Sources: iOS 18 Lets Apps Be Placed Anywhere on Home Screen Grid

[Sogeman]

Woooow, what an achievement Apple. I have recently upgraded from iOS 13 to iOS17 and apart from having the search feature more accessible, I have not perceived any notable improvement that would make things easier for me.

However, one thing I have noticed is that the battery drains a lot quicker now, hardly lasting a whole day without using it much. I thought that was an issue that Apple was accused of doing on purpose and then subsequently got fined for doing so. It looks like, they are still doing it to have users buy a new iphone.

If it wasn't for the lack of support for iOS13 of some of the apps I use, I would have stayed on iOS13.

I really wish they would focus on the fundamentals again. Currently the worst experience is how typing text works, autocorrect getting in the way of moving the cursor where I want it to be, not being able to select text that is beyond the visible screen, still no proper auto correct. Moving the cursor swiping over the keyboard. Why didn't they just copy what the jailbreak community came up with. So much better than what Apple has been producing in the last few years. Just overall, a clunky experience and not fun to use.

Considering that typing message is one the more common tasks on a phone, this is just poor experience.

But yes, by all means, keep focusing on features like rearranging ones apps on the home screen. That will make my day. </sarcasm out>

Try swiftkey. Not as good as the android version but magnitudes beyond the stock keyboard

 

[Sogeman]

So 10 years ago, I would've said this would be useful so with large screen iPhones so you can put the icons on the right side of the screen to make them easier to reach. But you can accomplish this now by just putting widgets on the left side (or right side if you're left handed).

Still, customization is good. I will say, this will help certain wallpapers shine.

What if I don't want widgets?

 

[Sogeman]

Two things I have requested from Apple in the recent past:

1) Location specific Icons- so when I am at work the apps I use there are placed on the homescreen

Make a focus mode that switches on and off based on your location and shows/hides specific homescreens

 

[Victor Mortimer]

I have been waiting for this for sooo long. I just want to put my icons on the bottom! Honestly between this and USB-C and the always-on display in my iPhone 15 Pro, Apple is giving me everything I’ve been wanting in the iPhone.

I don't care about icons on the bottom. I just want moving them around to be less annoying.

The big things I want are:

1. NORMAL SOFTWARE INSTALLATION. I want to be able to go to a web page, download an app, and install it. These things are computers, they should act like it. No more having to go through the stupid app store.

2. Make it not fugly. iOS 6 was beautiful, 7 and up are steaming garbage.

 

[Sogeman]

I'm going to laugh and laugh if they spend any time at all highlighting this groundbreaking feature at WWDC.

I remain deeply unconvinced that the fundamental interface introduced in iPhone OS 1.0 - a grid of icons - is the ideal presentation for a mobile phone home screen. It's been 17 years, surely we can do better.

Sorry, due to rampant government oversight, Apple can't innovate

 

[Victor Mortimer]

Option to show/hide app names. Love to hide these. Would give the Home Screen a much cleaner look.

Also, customisable App Library. It’s such a shambles.

The app library is mostly easy enough to deal with. I put a couple big weather widgets on the last screen so I don't accidentally swipe too far and have to see that stupid thing.

I mean, I'd rather be able to just turn it off. But at least I've got sort of a workaround.

 

[iMacDragon]

Can we PLEASE get a mode where the icons stay still as you rotate? Especially iPad?

Wouldn't unfortunately work with the non square widgets without at least some fidging probably, but yes, I would generally prefer this too.

 

[gimarbazat]

It took Apple only 17 years

 

[yabeweb]

Siri is already crazy good. It’s incredible how much it can do for us today.

Yes, it can tell limited amount of jokes ad redirect to web search in a marvellous way.

 

[coolfactor]

I pretty much stop organizing icons, as pull-down-to-search is quicker than browsing.

And I've found the behaviour of the jiggle mode to be less intuitive than in the earlier versions of iOS.

 

[coolfactor]

I take it you have never used Siri?

He's not wrong. Siri is excellent in many ways, but not others.

