iOS 14 is already a reality and arrive loaded with interesting news. One of these novelties is the Apps Library , a kind of “automatic organizer” of apps that will allow you to keep the different iPhone screens cleaner and at the same time have a lot of apps installed on the device.
It is very common to have one or two pages, especially the first, well organized and in a logical order according to the use that is given to the apps, but the same does not usually happen with the rest of the pages. These tend to accumulate applications that are downloaded with the intention of testing them and that many times can stay weeks or months without even opening them. To avoid this and to keep the iPhone SpringBoard more organized and cleaner, Apple has developed the App Library function.
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What is the iOS App Library
The iOS Apps Library is a function of the operating system that is responsible for creating a kind of directory with all installed applications on the device. This directory is in charge of keeping the applications organized in three different ways: by categories, in alphabetical order and with a search engine independent of the Spotlight that searches the entire system.
Thanks to this function it is very easy to see all the apps installed on the device and, in addition, to see in a very visual way the type of function for which they are designed thanks to the organization by categories.
How to access and how the Apps Library works
To access the iOS Apps Library you will only have to unlock the iPhone and slide screens from right to left . When you get to the last screen with apps and swipe once more, you will go directly to the Apps Library.
Once inside you will find a series of folders that contain all the apps installed on the device. Each folder represents a category and it is not possible to modify them as it is the case with folders on app screens. In this case, the folders are created automatically and save all the apps in the category they represent, which correspond to the one assigned by the developer in the App Store.
The list by categories is not the only way to see the applications, it is also possible to access a list in alphabetical order . To do this, once inside the Library, all you have to do is touch on the screen and slide down without lifting your finger. You will instantly see that the categories disappear and the iPhone will show an alphabetized list of all the apps installed on the device.
In addition to these two ways of displaying the different apps, the Apps Library also includes a search engine . Unlike Spotlight, this search engine will only show you results of the apps, so you can find an app by name in a very agile way.
How to remove an app from the home screen
If you like the App Library function and want to start taking advantage of it, the first thing you should know is how to remove an app from the home screen and leave it only in the Library.
Doing this is simple, although it is true that the function is a bit hidden. To achieve this, you just have to follow these steps:
- Touch and hold the app you want to remove from the home screen until a context menu appears.
- Select the Delete app option.
- Tap on Move to app library.
This is all. As soon as you touch the button in point 3, you will see how the app disappears from the home screen. The app will still be installed on the device, but you will have to access it from the library or using Spotlight.
How to add apps to the home screen from the App Library
The philosophy of the Apps Library is that you can keep the home screen of your iPhone cleaner and that this allows you to quickly access the apps you use the most. For this reason, it is also necessary that you know how to transfer an app from the Apps Library to the home screen the device.
To do this you must follow these steps:
- Access the Apps Library on your iPhone and locate the app you want to add to the main screen. This can be done from the category folders and also from the alphabetical list or the search engine.
- Press and hold the app icon until a context menu appears.
- Tap on Add to Home Screen.
With these steps the app will be displayed on the home screen again and will occupy the first free position it finds. Once it is displayed, you can edit the home screen and place it in the position that best suits your needs.
How to send entire screens to the App Library
If you are a person who likes to try many apps or regularly change the order of the apps on the different home screens, it is very possible that you have a lot of screens on your iPhone.
Now you know how to submit apps individually to the App Library, and you could use that method to get rid of multiple pages of apps. The problem is that doing it like this if you want to remove several apps from the home screen can be a bit slow. Luckily Apple has thought about it and has implemented an option that allows you to send full pages of apps to the Apps Library to remove them from the main iOS screen.
These are the steps to follow to remove a full screen of apps from the iPhone:
- Touch and hold any app icon on the home screen until a context menu appears.
- Select the Edit Home Screen option.
- When the app icons start to shake, tap on the icon with the dots that appears just above the dock in the middle of the screen, the same one that indicates which app page you are on.
- Clear the check box below each of the home screens that you want to disable.
- Tap on an empty part of the screen to go back and exit screen editing mode.
And that’s all. With these steps you will be able to remove entire app screens and continue to have access to them from the Library or Spotlight.
It is important to mention that if at any time you want to reactivate any of the screens, all you have to do is repeat the steps and in point 4 check the box instead of deactivating it.
How to prevent new apps from appearing on the home screen
Until now, when downloading an app on iOS, it would appear directly in the first available space on the device’s home screen. This gap could be on the first page, the second, the third … It doesn’t matter, when you download it from the App Store it would fill that gap. With the appearance of the Apps Library it is possible to change this behavior and make it automatically go to the Library and not show up on the home screen.
iOS 14 maintains the previous behavior by default, but if you want to change it and that new apps are not placed directly on the home screen, you must do the following:
- Access Settings – Home screen on the iPhone.
- Select the Only in app library option.
After you change this setting, all the new apps that you install on your device will be displayed directly in the new function and will not occupy a space on the home screens that you have configured manually.
Apps Library Options
As I said, the iOS Apps Library works automatically. This means that there is not much you can do to customize it or change how it works, but Apple has included an option that allows the user to configure it to their liking: show or not the notification balloons .
By default this option is deactivated to keep the section more “clean”, but it is possible to activate it if you wish. These are the steps you must take:
- Access Settings – Home screen.
- Turn on the switch for the Show in app library option.
At the moment this is the only setting that allows you to change the settings of the iOS Apps Library. Surely in future versions of the operating system they will include other options, but for that we will still have to wait some time.
