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iOS still doesn't let you place icons anywhere you want on the home screen, though. It's been fifteen years. Desktops, and Android, have allowed you to do this

iOS still doesn't let you place icons anywhere you want on the home screen, though. It's been fifteen years. Desktops, and Android, have allowed you to do this for decades.

dangus 4y ago
Yes, this is a very real downside, but Apple has put effort into making the home screen more customizable than it was. It has an app drawer, it has the ability to add/remove home screens without filling one up first, and it has widgets, the major omissions that Android hasn't been missing for many years. And, yes, it would be really nice if Apple had a system to install third-party launchers, there's no denying that. I know this is really silly, but you can definitely workaround the issue and effectively have the same end result as Android if you really want it: https://iempty.tooliphone.net https://iempty.tooliphone.net Overall, every individual omission from one platform to another is going to be a question of what is important to the buyer. For some, it might seem ridiculous that, in fifteen years, Apple still doesn't offer a truly customizable home screen. That's a fair criticism. At the same time, it's a fair criticism that it took until 2021 for Google to release a phone that will get 5 years of security and feature updates (Apple never guaranteed this directly, but the iPhone 6S delivered that level of support from when it launched in 2015 until the release of iOS 16 this fall that will drop iPhone 6S support: 7 years of full feature and security updates). Meanwhile, if you bought a Pixel 3 in 2018, you got your final update this year. I personally think that's downright unacceptable considering the maturity of smartphones when it was released. The problem with me making comparisons like this is that they'll always seem like a cheap whataboutism, but that's generally how these feature-to-feature comparisons work. For me, in 2016, I saw a situation where Google was not delivering everything I needed in a smartphone, but I also recognize that other people have other needs.
- hota_mazi 4y ago
  It's not just for cosmetic reasons, there are practical, actual benefits from a user experience standpoint. For example, I put the apps that I use the most often on the right hand side of the screen, where my thumb can reach them faster. I can't do that on iOS (well, I can, but then any new app I put on the home screen will mess the entire arrangement and I will spend another ten minutes calculating what to insert and where to get all these icons back on the right side of the screen). I just don't understand how Apple, a company that prides itself on great user experience, is still putting their users through this UX hell fifteen years after the release of the iPhone, and they don't seem to think it's an important feature to add.
NonNefarious 4y ago
You mean it forces them to be lined up in a grid? Otherwise, I have no idea what you're on about.
- hota_mazi 4y ago
  You cannot put an icon anywhere you want on the home screen. Icons are lined up left to right, in a row. You need to insert icons inside a row and then all the other icons to its right will be pushed right and/or down.
  - NonNefarious 4y ago
    So you want icons to be able to overlap each other, or be different distances from each other, or what? I'm trying to figure out what exactly you're trying to accomplish. What would be the benefit of totally arbitrary, down-to-the-pixel placement ability?
    - hota_mazi 4y ago
      No, not talking about overlapping. Just talking about being able to grab an icon and position it anywhere I want on the screen (possibly snapped to a grid). Right now, icons have to be aligned in rows anchored in the top left corner, so that whenever you insert a new one, all the ones after that get pushed right or down, messing up your entire layout. We've had this ability on desktops since Windows 3 thirty years ago, and Android has had it since day one. As does macOS. Why not iOS?
      - NonNefarious 4y ago
        I have to admit that I don't understand your use case, but I'd be a hypocrite to denigrate your preference simply because it's not one I would use.
        hota_mazi 4y ago
        I don't know how else I can describe it, maybe you're so used to it you don't see how limiting it is. Here is a thread on reddit describing it: https://www.reddit.com/r/ios/comments/r2vs1x/why_cant_you_put_your_app_icons_freely_on_ios/hm8zsme/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ios/comments/r2vs1x/why_cant_you_pu... There are a few solutions around it, some require a jailbroken iPhone, others use empty widgets to create "fake space".

iOS still doesn't let you place icons anywhere you want on the home screen, though. It's been fifteen years. Desktops, and Android, have allowed you to do this for decades.

dangus 4y ago

Yes, this is a very real downside, but Apple has put effort into making the home screen more customizable than it was. It has an app drawer, it has the ability to add/remove home screens without filling one up first, and it has widgets, the major omissions that Android hasn't been missing for many years. And, yes, it would be really nice if Apple had a system to install third-party launchers, there's no denying that. I know this is really silly, but you can definitely workaround the issue and effectively have the same end result as Android if you really want it: https://iempty.tooliphone.net https://iempty.tooliphone.net Overall, every individual omission from one platform to another is going to be a question of what is important to the buyer. For some, it might seem ridiculous that, in fifteen years, Apple still doesn't offer a truly customizable home screen. That's a fair criticism. At the same time, it's a fair criticism that it took until 2021 for Google to release a phone that will get 5 years of security and feature updates (Apple never guaranteed this directly, but the iPhone 6S delivered that level of support from when it launched in 2015 until the release of iOS 16 this fall that will drop iPhone 6S support: 7 years of full feature and security updates). Meanwhile, if you bought a Pixel 3 in 2018, you got your final update this year. I personally think that's downright unacceptable considering the maturity of smartphones when it was released. The problem with me making comparisons like this is that they'll always seem like a cheap whataboutism, but that's generally how these feature-to-feature comparisons work. For me, in 2016, I saw a situation where Google was not delivering everything I needed in a smartphone, but I also recognize that other people have other needs.

hota_mazi 4y ago
It's not just for cosmetic reasons, there are practical, actual benefits from a user experience standpoint. For example, I put the apps that I use the most often on the right hand side of the screen, where my thumb can reach them faster. I can't do that on iOS (well, I can, but then any new app I put on the home screen will mess the entire arrangement and I will spend another ten minutes calculating what to insert and where to get all these icons back on the right side of the screen). I just don't understand how Apple, a company that prides itself on great user experience, is still putting their users through this UX hell fifteen years after the release of the iPhone, and they don't seem to think it's an important feature to add.

NonNefarious 4y ago

You mean it forces them to be lined up in a grid? Otherwise, I have no idea what you're on about.

hota_mazi 4y ago
You cannot put an icon anywhere you want on the home screen. Icons are lined up left to right, in a row. You need to insert icons inside a row and then all the other icons to its right will be pushed right and/or down.
- NonNefarious 4y ago
  So you want icons to be able to overlap each other, or be different distances from each other, or what? I'm trying to figure out what exactly you're trying to accomplish. What would be the benefit of totally arbitrary, down-to-the-pixel placement ability?
  - hota_mazi 4y ago
    No, not talking about overlapping. Just talking about being able to grab an icon and position it anywhere I want on the screen (possibly snapped to a grid). Right now, icons have to be aligned in rows anchored in the top left corner, so that whenever you insert a new one, all the ones after that get pushed right or down, messing up your entire layout. We've had this ability on desktops since Windows 3 thirty years ago, and Android has had it since day one. As does macOS. Why not iOS?
    - NonNefarious 4y ago
      I have to admit that I don't understand your use case, but I'd be a hypocrite to denigrate your preference simply because it's not one I would use.
      - hota_mazi 4y ago
        I don't know how else I can describe it, maybe you're so used to it you don't see how limiting it is. Here is a thread on reddit describing it: https://www.reddit.com/r/ios/comments/r2vs1x/why_cant_you_put_your_app_icons_freely_on_ios/hm8zsme/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ios/comments/r2vs1x/why_cant_you_pu... There are a few solutions around it, some require a jailbroken iPhone, others use empty widgets to create "fake space".