Home Screen

Does the Home screen need updating in iOS 6? [Poll]

By Georgia, Friday, May 4, 2012 a 1:40 am

We'll keep this one short but sweet -- Does the Home screen need updating in iOS 6? Rene laid out a lot of the pros and cons in his iOS 6 Home screen article a couple of days ago, and we discussed it in depth on the iPhone & iPad Live podcast last night. Hundreds of millions of users already know how to use the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad Home screen, and that's a huge barrier to change. Maybe not to geeks, but certainly to mainstream users.

iPhone & iPad Live 292: Yoga pantless

By Rene Ritchie, Thursday, May 3, 2012 a 3:55 pm

Georgia, Seth, and Rene discuss low Siri usage levels, whether iOS 6 needs a new Home screen, Notification Center do not disturb, Pandora vs Slacker vs Spotify shootout, Quasar, BIG JAMBOX, and the iPhone bra. This is iPhone & iPad Live!

iOS 6: Is it time for Apple to revamp the Home screen?

By Rene Ritchie, Tuesday, May 1, 2012 a 5:08 pm

At Macworld 2007 Steve Jobs pulled the original iPhone from his pocket, held it up high above the stage, and showed off the app launcher-based Home screen... that's pretty much remained the same ever since.

That's not entirely true, of course. Apple quickly added the ability to create WebClip icons for websites, and to re-arrange and delete them. With iOS 2 (iPhone OS 2) they added native apps to that mix. They increased the number of Home pages. They added Spotlight. They added wallpaper. With iOS 4 they layered in the multitasking fast app switcher. They layered in folders. The iPad, and the iPad alone, got landscape Home screen support. With iOS 5 they layered in Notification Center and Siri.

Is it time for something more?

Add effects and transitions to your app icons with Motion [jailbreak]

By Andrew Wray, Wednesday, Jan 25, 2012 a 4:54 pm

Motion is a new jailbreak utility in Cydia that makes your iPhone homescreen just a bit more interesting. While motion may not add a ton of functionality to your device, it's a fun tweak to play around with and show off to your friends.

Daily Tip: How to personalize your new iPhone or iPad to make it your own

By Jared DiPane, Monday, Dec 26, 2011 a 5:24 pm

New to iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad and curious how to set up a new ringtone, change a wallpaper, or arrange your app icons and folders, and otherwise personalize it and make it your own? Luckily these tasks can be completed quite simply, so let's take a look at how they are done.

TiPb Asks: What apps are on your main iPhone 4S home screen?

By Georgia, Tuesday, Oct 25, 2011 a 2:37 pm

What apps have earned a coveted spot on your main iPhone 4S home screen? Is it still default, just as Apple shipped it? Or have you moved everything around just so, including the dock icons?

Do you organize by function or type of app, or by aesthetics and icon color? Do you allow folders on your home screen or folders in your dock? Do you hide away any built-in apps like Stocks? Do you put your most used apps on the edges or in the center?

3DBoard bringing 3D home screens to iPhone [Jailbreak]

By Rene Ritchie, Saturday, Jan 29, 2011 a 9:02 am

3DBoard uses the iPhones accelerometer and gyroscope to present a "3D" view of the Springboard/Home Screen icons and it looks pretty nifty. Sure it's pure eye candy and not as functional a tweak as SBSettings or LockInfo, but cool has to count for something, right?

It's coming to Cydia soon and will cost $4. Anyone going to grab it?

Video after the break!

[YouTube via Gizmodo]

Daily Tip: How to rearrange iPhone and iPad app icons [Beginner]

By George Lim, Tuesday, Dec 21, 2010 a 3:24 pm

Just get a new iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad an curious how to rearrange your app icons and put your favorite programs exactly where you want them for faster, easier access? Maybe you want Facebook right up front and that default stock app to get lost? It's easy to do and we'll show you how, after the break.

Gridlock for iPhone allows custom icon positioning [Jailbreak]

By Staff, Monday, Oct 11, 2010 a 9:10 am

Gridlock is an iPhone Jailbreak hack that will allow you to setup app icons on your home screen in a manner that doesn't interfere with your wallpaper or just let you create an awesome pattern -- the choice is yours. It is easy to use, all you have to do is hold down on an icon to make your apps jiggle like you always do and then move them around anywhere you want.

That's it, no app, no settings, just click and drag your icons anywhere! Best of all it's just $0.99 in Cydia, thanks Chronic Dev-Team member chpwn!

by Brian

How to keep (some) apps in the same place when you change iPad orientation

By Rene Ritchie, Sunday, Sep 26, 2010 a 2:47 pm

On the iPad, when you change orientation from landscape to portrait mode, only 8 of your app icons out of 20 stay in relatively the same place -- the 4 top, leftmost icons and the 4 bottom, rightmost icons. That means 12 of the icons -- more than half -- change positions, and 5 of them change rows completely.

iPhone has never done landscape mode home screens, but even if it did its 4x4 icon grid would stay the same no matter which orientation it was in. iPad's grid, however, is 4x5 in portrait and 5x4 in landscape. It's a rectangle not a square.