Accessing ALL apps from Standard Home screen style

[Alex Cessford]

I have a Huawei P10, (not the Plus),Model Number VTR-LO9 EMUI version 5.1
I'm running Android 7.0 Build Number VTR-L09C432B162

Today I somehow accidently made my "Time & Date" folder disappear, (it contains Clock and Calendar), whilst dragging it around on the screen. These, and many more "hidden" apps, are accessible by tapping the Apps icon, (white circle with 9 black dots in 3 rows of 3). Once in, you can then drag any app icon out of there onto the screen. So that is how I can get Clock and Calendar back.

Trouble is, that the only way to access that Apps icon seems to be to switch out of Standard home screen and into Drawer instead. Snag then is that when I drag apps, (specifically, Clock and Calendar), out onto the screen, I'm putting them onto Drawer.

So when I go back to Standard, (which I use all the time, and which I want to continue to use), Clock and Calendar are not carried across.

So how do I get Clock and Calendar, back, (where I want them), please?

 

[Rukbat]

1. The things you see in the app drawer are apps - the things you see on the home screen are shortcuts to the apps in the app drawer.

2. Just drag whatever app you want from the app drawer to the home screen and that will create a shortcut to the app on the home screen. The app stays in the app drawer.

3. To make a folder with more than one shortcut on the home screen, drag the app from the app drawer (or a shortcut from the home screen) to another app, and they'll merge, forming a folder with both shortcuts in them. To take an app out of a folder just tap the folder (which opens the folder) then drag the shortcut out of the folder.

 

[Alex Cessford]

Thank you Rukbat. Unfortunately I don't seem to have explained my problem very well, because your answer doesn't get me the solution I need. Let me try again to explain:

The point is that when I am doing what you have now explained to be creating a shortcut, by dragging what is in practical terms a copy of the app, I am dragging it onto the DRAWER version of the Home Screen, because selecting the Drawer Home Screen style, (in Settings ->Home screen style) is the only way I can get access to the "hidden" apps via the Apps icon -the shortcut that is a white circle with 9 black dots in 3 rows of 3.

That Apps icon/shortcut, (whatever name you call it), the white circle with 9 black dots in 3 rows of 3, is not available or accessible anywhere when you are in the Standard Home screen. (Well I can't find how to do that, if I'm wrong, and it's not for want of spending much time trying). If it was, I would simply do exactly what you describe, drag a shortcut onto the home screen. I can't do that because I cannot open or see the hidden collection of Apps.

All I want to do is put the Clock and Calendar shortcuts back onto the STANDARD Home Screen. They are already visible and in place when I use the DRAWER Home screen, but I don't use, (and don't want to use), the DRAWER Home Screen. I've spent ages organising dozens of app shortcuts into folders and putting the folders in order as I like them. the DRAWER screen is just a jumbled mess of only some of the apps I use. I don't know on what basis the ones that are there got there, I certainly have never done any of it.

 

[miz_pimp]

I'm not sure why your clock and calendar icons are missing, unless you added the Hidden Apps option? Try to Force Close/Clear cache the Huawei Home app, to see if it brings the apps back.

If not, what you can try to do is to make a backup of your homescreen (Backup app > Backup > Backup to SD Card > System data > Desktop icon layout > Done > Next).

Then, clear the data of Huawei Home (Settings > Apps > Huawei Home > Storage > Clear Data). Once that is done, open the Backup app, and restore the backup that you've made, and hopefully the apps will be back on the standard drawer.

 

[Alex Cessford]

Hi miz_pimp,
Thank you for trying to help me, I appreciate it. I've fallen at the first hurdle though, because I don't understand what the "Huawei Home app" is.
I would still like to pursue your suggestion, if you don't mind explaining about that home app.
For your information, I've now had a lot of help on the phone from from Huawei UK Customer Service. The guy was extremely kind and patient. However, his solution was to back up the entire phone to my SD card,do a factory reset, then restore from the SD card back to the Internal Storage. He assured me repeatedly that this would result in the Apps icon, (the white circle with the 9 black dots arranged in 3 rows of 3), being visible at the bottom of the screen when in STANDARD Home Screen Style, (ie. whether or not it was also visible in DRAWER Home Screen Style).

However, it would also mean that my previous organisation of around 60 apps in 19 different folders would be lost, and I would have to redo all that! I'm not keen!!!

Meanwhile, my clever wife after listening to my complaints and whingeing, came at the problem from a totally different angle - one which had never occurred to me, (and I'm supposed to be the one with computer expertise!!). Instead of trying to get the missing built-in apps back, she said just go to Play Store, download a Clock app and a Calendar app and put them where you want on your STANDARD home screen! Why didn't I think of that?

Ok, so they're not the original ones. I can live with that. They are probably better than the originals anyway, and still free. And her solution took around 3 minutes, including creating a new Date & Time folder and dragging the two new apps into it. If I'd gone for the factory reset, re-creating folders and reorganising the apps would have taken . . . well I dread to think. Multiple times her 3 minute solution, that's for sure.

 

[miz_pimp]

Hi miz_pimp,
Thank you for trying to help me, I appreciate it. I've fallen at the first hurdle though, because I don't understand what the "Huawei Home app" is.
I would still like to pursue your suggestion, if you don't mind explaining about that home app.
For your information, I've now had a lot of help on the phone from from Huawei UK Customer Service. The guy was extremely kind and patient. However, his solution was to back up the entire phone to my SD card,do a factory reset, then restore from the SD card back to the Internal Storage. He assured me repeatedly that this would result in the Apps icon, (the white circle with the 9 black dots arranged in 3 rows of 3), being visible at the bottom of the screen when in STANDARD Home Screen Style, (ie. whether or not it was also visible in DRAWER Home Screen Style).

However, it would also mean that my previous organisation of around 60 apps in 19 different folders would be lost, and I would have to redo all that! I'm not keen!!!

Meanwhile, my clever wife after listening to my complaints and whingeing, came at the problem from a totally different angle - one which had never occurred to me, (and I'm supposed to be the one with computer expertise!!). Instead of trying to get the missing built-in apps back, she said just go to Play Store, download a Clock app and a Calendar app and put them where you want on your STANDARD home screen! Why didn't I think of that?

Ok, so they're not the original ones. I can live with that. They are probably better than the originals anyway, and still free. And her solution took around 3 minutes, including creating a new Date & Time folder and dragging the two new apps into it. If I'd gone for the factory reset, re-creating folders and reorganising the apps would have taken . . . well I dread to think. Multiple times her 3 minute solution, that's for sure.

Haha, your wife is brilliant!

Firstly, the Huawei Home app is the launcher/Homescreen.

When you make a backup of the desktop icons layout, once you restore that backup, everything should be as you created it, except the clock and calendar apps should be back, but you will just need to add it back to the time and date folder you created.

This is in the Backup app, to make the backup of your homescreen setup:

This is the app settings for Huawei Home. (Settings > Apps > Huawei Home) It might look a bit different to yours, because I am currently on EMUI 8.0)

I hope this helps a bit