Industry guru Dave Taylor offers tech support on technical and business topics, including iPhone, iPod, Microsoft Windows, Sony PSP, cellphones, online advertising, CSS, Web design, business, Unix, Linux, SEO, Mac OS X, and shell script programming.     


How can I reorganize or reorder the apps on my Apple iPhone 3GS?

Now that I have a bunch of apps on my new Apple iPhone 3GS, I want to change what's where in the most efficient manner possible: dragging back and forth isn't my idea of fun when there are three screens full of icons! What's the best approach for reordering my apps on the iPhone?


Dave's Answer:

I totally understand, but I have to say that with three screenfuls of apps you're still just getting started. I have eleven. That's almost 200 apps on my phone, and, yeah, you're right, it's a pain to get it all organized properly. What I'd love is the ability to "pin" certain applications to my home screen then have everything else automatically organize alphabetically on subsequent screens, along with an alternative long list of every single app that I can quickly scroll down. Then again, there is a simple search feature that can match an app in two or three letters, but still...

As you know, the standard way that people reorganize the apps on their iPhone (or Apple iPod Touch, for that matter, and, most likely, the Apple iPad too when it's available) is to tap and hold your finger on an icon until they all start to wiggle back and forth.

At that point, it looks like this:

apple iphone reorder app icons 1

Start dragging your app icon or Web page shortcut and everything moves out of the way, like a scary dude walking through a crowd:

apple iphone reorder app icons 2

When you have things where you want them, lift your finger off the screen. When you're done, tap on the home button and it's all set.

What the cool kids do, though, is to use iTunes when the phone is plugged in to the computer instead. Plug your iPhone in to your computer, kick off iTunes, choose your phone, and you'll see a tabbed interface:

itunes iphone apps tab

Click on the "Applications" tab and you'll see some cool stuff. Most obvious is the list of every app that you've download into iTunes, whether or not it's still on your iPhone:

itunes iphone apps sync list

Here you can see that I still have copies of AAA Discounts, AMP UP Before Your Score, Art of War by Sun Tzu and Assassins Creed in iTunes, though I don't have them on my phone at this time. Space management, ya know.

Far more interesting, though, is that on the right side of this window you'll see a representation of the home screen of your Apple iPhone 3GS in all its icon glory:

itunes iphone apps appearance layout order

By placing my cursor over the Facebook iPhone app icon, it automatically changed color and gained a small delete "X" on the top left. Click on it and I'd delete the app (though it won't be deleted from my phone until my next sync, nor will any changes you make be reflected until you sync up your phone again).

Drag the icon around and everything moves out of the way, just as it does on the phone:

itunes iphone apps appearance layout order 2

Even better, move it to one of the mini-screens on the right, and you'll instantly flip to that screen and watch the icons move around as you figure out exactly where you want to drop the app:

itunes iphone apps appearance layout order 3

Notice here that I'm dragging the Facebook app icon (almost invisible in this screen shot, sorry) onto the second mini-screen of icons and it's flipped to show me the icons on this screen.

Drop it when you're done, click on "Apply" on the bottom to apply the changes you've made and *poof* you just reorganized your iPhone application icons on the phone without having to actually touch the phone itself. Slick!


More Useful iPhone and Cell Phone Help Articles:
✔   How do you share an iPhone photo on Facebook?
All my friends have figured out the magic to take photos on their iPhone and upload them to Facebook. Everyone but me. How...
✔   Closed captioning for TV shows and movies on my iPhone?
Hey Dave, I saw your article from a few days about How to Turn on Closed Captioning in iTunes and am wondering if...
✔   How do I create location-based iPhone reminders?
Thanks to Siri, I've become a big fan of the Reminders app on my iPhone. Being able to say "remind me at 3pm...
✔   Enable Apple 2-Step Verification in iTunes?
I keep reading all these articles about iTunes account security and people having their accounts hacked. I have 2-step security verification set up...
✔   Turn an iTunes song into an iPhone ringtone?
I want to have song from my song list in iTunes into a ringtone I can use on my iPhone? Is it even...

Let's stay in touch!
Sign up for my weekly AskDaveTaylor Newsletter and you'll receive even more tech and gadget help right to your inbox, along with exclusive news and industry updates. It's good stuff. I promise!
    Enter your name: and your email addr:  





Categorized: iPhone and Cell Phone Help   (Article 9294, Written by )
Tagged: apple iphone 3gs, apple ipod touch, facebook, itunes
Previous: Can I connect my Gmail and Facebook accounts?
Next: How do I make my Facebook group or fan page interesting?




Reader Comments To Date: 2

Dave52 said, on February 6, 2010 6:31 PM:

Helpful article. Dragging icons around on the iPhone screen can be frustrating when trying to move to a different screen; the iTunes tool is much better.

What I'd really like to see, though, is a better way to group apps on the iPhone itself. Maybe not a full hierarchy of folders - that could get ugly, fast - but at least something equivalent to putting a folder on the OSX Dock and selecting an app from a grid or list (or going to a different screen on the iPhone).

looloo said, on April 30, 2010 9:29 AM:

However, mine reorganize to alphabetical every time i plug my phone into my computer even though i organized them on my computer. How do i prevent that from happening?

Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!











I will never send you any unsolicited email. Ever.






Check This Out Too...

 
Look for Answers
Need Help? Ask Dave Taylor!


Follow Me on Pinterest

Find Me on Google+
ADT on G+
© 2002 - 2013 by Dave Taylor. All Rights Reserved.

Note: This web site is for the purpose of disseminating information for educational purposes, free of charge, for the benefit of all visitors. We take great care to provide quality information. However, we do not guarantee, and accept no legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to, the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any material contained on this web site or on any linked site. Further, please note that by submitting a question or comment you're agreeing to my terms of service, which are: you relinquish any subsequent rights of ownership to your material by submitting it on this site. My lawyer says "Thanks".
"Ask Dave Taylor®" is a registered trademark of Intuitive Systems, LLC.