Once upon a time you could organize/rearrange the apps on your iphone via your computer screen while the phone was plugged in. My phone is currently on 11.0.3, and my itunes is 12.7.0.166, so both up to date, and I no longer see this option available.
Does it no longer exist? If it does can you show me where to find it? Searches in Google and Apple Support only point me to outdated articles.
Management of apps, books, and tones has been removed from iTunes 12.7. See Changes in the new iTunes - Apple Support for details. The intention is clearly that management of these generally takes place on the device.
See the Manually add items from your computer section of Manually manage content on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch using iTunes - Apple Support for the control that remains. This can be used to copy apps (including apps that have been withdrawn from the store), ePubs, iBooks, PDFs, and tones from your computer to your device. The File Sharing feature for copying data between apps and the computer is still there. You can also use iCloud Drive, or Dropbox to move content to and from the device.
A long time criticism of iTunes, at least from some quarters, is that has been that it has become bloated. Perhaps this is an attempt to address that. I let both my iOS devices update automatically when there is an updated app, and I'm not interested in hanging on to old apps that a developer has withdrawn, nor do I need to rearrange my apps often, so while the change is drastic, I don't think it really affects me much. I'm more irritated by the changes to iTunes U, and iBooks in iTunes for Windows.
See Deploy apps in a business environment with iTunes - Apple Support for access to iTunes 12.6.3 if you want to revert to a build with app management features. Windows users need to uninstall the current copy of the iTunes application first. See Empty/corrupt iTunes library after upgrade/crash for steps to revert to a pre-iTunes 12.7 version of your iTunes database.
tt2
Tried to do this, but it doesn't work. Says that I have a "later version of iTunes already installed." When I hit "OK," I then get a screen that says,
"iTunes Installer Completed
Errors occurred during installation before iTunes could be configured.
Your system has not been modified. To complete the installation, run the installer again.
Click Finish to exit the installer."
When I do this and rerun it, I keep getting the exact same errors. It's a never-ending loop of not being able to successfully install this as you recommended.
This cool feature to arrange apps and move screens around is no longer in iTune 12.7.
Apple, please bring this feature back. When my iPhone is filled with apps, iTune allows me to arrange my apps quicker.
Otherwise, let users create new screens or re-order the screens on the iPhone.
This is not a good UX. iOS 11 provides an improved way to setup a new device, in my case as iPad Pro 10.5 and restore from an iPhone backup. However the folders from the phone do not port over which leaves me with a large mess of apps to try and sort out, with an at best clumsy interface. You click and drag an app to try and move it 5 screens over and inevitable end up accidentally dropping it on the wrong page. But wait theres more fun, you still have 50+ more apps to move around. Understand simplification of iTunes on the Mac but then provide replacement functionality in settings or something. I have this awesome new Apple Pencil would be great if I could arrange and group apps with it. Please, please groom some user stories and get them in the backlog ASAP!
So Apple, in it's infinite wisdom, has decided to make their phones once again harder to use. Grab an icon and try to move (toss) it to another page. Wups! It goes right back where it was. Useless. The method on the PC was a pain as well, but at least it worked. Now I gotta figure out how painful it will be to switch to Android. The worst part is starting my games all over 😟
Apple you suck.
Absolutely a bad maven Apples part. It is a step backwards, something I'd expect from Microsoft. To reduce functionality in an environment is not why I went with Apple. I agree with everyone thats complaining the new way, on the device, is clumsy, time consuming and out and out frustrating. I feel your pain !
JibsMan wrote:
.... Now I gotta figure out how painful it will be to switch to Android....
Samsung, LG, etc. make some great devices that are completely
hobbled by the fact that they are running Android.
Android is by no means a picnic and management there is even worse
for both apps and media!
Trying to drag your app icons between screens without messing up the organization of the other ones on the screen is untenable. Having the management of the apps on the screen "generally take place on the device" is poor user interface design. Basically, Apple's "update" did nothing but make it impossible to organize your iPhone screens. Thank you for nothing Apple.
Totally agree! Apple's time has come and gone once again. I remember a time when Apple was very user friendly and innovative....now its milking $ off the ideas Steve and the team pioneered. Apple is slowly forcing us to use backup over icloud for a monthly subscription. Thats probably the real reason why you cant arrange apps on the desktop.
Gary Macleod wrote:
....Apple is slowly forcing us to use backup over icloud for a monthly subscription.....
The cloud is wonderful!
The cloud is great!
UNTIL IT'S NOT!!!!
My biggest pet peeve of this change is that you end up being TOTALLY dependent
of 100% AVAILABLE Apple Servers and a 100% AVAILABLE and 100% RELIABLE
internet connection.
Previously, I had downloaded all apps and updates via iTunes, secure in knowing that
if I ever have some disaster with an iDevice I had everything available to restore without
having to depend on any thing else (iTunes library was also backed up locally). Now,
that security blanket has been ripped put of my hands.
I have also searched for the reorg in iTunes, but in vain.
I miss it because it is harder to mess with wiggling icons on an iPhone than on my Mac screen.
Not every change is for the better... Ihave a serious problem with change for change’s sake, and I see a lot of that since Steve is no longer with us.
Apple, get your act together !
gPad wrote:
Someone reads it. My post was taken down for being a rant. “This forum is for technical topics and not just rants.” I mentioned research on more emojis and not useful tools.
The Hosts will review a post if it has been reported to them, by a community member, for possible violation of the Terms of Use. The Hosts, however, are not engineers, developers or programmers.
I am sick of itunes, icloud, iphone etc. They are cumbersome to coordinate without spending hours on how to fix a problem. Itunes no longer displays the phone to rearrange the apps. Impossible to download photos from icloud without spending hours. I am dropping iphone etc. and getting everything windows based. Nothing should be this difficult to use!!!!
This feature that you're referring to where you had a virtual view of your device within iTunes to arrange your apps is no longer a part of iTunes unfortunately. It was removed several updates ago and any app organization now has to take place on the device itself.
Seems like a real dumb move by a smart company to eliminate the ability to sort the icons/tiles on the iphone page by using the computer. It was relatively easy to do. Now you have a ton of icons moving and jiggling at the same time and rarely ending up where you want them. BRING BACK THE OLD SYSTEM. IT WASN'T BROKE SO DON'T FIX IT!!!
What a shame, organizing the home screen is very weak on iOS compared to Android (my travel phone (dual sim, dont' even try to change your iPhone SIM card while traveling, screw everything up) is Android). you cannot even shuffle screens around... and apps auto arrange themselves on a given screen...at least with iTunes you can more easily arrange. Glad to see iTunes on a diet, but iOS is still weak in this space.
I think a dedicated iPhone app would be great and very helpful
how to organize apps with itunes?
