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Widgets screen and App Library, anyone else feel Apple hasn't quite nailed this?

tomtad

tomtad

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jun 7, 2015
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Just a thought. Having played around with iOS 14 for a day I love the new widgets which finally feel up to scratch design wise and the ability to drop them into the app grid. However I have some reservation over the widget screen on the left which feels somewhat redundant to me now - I can't see why this is still here other than to handle legacy widgets. It just seems like there's a lot going on.

Widgets can be placed on multiple screens and search can be invoked by swiping down from anywhere, and to access the App Library you have to swipe across all these screens to the right to get to apps, along with a separate search function. Swipe to the left and you get more widgets, but scrollable, along with universal search and some legacy widgets at the bottom.

I feel it would make more sense to ditch the widget screen and just have App Library on the left, so it's always one swipe away from the first page, and widgets are then only visible in the main pages of the home screen. This would simplify the experience which feels overly complex at the moment.

Would be interesting to hear others thoughts on this.
 
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Maybe App Library makes sense if you have A LOT of apps. Personally I have always had my less frequently used apps sorted by categories into folders on the 2nd screen so App Library makes no difference to me. If anything it’s more confusing cuz instead of YOU, apple is sorting them for you, so I am supposed to look for an app and guess in what category they placed it? Strange implementation
 
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itsmilo said:
Maybe App Library makes sense if you have A LOT of apps. Personally I have always had my less frequently used apps sorted by categories into folders on the 2nd screen so App Library makes no difference to me. If anything it’s more confusing cuz instead of YOU, apple is sorting them for you, so I am supposed to look for an app and guess in what category they placed it? Strange implementation
Click to expand...
I wonder does search on the library page jump you to the exact folder or does it just list it like on spotlight. I always wished there was a way to jump to an app's exact location if you have a ton so you could delete it or such.
 
itsmilo said:
Maybe App Library makes sense if you have A LOT of apps. Personally I have always had my less frequently used apps sorted by categories into folders on the 2nd screen so App Library makes no difference to me. If anything it’s more confusing cuz instead of YOU, apple is sorting them for you, so I am supposed to look for an app and guess in what category they placed it? Strange implementation
Click to expand...

I used to do this too but then I got tired of organizing them and ended up just using Spotlight to launch them anyway so it was pointless. This is perfect for me, since I would use Spotlight anyway to launch the 95% apps I use 10% of the time.
 
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Agreed. The App Library makes no sense to me. Why not at least allow the user to decide what app goes in which folder in the App Library? Why does Apple get to decide for us? Why not allow us to have the option to at least view the App Library as a list instead?

Also, the widgets are designed awfully, especially the Reminders and Calendar widgets. *Why* did Apple get rid of the Up Next widget and why is this function only available with the Calendar widget in full size? The widgets feel so half-baked.
 
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Okay, gonna make an "old guy" comment here. Although I haven't tried it, based on what I'm seeing in the "post your home screen layout" thread, this looks (to me) like unnecessary clutter. Especially when I read (as drinkingtea notes) that Apple gets to decide what at least some of the content is.

It reminds me of iOS13's iMessage, which now uses AI to put a row of potential people it thinks you want to contact in the top row when you hit the share sheet icon. I find that annoying in the extreme. (Did they ever implement a way of hiding that or turning it off, by the way?)
 
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I personally like widgets that look like it's part of the home screen. Plenty of Android widgets have background transparency, font, color, and etc, settings to make them perfectly blend in or seem like it's a part of the wallpaper. And I like the fact there's no visible borders.

But I still SERIOUSLY LOVE the fact the Apple has FINALLY included widget for the home screen.
 
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Mr.Blacky said:
What benefits do widgets on the home screen have, other than looking "different"?
Click to expand...
For me, they add additional data that normally I would have to go into the full app to see or navigate to. Weather for example, I have my current temp and also additional times temp right on my home screen at a glance. Just one example and my opinion.
 
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compwiz1202 said:
I wonder does search on the library page jump you to the exact folder or does it just list it like on spotlight. I always wished there was a way to jump to an app's exact location if you have a ton so you could delete it or such.
Click to expand...

One thing I noticed in iOS 14 (and it's also in iOS 13), you can long press on a spotlight result for an app and delete it right there, and/or use it's "right click/3D Touch" menu.
 
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I usually just use search to find apps. However I wish it would show the name of Folder an app is in - I swear an older version of iOS did this but they removed a few versions back.
 
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I already sorted my apps, so the library feature isn't required. But I do think I'll have the battery widget.
 
Mr.Blacky said:
What benefits do widgets on the home screen have, other than looking "different"?
Click to expand...
They are always there, and many of us don’t go rooting around in folders for apps anyway (i always use search other than for maybe 10 apps).

So my homescreen setup is now one page with widgets on the top, one row of apps (plus the dock), and that’s it.
 
itsmilo said:
Maybe App Library makes sense if you have A LOT of apps. Personally I have always had my less frequently used apps sorted by categories into folders on the 2nd screen so App Library makes no difference to me. If anything it’s more confusing cuz instead of YOU, apple is sorting them for you, so I am supposed to look for an app and guess in what category they placed it? Strange implementation
Click to expand...
The UI of it is great. The lack of control of the App Library folders is not. Ideally each folder in the app library would be a home screen of its own, where in the past folders are 9 apps per folder unless you really like scrolling 2-3 pages deep in a folder. And yes, with 269, I have A LOT of apps.
 
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Mr.Blacky said:
What benefits do widgets on the home screen have, other than looking "different"?
Click to expand...

I would imagine it's for when you don't have quite enough apps that you use regularly to fill up a homescreen, nor do you use quite enough widgets to justify an entire page.

Thus you put a few widgets and a handful of apps all on one page so everything is front and center.
 
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I can’t stand how the apps get shuffled around within the app library folders based on how often you use the apps.

I’d like to know exactly where the apps will be placed so I can quickly swipe over to access the app drawer and then immediately find the app I want because that particular app is always in the same spot.

The way things currently work with the app library, one day my banking app will be in the upper right corner of the Productivity folder...but an hour later that same app may have been shuffled down to the bottom left corner of the Productivity folder.

I like the idea of an app drawer, or “app library,” but I hate the way Apple has implemented it. I also normally only have 12-15 apps on my phone, so the app library makes my phone feel much more cluttered and disorganized.

Not a fan.
 
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yes, not totally convinced by widgets and app library.

i dont care at all about app library to be honest.

the homescreen widgets are far to big and so much space is lost and empty.

i very much would prefer smaller widgets and more infos on them!
 
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Ok. So no one has mentioned this yet. For the app library to be useful.

1. Hold down the home screen until you get into wiggle mode.
2. tap on the three dots below. That will give you a edit pages screen
3. tap the checkmark of the pages you want to disappear.

I have 4 pages of apps which are now hidden (condensed to the app library). I only have the main home screen with app library on the second.
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x34 said:
yes, not totally convinced by widgets and app library.

i dont care at all about app library to be honest.

the homescreen widgets are far to big and so much space is lost and empty.

i very much would prefer smaller widgets and more infos on them!
Click to expand...

A lot of the widgets have size options. You can't get the size options form the original widgets page (as far as Beta 1 is concerned).

Once you enter wiggle mode to add a widget you can select the app and it should have 3-4 size options.
 
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sure i know, but i would prefer even smaller widgets like 1x2

smallest you can get is 2x2 and lots of empty, wasted space...
 
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