How to disable auto arrange?

Question

Level 1

13 points

How to disable auto arrange?

Hi folks.I'm new to the forum and have spent quite a bit of time looking for answers about this, as it seems to be a regularly asked question.

I have just inherited my partner's iPad 3, as he no longer needs it, and there are a few issues I'm having trouble with. The main one at the moment is trying to disable the auto arrange of icons on the home screens.

I've read various suggested fixes for this, but nothing seems to work. The main suggestion seems to be to go to the settings menu and re-set the home screen. I tried this but all it did was to totally mess up up my pages and re-apply a whole bunch of app icons that I didn't want or need. It didn't stop icons from auto arranging.

The other suggestion I've seen involves pressing 'anywhere on the screen' to bring up another menu, which is supposed to have some screen options on it. But I am not able to find this menu. I've tried a long press on the main screen, or a double tap, but nothing brings up this menu.

Does anyone have any other suggestions please?

(I'm not sure which o/s the pad is currently on as it's not with me at the moment.)

Posted on Mar 17, 2015 5:11 AM

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Answer 1

tonefox

Level 6

9,368 points

Mar 17, 2015 8:34 AM in response to Anouk K

You got it. The grid that they snap to is fixed, and you cannot leave unoccupied positions on the grid except at the end of the screen. I usually leave two or three unoccupied positions at the end of each screen to let me drop a new app into the screen of my choice.

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Answer 2

JimHdk

Level 7

28,898 points

Mar 17, 2015 5:32 AM in response to Anouk K

If you rearrange the icons they should not be being rearranged by iOS unless one selects Settings > General > Reset > Reset Home Screen Layout.

What exactly are you doing? Are you syncing with iTunes?

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Answer 3

Ditrynn

Level 1

13 points

Oct 27, 2017 8:46 AM in response to Anouk K

From a software perspective, the auto arrange function should be a selectable choice. There is no valid reason for Apple to make it a mandatory auto arrange. Customers should have a choice whenever one is possible.

As for the remark that one should “wrap their head around what it is doing”...it’s not about understanding is about the lack of a choice.

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Answer 4

Nov 6, 2017 9:58 AM in response to Ditrynn

I agree; Apple should give the user the option to disable auto-arrange or snap-to-grid as some others call it.

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Answer 5

Anouk K Author

Level 1

13 points

Mar 17, 2015 7:47 AM in response to JimHdk

I'm not doing anything. And I'm not syncing with iTunes as I don't have an iTunes account and don't want one.

I'm simply wanting to arrange my app icons on the home screens in my order, but if I drag an icon into a particular spot on the screen, it automatically pops back in line, and all the other icons re-arrange around it.

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Answer 6

tonefox

Level 6

9,368 points

Mar 17, 2015 8:15 AM in response to Anouk K

You just need to get your head around what it's doing. When you move an app into a different position, it displaces the apps after it to the right. If that pushes an app off the screen, it will go to the top left of the following screen, displacing all the apps after it to the right.

In short, wherever you put an app it will push apps aside to the right to make room.

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