I am one and I think there are many who would want to see a major design shift in iOS beginning with Springboard, aka the grid of icons that is our iPhone home screen. For the first few iOS iterations, Springboard was fine because we only had so many apps. Like a lot of users, I have over 200 apps on my phone. Many many many of them are commerce related, some financial, etc.
Wallet:
So before getting into Springboard itself, I think one massive major improvement could be for all apps that are commerce related to have an option to move the app to the Wallet app. Then when you launch wallet, it has a Music app like tabs at the bottom: Apps, Cards, Passes. When you tap on Apps, you get a home screen within Wallet that is all your commerce apps (that you have opted into Wallet) and you can see them in one long scrollable home screen OR by category. I don't think folders would be necessary here. Categories like folders you might already have like Food, Shopping, Travel, Banking, etc.
Home:
If you did the same thing with the home app and either removed Rooms or added another tab at the bottom, you could access all the apps for home automation, such as door locks, camera systems, security systems, lighting apps, fridge and oven control apps, etc.
Apple TV:
Likewise you could add a tab in Apple TV for all your other media apps, Netflix, HBO GO, Prime Video, Hulu, etc. The app becomes the center for the other apps.
Yes you can opt to keep an app out of the app that gathers them, if you truly want that immediate of access to Netflix and don't want the additional taps, but really the Apple TV, Home, and Wallet app become folders if you will for a cleaner integration. Especially the wallet app with so many food and other shopping type apps you probably use rather infrequently but have cluttering up your phone. And you can still use Spotlight to quickly search for an app or call it up in the app switcher if it was used recently (which btw really does need a grid instead of the overlay style).
Also a long/haptic press of Wallet, Home, or Apple TV would go bring up the shortcut to go directly into the app section of that hub.
App Centers:
As for Springboard, I think that Springboard could be revamped in a similar (which is what gave me those ideas) way in which Apple used a clear and clean home screen. And that is something I would call App Centers. Instead of folders, and I don't know the best way to implement this, you would have App Centers. Those would be like a folder but have an icon instead of a folder style or possibly just the word. When you tap on the word or icon or whatever it is, you go into a Home Screen of that App Center. Instead of folders, everything in a folder is a Home Screen. You could have just a wallpaper on your home screen with the dock. In the dock are Wallet, Home, Apple TV, and a communications app center. Slide to the left from the right edge of the screen pulls in your list of App Centers, you name them. Office, Sports, Active, Games, etc. If the list is long, you slide up or down to reveal the extras just like additional home screens would be. Tap on the one you want and it takes you to just those apps. The rest of the time, your phone is clean. Put the app center you use the most at the bottom of the list for easiest access. Or put it in the dock in place of one of the presets.
Might not be perfect, but I would love to see something more than a grid of folders with 9 icons visible per folder like a repeating image. I feel that app management is the albatross of an otherwise fairly mature mobile OS and that a fairly large leap forward for Springboard is what is needed.
Oh, and of course each app center can have its own wallpaper.
The next wave of innovation will be the AI front, when the phone begins to do more for you by prediction and anticipation.
Wallet:
So before getting into Springboard itself, I think one massive major improvement could be for all apps that are commerce related to have an option to move the app to the Wallet app. Then when you launch wallet, it has a Music app like tabs at the bottom: Apps, Cards, Passes. When you tap on Apps, you get a home screen within Wallet that is all your commerce apps (that you have opted into Wallet) and you can see them in one long scrollable home screen OR by category. I don't think folders would be necessary here. Categories like folders you might already have like Food, Shopping, Travel, Banking, etc.
Home:
If you did the same thing with the home app and either removed Rooms or added another tab at the bottom, you could access all the apps for home automation, such as door locks, camera systems, security systems, lighting apps, fridge and oven control apps, etc.
Apple TV:
Likewise you could add a tab in Apple TV for all your other media apps, Netflix, HBO GO, Prime Video, Hulu, etc. The app becomes the center for the other apps.
Yes you can opt to keep an app out of the app that gathers them, if you truly want that immediate of access to Netflix and don't want the additional taps, but really the Apple TV, Home, and Wallet app become folders if you will for a cleaner integration. Especially the wallet app with so many food and other shopping type apps you probably use rather infrequently but have cluttering up your phone. And you can still use Spotlight to quickly search for an app or call it up in the app switcher if it was used recently (which btw really does need a grid instead of the overlay style).
Also a long/haptic press of Wallet, Home, or Apple TV would go bring up the shortcut to go directly into the app section of that hub.
App Centers:
As for Springboard, I think that Springboard could be revamped in a similar (which is what gave me those ideas) way in which Apple used a clear and clean home screen. And that is something I would call App Centers. Instead of folders, and I don't know the best way to implement this, you would have App Centers. Those would be like a folder but have an icon instead of a folder style or possibly just the word. When you tap on the word or icon or whatever it is, you go into a Home Screen of that App Center. Instead of folders, everything in a folder is a Home Screen. You could have just a wallpaper on your home screen with the dock. In the dock are Wallet, Home, Apple TV, and a communications app center. Slide to the left from the right edge of the screen pulls in your list of App Centers, you name them. Office, Sports, Active, Games, etc. If the list is long, you slide up or down to reveal the extras just like additional home screens would be. Tap on the one you want and it takes you to just those apps. The rest of the time, your phone is clean. Put the app center you use the most at the bottom of the list for easiest access. Or put it in the dock in place of one of the presets.
Might not be perfect, but I would love to see something more than a grid of folders with 9 icons visible per folder like a repeating image. I feel that app management is the albatross of an otherwise fairly mature mobile OS and that a fairly large leap forward for Springboard is what is needed.
Oh, and of course each app center can have its own wallpaper.
The next wave of innovation will be the AI front, when the phone begins to do more for you by prediction and anticipation.
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