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App Library is useless

Should there be an App Library toggle?

  • Yes

    Votes: 98 58.0%

  • No

    Votes: 71 42.0%
  • Total voters
    169
-BigMac-

-BigMac-

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Apr 15, 2011
2,503
2,925
Melbourne, Australia
How on Earth did anyone at Apple ever agree to a dedicated home page with a list of apps, and a search bar?

It immediately follows homepages full of the same apps, which you can search by simply swiping down…

It’s duplicating the same apps and search feature - just with more steps.

To make matters worse they made it IMPOSSIBLE to disable.

Can someone actually justify this logic?

I was adamant they would have put in a “disable” toggle by now, but apparently it is so necessary - to show apps twice, that they don’t even allow you to turn it off? IMG_0182.png
 
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sgtaylor5 said:
It used to be with older versions of iOS that all the installed apps were shown on the home screens, even if you didn’t want to use all of the apps provided. The App Library provides a place to find the apps you haven’t put on your home screens.
Click to expand...
So basically people use App Library to hide apps from their home screen, only to show them on another home screen?
 
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I really like it for my iPad, not so much my iPhone. On my iPad, I have things set up kind of like a desktop. I don’t have any apps on my Home Screen, only widgets. When I want to open an app, it’s either available on the Siri suggestions list when I swipe down, or I type a letter or two and it pops up. If I ever forget what app I want or what I have, it’s there to help me find things. Otherwise, I keep my “desktop” clean and without apps.

I do wish that I could choose how things are organized there, but it’s not the biggest deal.
 
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-BigMac- said:
So basically people use App Library to hide apps from their home screen, only to show them on another home screen?
Click to expand...
I personally only have one home screen, with mostly widgets on it and in a couple applications.
almost all of my launching is done from the alphabetical list of apps that shows up when you tap the search bar in the App Library.
say what you will about the usefulness of the app library, but it’s the only place withiniOS where you can get an alphabetical list of every application installed, and that is useful.
 
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I have two pages..
Home Screen one double wide widget stack with a work and personal calendar, 10 apps, one shortcut to drop down control center, one folder of less used apps, but that may present a badge.
Left swipe screen is a handful of widgets, time zones, weather stack (3 cities) and a large agenda stack.

All else is in the App Library, life is simple not searching page after page of apps. Unused apps are hidden and activated when needed. Nothing there that I need to be notified by.
 

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I think App Library is one of the best app organization features ever on both iphome and iPad. It allows me to have a single home screen with the apps I use regularly .. with everything else easily accessible with one swipe. For me, App Library just works -- apps are automatically organized in an intuitive manner and apps that aren't immediately visible can be found using swipe, search, filtering or scrolling.
 
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-BigMac- said:
Well I dont install Apps unless I want them visible and easily accesible. I dont understand the fascination or need of hiding an app
Click to expand...
There would be apps that you need to install for various reasons: work, certain government app that is needed but not often used enough, and such. Otherwise there would need to be something that replicate what macOS does for displaying all apps prior to Tahoe, I think it is called launchpad or something.

With that being said, App Library should not put apps in arbitrary folders. All apps should lay flat in alphabetic order in that view, with a few special folders to hide apps from search and view, recently added apps to find the newly installed ones and maybe allow custom collections, aka Home Screen folders.
 
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vanilla_prison said:
I really like it for my iPad, not so much my iPhone. On my iPad, I have things set up kind of like a desktop. I don’t have any apps on my Home Screen, only widgets. When I want to open an app, it’s either available on the Siri suggestions list when I swipe down, or I type a letter or two and it pops up. If I ever forget what app I want or what I have, it’s there to help me find things. Otherwise, I keep my “desktop” clean and without apps.

I do wish that I could choose how things are organized there, but it’s not the biggest deal.
Click to expand...
As someone using iPadOS as a casual laptop alternative, I like your logic and perspective to think of the Home Screen as the "Desktop." The App Library is like the "Launchpad" on macOS, except you can't organize it manually (same as macOS Tahoe's App Library, which replaced the Launchpad).

I used to organize apps on my iPad before App Library was a thing, but nowadays, I have too many apps on my iPad, and it takes me forever to organize them. Now I also tend to only leave frequently used apps on the home pages, and also the widgets, and I organize them in my own way, such as the layouts and folders. I sometimes use the App Library to find other apps I don't frequently use (even though I use Spotlight search and Siri Suggestions more), or revisit what apps I have and maybe delete them if I find out I'm not using them anymore.

However, I also barely use it on my iPhone. I have tons of apps on my iPhone as well, but idk why I hardly ever use this feature on the phone. For apps not on my 1st and 2nd screens, I rely on Spotlight search & Siri Suggestions most of the time.
 
Shirasaki said:
There would be apps that you need to install for various reasons: work, certain government app that is needed but not often used enough, and such. Otherwise there would need to be something that replicate what macOS does for displaying all apps prior to Tahoe, I think it is called launchpad or something.

With that being said, App Library should not put apps in arbitrary folders. All apps should lay flat in alphabetic order in that view, with a few special folders to hide apps from search and view, recently added apps to find the newly installed ones and maybe allow custom collections, aka Home Screen folders.
Click to expand...
Yes, I think that, while the concept of App Library is good and useful, it needs to be tweaked, and give you more customization options.
 
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It is so much better than the previous idea. I only have two home screens plus the app library. The screens are for apps I use every day, the library for everything else. My partner still installs everything onto a home screen and when she asks me to fix something it’s impossible to find stuff
 
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sgtaylor5 said:
It used to be with older versions of iOS that all the installed apps were shown on the home screens, even if you didn’t want to use all of the apps provided. The App Library provides a place to find the apps you haven’t put on your home screens.
Click to expand...
I used to have an "Unused" app folder for that purpose. Nowadays you can delete pretty much all apps (other than Phone and Settings, I believe), which I think removes them from the App Library as well. There is still the "not on this iPhone" listing in the App Store. It would have made more sense to integrate the App Library functionality there.

There is really no need for the four levels of (1) installed and on the Home screen, (2) removed from the Home screen but still installed, (3) deleted but in the "not on this device" list, (4) deleted but hidden from the "not on this device" list. Maybe someone would also like (5) installed but hidden from the App Library?

I haven't ever had any use for the App Library, because Spotlight search and the App Store listing already cover my needs. But I also don’t particularly mind the App Library, as I have 10+ Home screen pages that I rarely reach the end of anyway, instead using Spotlight search for anything beyond the first two or three screens.

Tl;dr: Integrating the App Library functionality into the App Store app would have made more sense.
And maybe reversing the focus: Have an App Library app that also provides access to the App Store. But then Apple couldn't put its advertising front and center. /s
 
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-BigMac- said:
Well I dont install Apps unless I want them visible and easily accesible. I dont understand the fascination or need of hiding an app
Click to expand...
That's your view, and I'm sure there are a million other views out there. Fortunately Apple has provided an option, to support some of those viewpoints. In the early days, people used to put their apps into folders, or onto different pages, just like on a Mac, some toggle off the drives on the desktop. The best OS is one that is highly configurable. We are not forced to use iOS, or Windows, so choose what works for you.
 
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