Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

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

Don't forget that you can hide a home screen in iOS 14.

CTHarrryH said:
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
Click to expand...
 
  • Like
Reactions: moyjoy and artfossil
CTHarrryH said:
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.
Click to expand...

You could try just removing the screens in the home screen editor; can always bring them back, just the way they were. (EDIT: Sorry, somehow missed the reply above this one!)
 
Here’s mine. One home page consisting of 2 stacks of small widgets (fantastical, battery, activity, weather, photos, clock, pedometer), and 2x Siri suggestions. Yes, I am trusting Siri to surface relevant apps for me as I need them and so far, it’s still doing a fairly decent job of doing so.

Swipe left for widgets (currently Apollo, shortcuts, scanner pro, Walletry, maps, ETA), swipe right for App Library, which also does a pretty good job of sifting out the key apps I use. And spotlight to launch any other apps that don’t appear.

3fe0e700f85d973624368c3c13c7a9a6.jpg

1771c299e05571a51e5dc3f644dbcafb.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: artfossil
Yup.

Swipe right for widgets.
Apps I use several times a day on Home Screen. (13+4 on bottom)
Swipe Left for Library.

Have to say tho, most Apps not on Home Screen, I launch with Spotlight Search. I do same on my Mac. And did same on my Pixel 4. (Android)
 
I probably will when there is more of a widget selection. Right now I'm fine with the Siri Suggestion widget or just searching for the app from the top of the phone.
 
throAU said:
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.
Click to expand...

Just because I want to move a couple apps around doesn’t mean I want to manage 100’s of them. But I have apps in the other category that fit perfectly elsewhere.

With that said, I don’t expect to get that functionality and that’s okay. Overall the App Library is an improvement for me. I expect it to only get better as apps are updated.
 
BigMcGuire said:
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.
Click to expand...

this. I do not like a lot of things about the App Library, but it has actually trained me to use spotlight to bring up apps.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigMcGuire
Abazigal said:
Here’s mine. One home page consisting of 2 stacks of small widgets (fantastical, battery, activity, weather, photos, clock, pedometer), and 2x Siri suggestions. Yes, I am trusting Siri to surface relevant apps for me as I need them and so far, it’s still doing a fairly decent job of doing so.

Swipe left for widgets (currently Apollo, shortcuts, scanner pro, Walletry, maps, ETA), swipe right for App Library, which also does a pretty good job of sifting out the key apps I use. And spotlight to launch any other apps that don’t appear.

3fe0e700f85d973624368c3c13c7a9a6.jpg

1771c299e05571a51e5dc3f644dbcafb.png
Click to expand...
I found that the weather widget wasn’t updating properly. I had it on my home screen, and whenever the phone was unlocked the weather widget didn’t have the correct weather. Are you experiencing this? Was I dining something wrong (maybe I’m missing a setting somewhere)? Thanks!
 
CTHarrryH said:
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
Click to expand...
Not at all. You can keep your previous organisation for the most part and just hide the screen.
I did that when I was testing whether to jump ship to the App Library or not. The pages are still there hidden in fact.
 
So is there any way, via a Shortcut or something, to go straight to the App Library vertical list/search?
 
App library folder groupings are very hit and miss for me. "Health and Fitness" works great, but "Productivity and Finance" is overloaded with apps. I do hope they better handle that, such as if a grouping exceeds a certain number of apps, break up the grouping. Like in my case, separate out Productivity and Finance into two groups.

So far I have been able to eliminate about 6 folders full of apps that aligned well with the App Library. I'm digging removing the 'clutter'!
 
Paco II said:
App library folder groupings are very hit and miss for me. "Health and Fitness" works great, but "Productivity and Finance" is overloaded with apps. I do hope they better handle that, such as if a grouping exceeds a certain number of apps, break up the grouping. Like in my case, separate out Productivity and Finance into two groups.

So far I have been able to eliminate about 6 folders full of apps that aligned well with the App Library. I'm digging removing the 'clutter'!
Click to expand...
I don’t really ‘use’ the App Library per se. Just a space to put the apps. I use spotlight to get to the ones that are hidden.
 
I don't always know the name of the app I need. I know that may sound strange, but for example, the app I use to stitch screenshots together, I never remember what it's called. So ideally the app library groupings are slightly better organized to allow me to find apps like that.

cupcakes2000 said:
I don’t really ‘use’ the App Library per se. Just a space to put the apps. I use spotlight to get to the ones that are hidden.
Click to expand...
 
Paco II said:
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
Click to expand...

I have, but I'm not sure what apps to download anymore. I've been getting various restaurant apps, but I'm not sure what else to get that I don't have already.
 
Paco II said:
I don't always know the name of the app I need. I know that may sound strange, but for example, the app I use to stitch screenshots together, I never remember what it's called. So ideally the app library groupings are slightly better organized to allow me to find apps like that.
Click to expand...
Yes I have this trouble. I wish devs (or us) could add tags to the app so that you can search say ‘photo’ and it would come up with all the relevant apps regardless as to whether photo was in the app title or not.
 
I always use spotlight to search for apps anyway, so removing a few home pages to the App Library didn’t really make much of a difference in my usage pattern.

However, I realised that the name of the apps I use occasionally sometimes escapes my mind while trying to search for them so having them on the Home Screen helped in the past because I recognise them by their icons. With App Library situation, that is becoming a bit challenging.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tops2
my OCD could never figure out exactly how the folders should be named and which apps belong where. I'd often get it how I want then a year later be unhappy with it and spend ages moving stuff around again. So with the App Library categorising the apps for me, I just deleted all the apps from the home screen and deleted the old small folders which only ever worked well on the 4" and before iPhones. Just use the App Library and Widgets now.
 
Not fully. My -1 screen is basically widgets I can access quickly w/o unlocking the phone. My home page is just widgets and to the right I have a screen with the Siri Suggested apps widget (works very well) and then below it a few rows of apps I use on a daily basis. Anything else I revert to the app library. I love how less cluttered my phone looks.
 
I half wish I can recategorize some apps in the App Library. For instance I have a few drawing apps I was testing out. The app library put them in different categories.

I to get a lot of brain farts in remember some app names for the apps I occasionally use and can’t search in spotlight search.

Either way, I’m wondering over time I’ll really stop using some apps since I’ll forget about them since they’ll be hidden in the App Library so I’ll have to remember to do some app purging from time to time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back