Adding/Removing Widgets, Applications, Groups and More
Your home screen is completely customizable, meaning you can organize and arrange your applications in whatever configuration works best for you. You can even group your applications together, limiting the amount of icons on your screen. Additionally, you can take advantage of a feature called “Widgets”, available on iOS 14 and later. Widgets allow for your applications to present data and updates in real time. These widgets are pre-built, and house specific data from separate applications in a centralized and easily accessible location. Some examples of Widgets that you can choose from include Weather, Apple Music, Maps, iCalendar, as well as Reminders, FaceBook and Mail. You can also choose from three different widget sizes, and you may place your widgets on any part of your home screen.
To add a Widget to your home screen, press and hold your finger on your home screen until the application icons begin to shake. At this time, a plus symbol should appear in the top left corner of your display. Select this icon to access Widgets.
You can search through all available widgets using the search bar at the top of the page, just type in the application you would like to create a widget for, and if there is one available it will populate in the drop down. Once you have selected the widget you would like to add to your home screen, you can then select the size of the widget. The different sizes will present themselves, and you can swipe to the right or left to navigate between them. To select a size, make sure that the desired size is centered in the display, and then select the “add widget” button at the bottom of the screen.
The widget should then appear on whatever page of your home screen is currently displayed. You can drag and drop the widget anywhere you would like on your home screen, and you can also stack widgets to save space. To stack a widget on top of another, simply drag the widget and drop it onto another. To navigate through a stack of widgets, swipe up or down on the stack and the next widget in the sequence will appear.
You can also edit this sequence, or remove widgets from your stack by pressing and holding your finger on the stack until the icons begin to shake, then selecting the stack that you would like to edit. From here you can drag and drop the widgets into a different order, or remove widgets from the stack by selecting the “minus” icon in the top left corner of the widget. Once you have finished, select the “done” button in the top left corner of your display.
To add or remove applications from your home screen, it is a similar process. In order to add an application to your device, you will need to download it from the App Store. The App Store is an application pre-installed on your device, and allows you to access and install all available applications. To find a specific app, select the “search” tab along the bottom of your display, and enter the name of the app in the search bar.
To install, select the “GET” button on the right hand side. (NOTE: if you have already installed this application previously, instead of “GET” you will see a cloud icon with a downward facing arrow, this will allow you to re-download the application onto your device).
The application will then download and appear on your home screen. To move or adjust the placement of an application, press and hold your finger on the application until it begins to shake. To move the application, drag press and hold your finger on the icon and drag it to the desired location, before lifting your finger. When you are done, select the “Done” button in the top left corner of your display.
You can also group your applications, much like you do with your widgets. To organize your applications into a group, simply press and hold your finger until the application icons begin to shake. Then, press and hold your finger on the application you would like to move, and drag it so that it is on top of another application that you would like to include in the same group. As the icons rest on top of one another, the icon you have your finger should minimize, as well as the application icon that you are holding it above. Once you release your finger the applications will appear in a grey box, and you can add as many applications to this group by repeating this process, and pressing “done” in the top left corner once you are done.
You can even name these groups by pressing and holding your finger over the group and selecting “rename” from the pop up menu. You can also delete the group by selecting “remove folder” which will separate the applications once more, however keep in mind that this option removes the icons from your home screen, so that they will only be available through your application library.
If you would like to separate the icons but keep them on your home screen, select the group before pressing and holding your finger on one of the applications until they begin to shake. Then drag the application you would like to remove from the group until it appears outside of the folder, once you release your finger it will no longer appear in the same group as the other icons.
To remove applications from your home screen, press and hold your finger on any application or anywhere on the home screen until the applications begin to shake. Locate the application that you would like to remove, and then press the minus symbol on the top left corner icon. From here, you have the option to either remove the application from your home screen, or to remove the application from your device entirely (Figure 1). If you choose the first option, the application will still be accessible from your device, but only through the application library. If you choose the second option, the application will no longer take up storage on your device, and if you would like to use it in the future you would need to re-download the application from the app store. You can also press and hold your finger on the application that you would like to remove, and a menu will populate presenting these same options (Figure 2).
Takeaway: You can customize your home screen by adding and removing applications and widgets. You can also open, close and quit applications from the home screen as well.