 

[sleeptodream]

i thought i would like this but when i got a galaxy phone last year, i actually kinda hated it. like if i wanted to take one icon off of a page i would have to manually adjust a bunch of icons to get rid of the hole or make things symmetrical again or whatever. it made me more OCD about my home screens, and i came to appreciate the simplicity of springboard on iOS…

i hope they keep the way it is now as an option at least. what i would like more are some customization options for the app library. let us see all apps in an alphabetical scrolling 4x4 grid, or customize the folders and stuff.

does anybody even use the app library as it is now? i always just search for an app not on the home screen instead of trying to figure out what folder it’s in

 

[jackietreeh0rn]

" the update will introduce the ability to create blank spaces, rows, and columns between app icons."

This is the most customizable iOS we have ever created, with state-of-the-art icon placement, the best row/column system yet that enables game-changing new layouts, and all new emojicons, which ushers in a new chapter of performance gains never before seen on iPhone. You're going to love it.

all it took was a little courage:

View attachment 2362345

Re-introducing mySpace, a new way to create spaces for your apps on your own home screen, like never before!

 

[svish]

Some improvement at least. Would like to see more options to customize.

 

[Pezimak]

Christ welcome to 2008 Apple… what an advanced feature 🙄 BUT a welcome one all the same.
I just hope it will also automatically move icons up in folders when deleting apps.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

This change is so basic and boring I might cringe hard enough to get a hernia if Apple has the audacity to make it a big part of the iOS 18 or iPhone 16 presentations.

Don't talk to me about how iOS 18 or the next iPhone will "break new ground" and then tell about more customisation options for the Home Screen and Lock Screen.

Those are things you could have added years ago or during a year when iOS is on par or ahead of competing OSs.

-Make Siri and iOS genuinely smarter, faster and more useful with AI or get your very behind behind back to Apple Park and back to work, Timothy Apple!

 

[Kevin2055]

Tim Cook said they will break new grounds. Tim Cook delivers. Innovation at its best. Many might say Apple is more than a decade behind, but as MacRumors users let us know, Apple is often late, but when they finally offers a feature, they make it better than everyone else. Putting aside the obvious question of why they wouldn't offer it right along with everyone else and then make it better, rather than making users wait for years without the features at all...I am certain Apple's blank space will be more blank and polished than Android's!

Tim meant the new iPhone will be much heavier so it will break ground when it drops.

 

[wanha]

I often think about all the incredibly talented, intelligent and knowledgable people that inhabit these forums - the developers, designers, and those who are just into Apple - and it makes me sad that instead of having intelligent conversation and learning from each other's wealth of experience and different perspectives, all we seem to be able to produce is cynicism anymore (with precious few exceptions to the contrary)

It's one thing to be critical. It's a whole other thing to be cynical.

The whole thing just makes me sad when I think of what this forum could be.

 

[Steve686]

Great.

How long to wait for "send text at 4:15pm"?

 

[nerdAFK]

"Revolutionary!"

"Took us so much courage!"

"Can't innovate my any more my ass!"

"This is gonna change everything all over again!"

- Apple, your beloved marketing company

 

[Steve686]

I often think about all the incredibly talented, intelligent and knowledgable people that inhabit these forums - the developers, designers, and those who are just into Apple - and it makes me sad that instead of having intelligent conversation and learning from each other's wealth of experience and different perspectives, all we seem to be able to produce is cynicism anymore (with precious few exceptions to the contrary)

It's one thing to be critical. It's a whole other thing to be cynical.

The whole thing just makes me sad when I think of what this forum could be.

The only thing that is sad is how steadfast Apple is against implementing such simple additions that have annoyed and even infuriated thousands upon thousands of users for nearly two decades now.

 

[Nozuka]

I'd prefer more and smaller icons.

 

[ionicsurfactant]

Please give us the “frosted glass” Vision Pro UI next!

Could be, the internal codename for iOS 18 is "Crystal" so could be a hint to the look of the icons maybe

 

[Nozuka]

Sounds great. Another cool new feature would be stability.

What kind of problems have you had?
I had none. Without ever rebooting between updates.

 

[VaderMonkey]

Hopefully we'll be able to move an app from one screen into the bottom right most folder of another screen.