How to Use App Library on iPhone

App Library is one of the best new features and biggest visual changes that iOS 14 has to offer for iPhone. With App Library, Apple intends to clean up your home screen that’s cluttered with apps that you’ve installed over the years with this new feature.

Unlike Android, iOS doesn’t have an app drawer. There’s the home screen where all your apps are located and that’s it. As you install more and more apps from the App Store, you gradually fill up the pages on your home screen. Finding and opening a specific application by scrolling through pages of apps may become increasingly difficult due to the sheer number of apps installed on your device. Sure you can make folders of apps, but many users don’t do that to arrange their apps. App Library changes the game altogether by allowing you to hide app pages easily, and automatically sorting the apps based on their category using automated folders.

Interested in keeping your home screen well-organized with the help of App Library? Look no further, because, in this article, we’ll be discussing exactly how you can use App Library on your iPhone.

How to Use App Library on iPhone

It goes without saying that your iPhone needs to be running iOS 14 or later to take advantage of this feature. Now, without further ado, let’s take a look at the necessary steps.

1. To start using App Library on your iPhone, you’ll need to hide your home screen pages first. To do this, long-press on the home screen to enter jiggle mode and tap on the dot icon as shown below.

   

2. Now, you can uncheck the pages that you want to hide. The apps stored in these hidden pages will be automatically moved to the App Library.

   

3. To access the App Library, you’ll need to head to your last page of apps and swipe left just like how you’d access the next page.

   

4. This will display your App Library on the screen. You will see a bunch of apps neatly sorted by category. The huge app icons can be tapped to launch the respective apps. However, tapping on the smaller app icons will open the app folder instead. You can also use the search bar at the top to find any app that’s stored in the library.

   

5. Once you’re in a folder, you can tap on any app stored here to launch it.

   

6. You also have the option to automatically move newly downloaded apps to the App Library. To enable this, head over to “Settings” on your iPhone. In the settings menu, scroll down and tap on “Home Screen”.

   

7. Now, simply choose “App Library Only” for newly downloaded apps and you’re all set.

   

There you go. Now you’ve learned how to properly use App Library in iOS 14. Pretty easy, right?

This is probably the fastest and most convenient way to get rid of the clutter on your home screen and keep all of your apps neatly organized. The best part is that you don’t even have to manually manage it once you’re done setting up, as everything is handled automatically by the App Library.

The apps that are automatically moved to the App Library are stored in the “Recently Added” folder, which allows you to quickly open it after installation.

If you want to move some of the apps that are still on the home screen, you can simply long-press to enter jiggle mode and tap on the “-” icon next to an app. In addition to the usual “Delete App” option, you’ll also find a new “Move to App Library” option.

You may have noticed this article is specifically addressing the iPhone, and that’s because App Library is an iPhone-exclusive feature (for now anyway) and the feature does not exist on iPad. It’s also available on iPod touch for the devices that are compatible with iOS 14 or later there too.

We hope you are enjoying App Library and were able to clean up your app screens. Perhaps you were even able to drastically reduce the number of app pages on your iPhone’s home screen with the help of App Library.

What are your overall thoughts on this handy new addition to iOS 14? Have you been enjoying the new changes like App Library in iOS 14? What’s your favorite feature so far? Do share your valuable opinions and experiences in the comments section down below.