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Apple introduces Folders with intelligent naming for iPhone OS 4

By , Thursday, Apr 8, 2010 at 1:41 pm
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Apple today introduced Folders for the iPhone OS 4 (iPhone 4.0) Home Screen/app launcher interface.

To use Folders, you start by tapping and holding an icon until it jiggled (like you would to move or delete it). You then drag one icon on top of another and they combine to form a Folder -- a bordered icon with small versions of the contained icons. Folders will name themselves based on the category of the apps you drag into them, or you can edit the name yourself.

Folders behave like any other app -- you can move them around and even place them in the dock for any-screen access. When you tap one, the screen splits open and slides vertically apart to reveal a grid of the apps inside.

This increases the number of apps you can store on your iPhone's 11 Home Screen pages from 180 to over 2000.

But it's still an app launcher at its core, of course. Though, when asked about Widgets Steve Jobs did say Apple implemented them early on in Mac OS X as Dashboard, and simply hadn't had time to do anything with them on the iPhone. (Yet?)

So, does this solve your app managements issues? Or did you need more power? More eye-candy?

Pics and video after the break, or read our complete iPhone OS 4 preview for more!


YouTube link

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Rene Ritchie

Editor-in-Chief of iMore, Executive Producer at Mobile Nations, co-host of Iterate and ZEN and TECH, cook, grappler, photon wrangler.

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Apple announces multitasking for iPhone OS 4 (iPhone 3GS/iPod touch G3 only)

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  1. Ro says:

    Finally this was what I wanted!

  2. Dionte says:

    I can't wait to set this up, aww man.

  3. icebike says:

    This and Multitasking are the only two worth while announcements that I have seen today.

    This is long overdue. Its not winter board, but it will do.

  4. seneka says:

    no lockscreen update !?!?!?!?!

  5. seneka says:

    No general UI overhaul? Shame. Starting to look stale. Homescreen backgrounds?? Great! Like I'm spending my life there. And anyway it's blocked by apps and folders.

    FAIL

  6. Brian Rubin says:

    Folders! Yay!

  7. dman says:

    I was hoping this was like the iPad letting me share files between apps... I can't believe they didn't add that.

  8. RaceccarBMW says:

    Is this something to be proud of

    While android has been doing this since when?

    even windows mobile 5

  9. poupou says:

    @8. RaceccarBMW

    It's not about who does it first. It's about who does it best.

  10. jabawocky says:

    Then Apple simply copies other people and calls it "revolutionary". So much for the argument of how apple < microsoft bc microsoft can only copy and make it better

  11. Waffles107 says:

    Rofl

    When people compare different hardware or software it inevitably devolves into a feature by feature checklist, including who copied who's feature. You don't get it. It's the same reason people think the iPad is useless because it can be somewhat accurately be described as a big iPod Touch.

    Apple understands what the trolls don't: Implementation and the sum of its parts is everything.

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