). My second page has apps my kids use. The rest of the apps are in the App Library.

 

[mpavilion]

I'm in the process of doing so. I've spent years with one home screen loaded with folders. When app library came out I was not fond of it, but I'm growing to like it. I've wiped out most of my folders on my home screen and am utilizing the app library a little bit. Interestingly enough, I'm using "Pull down from top and type in first few characters of app" to run everything now. It's a lot faster than clicking on a folder, swiping, and trying to remember where I hid everything.

So ... kinda? My usage has definitely changed but I'm not really ... using it.

I'm sort of in this boat... I've reduced main home screen to 16 essentials, and removed my 2nd screen, which was loaded w/folders. In its place, I put a 2x4 calendar widget, and two(!) 2x4 "App Suggestions" widgets. I then went into Settings > Siri & Search, and unclicked a bunch of apps to make sure they won't show up in those widgets (you can also do this on the fly, by long-pressing an app when it is suggested, and then clicking "Don't Suggest _____").

So now my 2nd screen has 16 apps suggested by Siri, which are pretty on the money in terms of apps I'd actually want to use (pleasantly, Siri knows not to repeat apps across the two widgets); and I've eliminated the mess of folders. (Why not just select 16 apps of my own, you ask, and I'll always know exactly where they'll be? Good question, we'll see how this works out!)

I still haven't actually used the App Library much -- seems quicker to pull down the screen and search for a less-visible app -- but will try swiping over there from time to time.

 

[Lekro]

I did it. I have the frequently used apps on the home screen and everything else in the App Library. It is just a swipe away anyway since I have 1 page of apps.

 

[CTHarrryH]

I'd like to but... If I get rid of all my other screens and their organization where I know where things are and go all in but then don't like App Library it would be a real issue to get my apps back where they were.
If you could change the organization of each App Library "folder" so the ones I use show up and not in a sub folder I'd be more encouraged