How to organize apps

In the last few days you have "stuffed" your smartphone with a bunch of new applications and on the home screen of the device now there is total chaos. Given the circumstances, you have therefore well thought of putting some order, going to change the arrangement of the various apps. However, if you are here now and you are reading these lines, it seems clear to me that you do not know how to do it.

How do you say? This is exactly how things are and would you like to know if I can help you? Of course yes, God forbid! If you dedicate a few moments of your precious time to me, I can in fact show you, in a simple but not for that little detailed way, how to organize apps on both Android and iOS / iPadOS.

I anticipate immediately that, contrary to what you might think, it is not a complicated operation, quite the contrary! You just have to understand where to put your hands, spend a few minutes deciding how to arrange the icons of the various applications and that's it. Now, however, just chat and let's take action. Happy reading and have fun!

How to organize apps on Android

If you want to understand how to organize apps on Android , the first thing you need to do is take your smartphone or tablet, unlock it and go to the home screen . At this point, press and hold with your finger the icon of the app you want to move and drag it to the point you prefer, then release the grip. Repeat these steps for the icons of all the apps you want to organize.

If you need to move more than one application at the same time, you can do it by activating the mode to change the home screen as I just pointed out and dragging the application icon on the Move applications item that you see appear at the top. In this way, the app icon will be added to the bar that you will see appear at the top of the screen and where you can insert any other applications to move. Then, drag the application icons from the bar in question to the point on the home screen of your interest and that's it.

You can also move apps from page to page on the home screen by dragging the app icon to the far right or left of the display and dropping it where you want. The number of available pages is indicated by the gray dots at the bottom center of the screen, while the exact page you are on is marked by the white dot , always located at the bottom of the screen.

Applications can also be added and arranged differently on the Dock . To do this, first of all free up the occupied slots by pressing the icon of the first app you want to move with your finger and, continuing to hold down, dragging it out. Then drag the app you want to add as a replacement from the home screen to the dock and repeat the steps I just indicated for all the other applications.

Do you want to organize the apps by acting on the drawer instead of on the home screen? Good! To do this, access the latter, then tap on the button with the three vertical dots that you find in the search field at the top of the screen, tap on the Edit item from the menu that opens, press with your finger on the icon of the app you want to move and, continuing to hold down, drag it to where you want to place it. When the changes are complete, tap on the Done item at the top.

If you want, you can decide to organize the applications in the drawer in alphabetical order. To do this, click on the button with the three vertical dots that you find next to the search field at the top of the screen, choose the Sort option from the menu that opens and select the Alphabetical order option from the box you see appear.

Do you want to add an application in the drawer on the home screen? You can also do this by pressing and continuing to hold your finger on the app icon of your interest and, once the home screen is displayed, positioning the application in the desired point.

If you then added an app icon to the home screen but you have changed your mind, I inform you that you can easily remove it, by pressing on it with your finger for a few seconds and dragging the icon on the item Remove link that you see appear at the top of the display. That's all!

If this interests you, I inform you that, both on the home screen and in the drawer you can create folders in which to organize your apps. To do this, enable the mode to change the screen as I have already explained to you and drag the icon of one app on that of another. This will automatically create a folder, where you can add more applications by moving them to it.

Folders can contain multiple pages, and added app icons can be organized and moved at any time by dragging them from one part of the folder to another, from one page to another, or from one folder to another, in the same way as how is it possible to do with the home screen and the drawer.

Also keep in mind that all folders created can be assigned an automatic name or they may not have one. To insert one as you like, open the folder of your interest, tap on the text field at the top, type the name you prefer, press the Enter key on the virtual keyboard and you're done.

Have you thought about it and want to get rid of a created folder? Then enable the mode to change the home screen or the drawer as I indicated a few lines above, then select move the folder to the Delete item located at the top of the screen or press on the symbol (-) present in its correspondence and this will be immediately removed .

Note: the information I have given you may differ depending on the version of Android used and the model of smartphone or tablet used. For your information, I used a Samsung Galaxy S6 updated to Android 7.0 to write this step . If you want more information on other launchers (therefore other types of home screens), read my dedicated tutorial.

How to organize apps on iPhone

If you want to find out how to organize apps on iPhone , all you have to do is take your device, unlock it, go to the home screen , locate the icon of the first app you want to move and press and keep holding your finger on it. it until you see a menu appear, after which you must select the Change the Home screen item from it . Alternatively, you can hold down further and wait for the icons to start "dancing" or, again, if you use iOS 14 or later, hold down for a few seconds in a point without an icon on the Home screen.

When all the icons of the apps installed on your iPhone begin to "vibrate", press again on the application icon above and, continuing to hold down with your finger, drag it to the position where you want to place it, then release the "grip ". Repeat these steps for the icons of all the apps you want to organize. When the changes are complete, press the Done button at the top right (on iPhone models with Face ID) or the Home button (on all other iPhone models).

If you are using an iPhone updated to at least iOS 11, you can also move multiple apps simultaneously, enabling the mode that allows you to change the Home screen as I have already explained to you, pressing and continuing to hold your finger on the selected app and doing a single tap, with another finger, on the other icons.

Do you want to move an app from one page to another on the home screen? If so, push the icon of the latter to the bottom right or left of the screen. The number of available pages is indicated by the gray dots at the bottom center of the screen, while the exact page you are currently on is marked by the white dot , which you can always find at the bottom of the screen.

