Android 101: how to organize your homescreen

If you’ve had an Android phone for a while, it’s easy to get used to living with, well, the chaos. If you’re like me, you’re constantly adding new apps, deciding they’re okay but not great, adding another one, etc. Then, a few months later, as you scroll through your app drawer, you’re surprised to see several apps that you forgot and might not even remember what they are for.

In a very short time it can become a mess. And if you are truly an app enthusiast, it can start to take up more space than you can save.

There are basically two steps to making sense of all of those Android apps: finding a way to organize them (and there are plenty of ways, depending on what you’re comfortable with) and periodically removing any extra apps you want. have accumulated and no longer use. Here are some tips to help you do both. If you are new to Android, this can help you stay organized from day one; if you are an experienced user, you might take some advice.

As you go through these suggestions, keep in mind that not all Android interfaces are the same. This guide was created using a Pixel 3 XL running the beta version of Android 12, so your interface may look slightly different depending on your phone model and which Android version you are using.

At its simplest (and anyone who’s had an Android phone for more than a week or two can skip a bit), you can just use the app drawer, which is accessed either by swiping up from the bottom of the phone. or (if you kept the navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen) by tapping the applications icon at the bottom center of your screen. Place the apps you use the most on one or more of your home screens by pressing and holding them and dragging them out of the app drawer.

The app drawer is (thankfully) organized alphabetically, with your most recently used apps at the top. Swipe up to browse apps or type the app name in the search bar at the top.

However, once you start accumulating apps, you might want to save some time by creating a more structured system.

Fill the favorites bar

You can quickly access your most used apps by placing them in the favorites bar, the bottom row of apps just above the search box and always available no matter which home screen you are on. slipped.

Is the board already full of apps? No problem.

• Long press an app that you no longer need to keep in the favorites bar. Move it to another location on the home page or drag it up until the Remove and Uninstall choices appear at the top of the screen. Pick one and move the app there.
• Long press an app from the home screen or the app drawer and drag it to the tray.

Create folders on your home screen

A good way to organize your apps is to use folders. For example, you can put all of your music and podcast apps in a folder called “Listen” or all of your social media apps in a folder called “Social”. It’s easy to create a folder.

• Put the first two apps you want to include on your home screen.
• Long press on one and drag it over the other. This will create a new folder.
• Give the folder a name: tap the folder, tap the name just below the apps (if Android didn’t provide a name, it will probably say “Change name”) and enter your new name.
• You can add more apps to the folder by long pressing other apps and dragging them to the folder.
• Remove an app from a folder by reversing this process: long press the app and move it from the folder to the home page. If you only had two apps in the folder, the folder will disappear.

Sometimes when I install a new app I immediately know it’s not for me and I uninstall it every now and then. Unfortunately, more often than not I’ll try an app, decide that I might want to use it in the future, and leave it there. Where he is. During months. Or years.

Once you start accumulating apps, it’s incredibly easy to forget which ones you no longer need. But allowing old apps to stay on your phone might not be as harmless as it sounds. Not only do they take up useful storage space, but they can also collect data unnecessarily (assuming you’ve given them permission). And if they are running in the background, they could drain your battery.

Therefore, it doesn’t hurt to check which apps you haven’t used recently and delete them from your phone. There are several ways to do this.

Use the app drawer

Yes, it is obvious, but it must be said. Spend some time cleaning out your app drawer: open it and see what’s inside. You might be surprised at what you forgot and what you might not need anymore. Anything you don’t need, swipe up to uninstall it.

Visit the Play Store

It’s not as easy as going to your app drawer or as efficient as Files by Google, but if you are in the Play Store and want to get rid of a few unnecessary apps in order to install new ones. news, there is a way.

• Once in the Play Store, tap your personal icon in the top right corner and choose “Manage apps and devices”.
• If you want to see which apps need to be updated, search for “Updates available” and tap “View details”. You can also tap “Update All” if that’s what you want to do.
• Otherwise, tap the “Manage” tab at the top of the screen.
• You will see a list of your installed apps. You can click on the list to see what the last update did, or if you want to uninstall any, tap the checkbox to the right of each entry and then the trash can icon that appeared at the top. .
• If you would like to see a list of your uninstalled apps, tap the “Installed” label at the top of the screen and select “Not Installed”. This can be handy if you accidentally delete an app and later think “I shouldn’t have done this”, or suddenly remember an app that you’d like to use again. Use the checkbox to the right of each entry to reinstall any application. (If the app has been removed from the Play Store, it will not appear in this list.)

• Tap the parallel lines on the right and you will be able to sort by name, most used, least used, recently updated, or size. This can be really handy if you are short on space and want to figure out which apps you need to get rid of.
• Other tabs in the “Manage” section include “Updates Available” and “Games”.

Try Files by Google

Files by Google is a surprisingly handy application that, among other things, helps you get rid of junk files that take up space. If you decide to install Files, here’s how you can use it to get rid of unused apps.

• If it is not already selected, tap the “Clean” icon at the bottom of the screen.
• Scroll down until you find the section called “Remove Unused Apps.” Tap “Select applications”.
• You can see the space occupied by each app and the date of its last use. By tapping on the parallel lines at the top right, you can sort the list by oldest> newest, newest> oldest, greatest> smallest, smallest> greatest or by alphabetical order.
• Tap the circle to the right of each app to select the one you want to uninstall, then tap the “Uninstall” button at the bottom.

Use another app

There are a variety of Android apps available in the Play Store besides Files by Google that can help you. For starters, there are other file managers that can make it easier to track and administer your phone’s content, such as File Manager Plus and File Manager: for free and easily. (There are actually several apps called “File Manager” in the Play Store.)

Some create overlays to help organize your home screen. Jina, for example, lets you create a sidebar that pulls out of the side of your screen and gives you a compact list view of all your apps. The taskbar puts a configurable Windows-style start menu on your screen.

If you want even more control over your Android environment, there are launchers like Nova that allow you to further customize your app drawer and home screen with icons, animations, and different layouts.

Updated August 25, 2021, 4:35 p.m. ET: This article was originally published on March 6, 2019 and has been updated to reflect changes in Android and its apps.