Comments on: Organizing Apps on the iPhone

By: Frustrated with app organization? You are not alone! | iPhone 3G Tricks

Frustrated with app organization? You are not alone! | iPhone 3G Tricks — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:20:24 +0000

[...] speaking up about our deepest desires. The Apple Blog posted their gripes back in 2008 here. But most recently Bruce Tognazzini, a former Apple employee who was hired at Apple by Steve Jobs [...]

By: Frustrated with app organization? You are not alone! | App Chronicles

Frustrated with app organization? You are not alone! | App Chronicles — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 07:08:14 +0000

By: Jo Jo

Jo Jo — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 07:24:40 +0000

ok, i’m a little late to this forum, but here’s what I’ve got. I deleted all the apps off my iPhone. Then I plowed through all my apps in iTunes and deleted all, but 80 of them. When I removed them from iTunes I DID NOT throw them away (more on this later). Then I went to sync Applications in iTunes and chose “Selected Applications” and then checked all 80 apps individually. The result was all the default iPhone apps on page 1, and all 80 other apps in alphabetical order after that. While I prefer to organize by category, it was too difficult. At least this way, I know where to find something.

So here’s part 2 of my strategy – Go to the Mobile Applications folder in iTunes and drag all the contents to the iTunes icon in the dock (or add all the contents via the menu commands). Now when you go to Applications in iTunes, the 80 apps you picked before will be checked, but not everything else you just re-added. This gives you flexibility in choosing what you want on the phone, while largely keeping the alphabetical structure intact. Granted, when you add a new app, you’ll have to move it into its alphabetical place, but the structure is already there to accommodate you.

I hope Apple will enable folders soon, so I can categorize by function again. Until then, the alphabetical system will have to work for me.

Hope this helps, I will post this elsewhere too.

-Jo Jo

By: C C

C C — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 23:43:10 +0000

I have organized my apps so that the bottom row is empty. It gives me a horizontal scroll and lets me keep everything in place when I download new apps, Just another way to go…

By: Eugene Gordin

Eugene Gordin — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 21:44:22 +0000

One more interesting articles from the Rogue Amoeba people on the subject: http://blogs.oreilly.com/iphone/2008/09/organizing-your-iphone.html

By: mike sanders

mike sanders — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 04:17:54 +0000

seems you guys didn’t read my comment about the unlocking software from the UK. This is not jailbreaking it unlocks the phone properly and completely and permits future upgrades as per a normal unlocked phone so there is no risk.

By: Eugene Gordin

Eugene Gordin — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:47:18 +0000

Thank you guys for the kind words. Yeah, the jailbreak vs. not debate is a very interesting one, and hopefully I’ll get a chance to address it soon in a post on my website.

In the mean time, here’s an interesting organizing solution that I came across on UneasySilence:
Banish Those Unwanted Apple Applications From Your iPhone:
http://feeds.uneasysilence.com/~r/uneasysilence/blog/~3/395735614/

By: What About Webapps?

What About Webapps? — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:57:48 +0000

the app that i use mainly is a web-app HyperOffice , which i use for accessing and collaborating on corporate information. web apps dont clutter your system, thats one up for web apps right!

By: Rik Watson

Rik Watson — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:45:52 +0000

Oops,

Ok, so the screenshot didn’t work. Take a look here.

http://i-spacer.appspot.com/i-spacer.jpg

Thanks,

Rik

By: Rik Watson

Rik Watson — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:44:40 +0000

I've created a very simple iPhone WebApp which allows me to add spacers where ever I please. See the screenshot below. If you want a copy then take a the instructions are here. Thanks, Rik

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 09:04:57 +0000

“seems to install the update to an application in place of its deprecated self. Woohoo”

Couldn’t agree more, this is a huge but very simple UI feature that is thankfully included now.

By: mike sanders

mike sanders — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 05:39:12 +0000

your comment on unlocking your 2g phone prompts me to let you know that the software available from http://www.iphoneunlockuk.com/buynow.php is really superb. It allows your phone to be used anywhere on any network and according to them is also used in the apple store in UK.
My personal experience is excellent and recent upgrades have been seamlessly handled.
It is expensive but it works.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 01:44:13 +0000

One nice thing about 2.1 is that when you update a program, it keeps it in the same place. Previous versions didn’t do that.

By: Kha

Kha — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 23:10:08 +0000

I just wanted to clarify that Categories is a jailbreak app, and that when I last tried it, it was incompatible with firmware 2.1, however, I’m sure that an update to it will bring back the program very soon.

By: Kha

Kha — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 23:07:25 +0000

There is another program that is a dream come to true for iPhone users as well, called Categories. It basically hides the icons that you choose and put them in a “screen” that you can access when you click on an icon, and so it simulates having folders on the iPhone to hide your icons in. Managing the folders in it is a bit of a pain but once you do that, the feeling you get when you have your favourite games on the desktop and those you don’t use so often tucked away but easier reachable is incredible.

By: Antonio

Antonio — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:36:51 +0000

I have my organized the following way:

Screen 1: Webclips, and general apps like settings, ipod and camera.

Screen 2: Any app related to news. Here I have MLB At Bat, NY Times, WordPress and NetNewsWire.

Screen 3: All utility apps that don’t connect to the internet like Calculator, Things, Tips, Units.

Screen 4: These are all apps that connect out to the world. Ebay, Now Playing, Bank of America, AIM, Maps etc.

Screen 5: Games.

Screen 6: Default Apple apps that I don’t need and can’t get ride of. Weather, Clock, Notes.

This as worked well for me so far. I wish here was a way to label the screens and change the order of them.