Keeping track of your iPhone apps can be a challenge. Creating and maintaining folders to house your apps is time-consuming, but going without folders entirely will lead to disorganized screens with no easy way to find the apps you want.
With iOS 14, Apple has introduced a new feature known as the App Library, which tries to intelligently organize different apps into folders based on categories, such as suggested apps, recently added apps, social, entertainment, shopping, travel, and games.
You can swipe your way to the App Library to find and open a specific app based on its category. You can also search for apps within the App Folder Library and browse all your apps alphabetically. Apps in the App Library can be moved to the home screen or deleted entirely, but they cannot be moved from one folder to another. Here’s how it works.
Update to iOS 14
First, you’ll want to update your iPhone to iOS 14 or higher if you haven’t already done so. On your phone, go to . Your phone will either indicate that your software is up to date or it will prompt you to download and install the latest update.
Open the App Library
Once iOS 14 is installed, open to the home screen and keep swiping to the left until you bump into the App Library screen. Here, you’ll see various folders with your apps neatly organized and tucked into each one based on the most fitting category.
Notice that some of the apps have large icons and other smaller icons are together in groups of four. Swipe down the screen to view all the folders.
To open an app that has a large icon, just tap it. If you want to open an app that has a small icon, tap anywhere in the app’s quadrant of four icons to bring up a screen displaying all of the apps in that category. From there, simply tap an icon to open the corresponding app.
Search for Apps
If you’re having trouble finding a specific app, you can browse or search for it. Swipe down on the App Library screen. You’ll see an alphabetical list of all the apps on your phone. Swipe down the screen to view the entire list. A quicker option may be to tap a letter on the right-hand side to see all apps starting with that letter.
Alternatively, start typing the name of the app you want in the App Library search field at the top to see the corresponding apps. Tap the icon for the app you wish to launch.
Delete Apps
You can delete any app in the library by pressing down on an app icon. Tap the Delete App command to delete it, then confirm the deletion. Note that this doesn’t just remove the app from the App Library; it actually deletes the app from your phone, so be careful with this option.
Add Apps to Home Screen
You can add an app from the App Library to your home screen if it’s not already there. If that’s the case, tap the icon to open the command menu, then tap Add to home screen. The app’s icon appears on the next free spot on your home screen but also remains in the App Library.
To remove an app from the home screen, press down on its home screen icon. Tap Remove App and you are asked if you want to delete the app or move it to the App Library. Tap Delete App to delete it entirely; tap Move to App Library to simply remove it from the home screen.
Move or Delete Apps in Bulk
You can move or delete more than one app at a time. Move to your home screen, press down on any icon, then select the Edit Home Screen command. Swipe to the left until you get to the App Library. Notice that the icons are all jiggling with some sporting the familiar X in the upper-left corner.
To delete an app, tap the X and confirm the deletion. To move an icon to the home screen, just drag it out of its existing folder in the App Library and place it on the home screen. Swipe to the left to return to the App Library where the icons should still be jiggling and you can delete or move more apps.
Set Where Apps Are Downloaded
If you want to control where news app are downloaded, you can head to . Here, you can have new apps added to the home screen, or by selecting App Library Only, apps will remain off the home screen. You can also change the notifications you see in the App Library by selecting Show in App Library under the Notification Badges header.
