Application OCD

Sofia Fontes | Thu, Nov 12, 2009

I hate to admit it but I’m a little (OK, maybe a lot) OCD about my iPhone. One of the things I obsess about is how my apps are organized. I have to organize them by how much I use them, by color and by function. Sounds complicated, doesn’t it? (Thank you Apple, I used to be a pretty normal girl before the iPhone. Almost.)

On my first page I have my most used apps: some of Apple’s stock apps plus Tweetie, Birdhouse, Beejive and Omnifocus. I liked the first Tweetie’s blue icon better since this one doesn’t look so good with the rest of my apps. Also I don’t really use Birdhouse much anymore so I’m going crazy trying to find something to replace it.

My second page has the rest of my most used apps. Two “tapbots” (both gray), two camera apps (both mostly dark), shopping and fitness apps (both green), two money apps (both dark), two reading apps, two white and orange apps, two apps with green in it and two music apps (both blue). Starts to get a bit obsessive, doesn’t it?

My third page has my “official apps”: the Apple apps that aren’t in my first page plus some other official ones: Facebook, Google, Amazon, Flickr, Dropbox, Wordpress and Skype. I have the darker apps on the first row and the rest is mostly blue.

Ok, I know the Wikipanion app is neither an official app nor blue. I know. And that fact still keeps me up at night.

This page has mostly a few utilities plus some apps that I like to have around but I don’t use that often. I have them organized in pairs by color, as you can see, but also by function in a way that makes sense to me (disclaimer: the fact that it makes sense to me doesn’t necessarily mean it makes sense to anyone else, so don’t feel bad if you don’t get how I organize them).

I have three more screens: one with camera applications (photo editing, filters, etc), one with games and one with apps I’m still testing. That’s where I keep the apps I’m not sure I want to keep and the ones I still haven’t found a place for (you can probably tell by now how thankful I was for the app organization feature in the new iTunes). This page is usually pretty disorganized so I try not to look at it often. It bothers me a little.

So, how crazy am I?

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20 Responses to “Application OCD”

Mike G Says:
November 12th, 2009 at 9:41 am

Totally feel your pain. Currently I have mine organized with the first page being my most used apps. After that the next couple of pages are organized by category. All games together, social networking, reference, web shortcuts, sports info, etc. The last page is currently a mish mosh of apps that I’m testing to see if they make the cut.

I wish there was a simpler way to organize icons though.

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Sofia Fontes Says:
November 12th, 2009 at 9:55 am
You mean besides organizing them in iTunes?

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- Mike G Says:
  November 12th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
  I was thinking more like some of the jailbreak applications allow for. It would be nice to have folders, categories, or some way to arrange things other than just page after page.
  
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  - Sofia Fontes Says:
    November 12th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
    Oh yeah, I get you now.
    
    I think Apple underestimated how successful the App Store would be and that people would have so many apps.
    
    Hopefully they will come up with something to make it easier to organize them soon.
    
    Reply

passepartout Says:
November 12th, 2009 at 10:30 am

I cluster my apps by functionality per ‘page:’ social stuff, entertainment, photography, , dining out, news, shopping, music, travel, utility… and then I shuffle pages by ‘most-used.’

It’s a pain to swipe across many pages. Sometimes I just use Spotlight to go direct to app I want.

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Joshua Schnell Says:
November 12th, 2009 at 11:07 am
I think Tamar has a similar usage pattern, but her’s comes from having so many applications that she has no choice but to use spotlight to find them. Her iPhone has stopped giving her new screens for her apps.

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Sofia Fontes Says:
November 12th, 2009 at 11:35 am
I use Spotlight sometimes too. Usually for the apps in my last page (the ones I haven’t found a place for yet) so I don’t have see the unorganized apps… ;)

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Joshua Schnell Says:
November 12th, 2009 at 11:05 am

I tend to organize mine like this… Things I use daily, games I play the most, Apple’s crappy apps, and everything else. I should really try and put them into a color scheme like you do, it’d be much nicer to look at.

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Jeff Mann Says:
November 12th, 2009 at 6:28 pm

My Apps are horrendously unorganized (like everything else in my life). I hope to take a page from your book, and get my stuff together so my phone looks a bit nice. Great article BTW. :D

Sofia Fontes Says:
November 12th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Thanks. :D

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maskedscientist Says:
November 12th, 2009 at 8:27 pm

I put quick-access apps on the second page, ones that I might need in an instant, while rarely. Like shazam. Then I fill it with all the ones I use the most often

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Sofia Fontes Says:
November 14th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Yeah, I have Shazam on the 2nd page for that reason too. But I might replace it with Midomi.

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Steves Mac Fix Says:
November 14th, 2009 at 7:12 pm

Don’t feel you are crazy because most people feel the same way! I was really picky how my iphone apps were organized but came to the conclusion that I download so many apps that I just said “forget organizing it.” I only organize my first 2-3 pages since those are the apps that i use most frequently. Great article!

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Sofia Fontes Says:
November 14th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
Thanks. :)

I just feel it’s weird how much work I put into organizing it, specially when I’m not that organized with other things in my life.

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waynedixon Says:
November 12th, 2009 at 9:01 am

Macgasm.net: Application OCD: I hate to admit it but I’m a little (OK, maybe a lot) OCD about my iPhone. One of t… http://bit.ly/3DK5iX