I didn't like the answer a few years ago when I asked, but maybe things have changed.

All I want to do is rearrange the app icons on my iPhone screen(s) to the way Ilike them. I'd really prefer not to have to do it by sliding them around with my fat fingers on a 4" screen and accidentally push something from where I liked it to somewhere I don't want it. I'd much prefer a way to do it on my computer and have them magically appear on the phone afterward. We used to be able to do that with iTunes, but iTunes is no more as I understand it.

Has anyone figured out an easy way to do what I want? If there's an app for that, I'd even pay for it. Thanks.

-- edit to add that I might even upgrade my phone to iOS 17.4.1 now if I thought that would help. I'm at 16.6 at the moment. Mac Mini is running 10.14.6 Mojave and I believe that's as far as I can with the 2012 Mini.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/2024 02:11PM by wurm.

Perhaps you might use a low-tech solution like an pen-like thing (often called a "stylus for touch screens") that can do the job of your finger on the iPhone but more precisely. This one for example.

Perhaps see the 2 solutions offered here: [discussions.apple.com]

Note, I have no first hand knowledge of this process myself.

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Athens, OH

Thanks for the replies.I already have a couple of styluses (stylii?) but while it eliminates the fat finger issue, it doesn't make the process itself any simpler.

archipirata, I've just been going through some of those results. One of them even mentioned an app called Configurator, but it requires iOS 14 or later.

….can you TaskRabbit it and pay someone to do it….or tell grandkids it’s a game and get them to do it…..???

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_____________________________________

I reject your reality and substitute my own!

Grandkid is too young. I'm seriously considering deleting every app I rarely use and starting from scratch. Still would be nice if Apple let you lock a screen so something you add doesn't bump something else.

And what's really aggravating is trying to move an icon and it suddenly creates a folder and puts it in there. Grrrr.

Just found another couple of options.

Home screen reset [www.makeuseof.com]
Variety of layouts [www.makeuseof.com]

Wurm,

i'm with you. I miss the days of being able to arrange the screens of my iPhone on my computer. It was vastly easier than the method we must use now. I configured the first page of the Home Screen how i want it with the apps I use constantly and I placed them in specific locations because that's where my eyes and fingers know where to find them.

The apps on this screen rarely change. The last time i changed it was to swap the Amazfit app for the Watch app. I had an Amazfit instead of an Apple Watch. Once I switched to an Apple watch, I moved the Amazfit app elsewhere and put the Watch app in its place.

The second page has a few regularly used apps in specific locations. Any other app on the phone is used infrequently enough that I didn't want to be bothered dealing with trying to move them around on the phone itself. It was easier to just leave the apps where Apple places them upon installation and use the search feature to find them as necessary.

I checked out info from Arch. Not viable. One requires iTunes which isn't an option anymore. The other only does the home screen, not the rest of the screens.

Robert

I just found another pretty good YouTube video. This guy does a pretty thorough explanation of some viable options I may play around with.
Managing Your Home Screen App Icons On iOS 15

It really bugs me that Apple dropped the option to arrange 'Phone icons via computer, and hasn't improved a way to organize app icons since then.

I'd also want the option to lock any given Home Screen that would survive an OS update.

It doesn't happen with ever update, but most often from a 12 > 13 > 14 type iOS update.

wurm's video had a couple of things I didn't know, but there's still not a method for organizing apps on a screen that I like.

I'd like to enable a Sort mode to set apps awiggle, then move one around where I want it, and 'stick' it with a long press.

The only app displaced would be the one evicted from the spot I chose for the relocated app.

When I choose a spot, I'd have the option/menu of combining the two for a folder or evicting the app already in place.

Moving an app through rows of apps wouldn't disturb any other icons.

Only when I held one on another would the clock start for combining or evicting, and only for that app/icon.

I think I'd still like the option of the old way on computer, but I don't use the 'Phone with a computer much, as in the past.

This is because the macOS, iOS, and maybe iTune all have to be compatible, and my main box is still at Sierra.

To switch to a new one, I have to move the library, and I'm not all the comfortable doing it.

---

I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

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Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

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by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

I just spent some time organizing, hiding apps I rarely use and getting my five pages down to three. I actually made some folders that I may use. I think I can live with the new organization. We'll see. The folders were still driving me a little crazy, though.

The behind the scenes work that must have been involved in making all the options that do exist now, had to have been more difficult than just giving the user the control we once had with iTunes. Based on all the people apparently b!tching about it, you'd think Apple might actually listen and do something about it.

Nah.

--edit

BTW, the one feature I was not even aware of was the search window that lists all your apps in alphabetical order. Too bad you can only get there from the App Library window.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/2024 07:09PM by wurm.

You can do this with most MDMs: [support.apple.com]

I'm not sure if there are any free MDMs available with this functionality, but I believe MDM is the only way to get it done.

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C(-)ris
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It looks like Wurm found a work-around but for what it is worth...

The Apple Configurator will do the mods of all of your phone screen pages. It considers them all the home screen and allows you to move apps to any page. I have used it occasionally and it works well.

The idea of Configurator is for sysadmins to 'manage' fleets of macs or phones with standardized packages. You can nuke and pave with a custom install very easily. Home Screen modification is a small part of the app. I got it the first time as a way to recover a phone what would not boot completely.

The problem is that you need the old version unless you are on Sonoma. I used it on Monterey and before (I think I found it in Sierra days).

I hesitate to post a link to a site that claims to provide access to earlier versions. A site called macinformer.com shows a page of downloadable versions dating back to 2012. I don't know if anyone here has run across this site? It has a number of categories and has lots of links to paid (eg, Office) and free apps. It came up in a Google search.