Android is a great operating system with many customization options. But that also means that chaos can quickly arise if you are not paying attention, for example on the home screen. With these tips you can clean up that screen and keep it tidy for the time being.
A general tip is to spare the home screen as much as possible. So create no or very few shortcuts to apps, remove apps that you usually don’t use much (both from the screen and your smartphone) and avoid widgets. Within the settings of the home screen you will sometimes find the option to automatically create shortcuts to newly installed apps. You reach those settings by placing your thumb on an empty spot on the screen and holding that spot for a while. Open the settings and turn that feature off.
Do you want some apps on that android-home screen, you can do that via the bar at the bottom. This is also known as the favorites bar or favorites drawer. You can drag apps there by removing them from the app drawer. Press and hold the app you want to place there and then drag it to the bar. Are there already apps in that place? Hold down the icon and in the menu that appears, tap an option such as ‘delete’ or ‘favourite’. The options differ per smartphone.
Tips for a tidy Android home screen
Do you like working with folders? Then it is good that Android supports folders. You create a folder by lifting an app (select, hold, and drag) and drop it on top of another app (then release the app). The folder is created automatically. Then you can change the name of the app to something like “social” or “music”. You add extra apps by hovering them above the folder; you remove them by dragging them out of the folder.
In addition, you can of course also just use the app drawer for which it is intended. The app drawer offers an overview of all apps on your smartphone. Usually those apps are in alphabetical order, so you can quickly find what you’re looking for. So you don’t have to place any apps on your home screen (apart from the aforementioned favorites bar), so your home screen remains tidy and neat. If the app drawer can also be cleaned up, we have some other tips.
The same applies here: delete the apps you don’t use. You can delete them individually by selecting and holding an app. In the menu that comes up there is an option with a term like ‘remove’ or ‘uninstall’. But you can also arrange this via the Google Play Store. Open the Play Store and tap on your profile picture at the top right. Then go to Manage apps and devices and press the tab To manage. You will now see a list of installed apps. To the right is an empty box; check the box of the app you want to delete and press the trash can icon at the top.
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