Apps on home screen - hiding/folders/moving duplicated icons in app screen

[Pixel Hunter]

I wasn't sure if this should be asked here in Android 14 (current version my S24+ is running) or in the S24+ section.

From what I understand, it is "working as intended" that any apps on the home screen will also be duplicated in the app screen (app drawer/app tray/whatever you call it). I can move them in the app screen, but I'm looking for something easier/more elegant. Is there no way to hide them? Move them into folders? Or create a page on the app screen that you can just move to the end?

Being new to Android/Galaxy, this is annoying since iPhone seemed to not have this problem (though it had plenty of other problems.) I have downloaded Nova Launcher, but honestly, haven't touched it because I don't even know where to begin. So I'm not even sure using that would solve this issue.

 

[B. Diddy]

I have a Galaxy A32 5G running Android 13, but I think this feature should still be available -- when you open your App Drawer, tap the 3-dot button at the upper right, then Settings, then "Hide apps on Home and App screens." But this will hide the app completely (from both screens). Are you asking how to hide it in the App Drawer but still have it visible on the Homescreen?

The idea of separating the Homescreen from the App Drawer is so that the user can customize which apps they want to see all the time, while the App Drawer is the full list of every app. I rarely bring up the App Drawer, because I set up my homescreens to contain all of the apps I typically use. To me, this is a great advantage over iOS's insistence that the homescreen essentially be your entire App Drawer, with much less possibility of customization.

 

[Pixel Hunter]

Are you asking how to hide it in the App Drawer but still have it visible on the Homescreen?

Yes, right now I have 8 apps on my home screen and 4 more in the quick access bar at the bottom of the home screen. When I swipe down to the app drawer, those same 12 apps are right there at the top of my screen. I know I can move them one by one to the bottom/end of the app drawer pages. But I was hoping for something a little better than that.

Maybe learning Nova Launcher will allow me to tweak the home and app screens the way I envision.

To be honest, the way iPhone handled app icons on the screens is one of the things that drove me away from Apple. But they had been making improvements with the addition of widgets and the other changes. Of course, right when I ditched iPhone and moved to Android they came out with the latest iOS that let you put app icons wherever you wanted.

Actually, turning off the app drawer on Android makes it work more like iOS. I would just have multiple home pages where I could put icons wherever I wanted and widgets mixed in as needed. The only downside, at least with the default launcher, is not being able to create folders on the home screens. On the other hand, Android's app drawer allows folders, but you can't leave gaps in your app layout or have widgets on those pages.

Heh... I really need to learn Nova and see if I can get what I'm envisioning that way; My commonly used apps and widgets on one or more home pages in a logical and aesthetically pleasing way, and then all the less common apps grouped up in folders by category out of the way.

 

[B. Diddy]

But why rely on the App Drawer when you can set up your homescreens with exactly the apps you want to see? That was my previous point.

I always set my App Drawer to sort alphabetically, since it's essentially a catalog of my installed apps, and it's easier for me to find what I'm looking for alphabetically. If you want to sort yours alphabetically, then open the App Drawer, tap the 3-dot menu button at the upper right, then Sort, and choose Alphabetically there.

 

[mustang7757]

Under home screen setting u can choose to have only home screen and no app drawer but Nova can customize way more than the stock launcher both home and app drawer.

I'm going to move this to the s24 Forum

 

[Laura Knotek]

Under home screen setting u can choose to have only home screen and no app drawer but Nova can customize way more than the stock launcher both home and app drawer.

I'm going to move this to the s24 Forum

I'd recommend for them to use another launcher like Nova. Otherwise all their apps will show up which would be exactly like iOS.