You can also decide to organize the apps on the iPhone Dock bar differently from the default arrangement. To do this, enable the iOS mode that allows you to change the Home screen as already seen, drag the icon of the first app you want to replace out of the Dock and then drag the icon of the application you want to add onto the bar. slot just released.

If you wish, I inform you that you can consider organizing the icons on the iOS home screen into folders . How you do it? Nothing simpler! Just enable the modification of the Home screen as I explained to you in the previous lines and drag the icon of one app onto that of another. Proceeding in this way, a folder will automatically be created, in which you can add further applications, simply by dragging them onto it.

Folders can contain multiple pages and added app icons can be organized and moved at any time by dragging them from one part of the folder to another, from one page to another, or from one folder to another, similar to what you can be done with the home screen.

Also keep in mind that all the folders created are assigned a new name automatically. If you want to change it, open the folder, press on the (x) in the right part of the text field located at the top and type in the name you prefer. Alternatively, press on the folder and, continuing to hold down with your finger, wait for the menu to appear, then select the Rename item from it and change the name as I have just indicated.

To delete a folder, on the other hand, just drag all the icons inside it out of it, after which it will disappear automatically.

On iOS 14 and later there is also the App Library , a screen in which all the apps installed on the device are automatically grouped and divided into categories. If you want to delete an icon from the Home screen and display it only in the App Library, perform a long tap on it and select the items Remove app and Move to app library . Conversely, if you want to copy an app from the Library to the Home screen, make a long tap on it and select the Add to Home item from the menu that opens. If you want to make sure that the icons of the new apps installed on iPhone appear only in the App Library and not on the Home screen, go to the menuSettings> Home screen and check the App library only item .

If after organizing the icons on your iPhone you had thought about it again and would therefore like to restore the default order (for the default apps, the others are arranged in alphabetical order), I inform you that you can do this by touching the Settings icon (the one with the gear wheel ), selecting the General item in the new screen displayed, the Reset one and, finally, the words Reset Home screen layout .

How to organize apps on iPad

Do you own an Apple-branded tablet and would like to understand how to organize apps on iPad ? Well, I inform you that after grabbing your device, after having unlocked it and after having accessed the Home screen, the steps to follow to succeed in the enterprise are practically identical to those I have already shown you for iPhone in the previous step . Nothing changes absolutely, both as regards the organization of the icons of individual applications, that of the folders, as well as the Dock bar.

The only substantial difference is that if you have an iPad updated to at least iOS 13, you can choose to enable or disable the display of the icons of the suggested and recent apps on the Dock. To do this, tap the Settings icon (the one with the gear wheel ), select the Home Screen and Dock item from the menu on the left on the next screen and turn it ON or OFF , according to your needs and preferences, the switch located next to the item Show suggested and recent apps in the Dock located on the right.

How to organize apps on Apple Watch

If paired with your iPhone you also own the “bitten apple” smartwatch, you will certainly be interested in knowing how to organize apps on Apple Watch . Succeeding is very simple: you can choose to act directly from the watch or from your mobile phone.

To act directly from the Apple Watch , after wearing it, press on the Digital Crown , to access the Home screen : then first decide the display mode you want to enable, by pressing with your finger on the display and choosing the List view or the View option grill .

In the first case, the app icons are automatically organized in a list and arranged alphabetically, while in the second case they are organized in a grid that can be reordered at will.

So, to organize the apps when the grid view is enabled, do this: press and continue to hold your finger on the icon of the application you want to move until all the others begin to "vibrate", then drag it to the place on the screen where you want to place it. Repeat these steps for the icons of all the apps you want to organize. Once the changes are complete, press on the Digital Crown to confirm the changes made.

You can organize the apps on Apple Watch differently also by acting on the iPhone . To do this, first make sure that the two devices are connected to each other, as I explained to you in my guide on the subject , then open the app, Watch on iOS, access the Apple Watch section of the latter by touching the appropriate item present at the bottom left and tap on the wording App arrangement .

On the screen that at this point is shown to you, press and continue to hold your finger on the icon of the application you want to move and, when it enlarges, drag it to the desired position. You can also move more than one app at the same time by pressing and continuing to hold your finger on the selected app and making a single tap on the other icons.

Still working from the Watch app for iOS, you can also change the arrangement of the apps on the Dock of your Apple Watch by selecting the Dock item on the Apple Watch screen and choosing the Recent or Favorites option from the Dock Order section at the top.

In the first case, you will only see recently opened apps on the smartwatch Dock. In the second case, however, you can define yourself which apps to display, by tapping on the Edit item at the top right and pressing the (+) button next to each icon in the Do not include list (to include the applications of your interest) or on the one (-) that you find next to the applications in the Favorites list (to remove certain apps from the Dock).

How to organize apps in a Tumblr way

Have you cleaned up the apps on your device but are still having some difficulty in being able to easily find the ones you use the most or the ones that interest you the most? So why don't you try organizing apps in a Tumblr way ?

Essentially, it is a question of arranging the application icons following some criteria proposed on Tumblr , the famous microblogging platform with distinctly social functions, organizing the apps by alphabetical order, based on their color, actions to be done, etc. For all the details of the case, you can refer to my guide dedicated specifically to how to organize your phone in a Tumblr way .