Solved Long Press Not Working to Add an App Icon to the Home Screen in Android 12?

[karat]

I've been trying to add an app (Clock) to my home screen, but the old method (long press) isn't working. I've tried on both search (swipe up from middle of screen) and settings > apps > all apps. All apps just gives me app info the same as a tap, while long press from search just lets me scroll the screen from there.

Should long press be allowing me to add an icon to the home screen, or has the UI changed? What else can I try?

This is on Android 12 on a Motorola Moto G Power phone.

In the meantime, my workaround is to add the Clock widget to the screen and tap that to get the Clock app.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Are you able to bring up the App Drawer?

Can you show us a screenshot of what your homescreen looks like? http://forums.androidcentral.com/ge...ide-how-post-screenshots-android-central.html

 

[karat]

Welcome to Android Central! Are you able to bring up the App Drawer?

Can you show us a screenshot of what your homescreen looks like? http://forums.androidcentral.com/ge...ide-how-post-screenshots-android-central.html

I can swipe up from the middle of the screen and get a search. Is that an App Drawer? If so, then yes.

But I already told you that information, so I consider your request (and your whole approach) to be rude and inappropriate.

What is appropriate is to answer my questions: "Should long press be allowing me to add an icon to the home screen, or has the UI changed? What else can I try?"

If it depends, then tell me what it depends on. If you want a screenshot to determine what launcher I am using, then please say so, instead of just asking for a screenshot. That is what would be more appropriate than your approach.

There is a subtle point here. My goal is to get information, not to be told how to fix a problem. In isolation, I cannot know what other people experience. Without knowing expected results, I cannot tell if there is a technical problem or a UI issue. Did something change in an update, or is it something else? That tells me something useful. Being asked questions does not tell me anything useful other than the keywords used -- in this case "App Drawer".

 

[B. Diddy]

What exactly is rude and appropriate about my request? If you're not sure what an App Drawer is, simply ask. We get a lot of members here who have widely varied experience levels, and there have been times when people have considered it rude to be explained what a term is because they already know it. So we tend to presume a certain level of familiarity with Android and other tech terms, but it's never a problem to ask.

The App Drawer (or as Moto calls it, the App Tray) is the list of all of your installed apps that you can bring up directly from your homescreen. (This is different from going to the system settings and selecting Apps -- that's to get specific information about an app, and to do certain operations for that app like clearing its cache or data.) You can bring up the App Drawer in a couple of different ways, depending on if you're using gesture navigation or not. If you're using gestures, then you typically swipe up from the lower half of the screen. If you're using nav buttons (the 3 buttons at the bottom edge of the screen), then there's typically an App Drawer button in the bottom row of your homescreen (i.e., the Favorites tray) -- this button looks like a circle or square with a grid of dots in it.

Things can be further complicated by how an individual manufacturer tweaks the interface. For example, Moto give you the option to choose between "App Tray" and "Open" -- the latter completely eliminates the App Tray and shows every single installed app on the home screen (like an iPhone). See this support page: https://www.hardreset.info/devices/...-2022/faq/faq/drawer-mode-motorola-android12/

In your case, make sure App Tray is selected. You should then be able to bring up the App Tray by swiping up from the bottom of the screen. Once the App Tray comes up, find the Clock app, long-press it, then drag and drop it to the homescreen.

You mention that long-pressing isn't working -- is that from the App Tray? That's why I was asking for a screenshot, to see where you're attempting the long-press. I didn't ask if you're using a 3rd party launcher because you didn't initially specify that -- are you using a 3rd party launcher? That certainly would be good information to know.

 

[mustang7757]

I can swipe up from the middle of the screen and get a search. Is that an App Drawer? If so, then yes.

But I already told you that information, so I consider your request (and your whole approach) to be rude and inappropriate.

What is appropriate is to answer my questions: "Should long press be allowing me to add an icon to the home screen, or has the UI changed? What else can I try?"

If it depends, then tell me what it depends on. If you want a screenshot to determine what launcher I am using, then please say so, instead of just asking for a screenshot. That is what would be more appropriate than your approach.

There is a subtle point here. My goal is to get information, not to be told how to fix a problem. In isolation, I cannot know what other people experience. Without knowing expected results, I cannot tell if there is a technical problem or a UI issue. Did something change in an update, or is it something else? That tells me something useful. Being asked questions does not tell me anything useful other than the keywords used -- in this case "App Drawer".

Welcome to AC!
b.diddy ask a fair question can u post a screenshot so we could see what you are seeing, we don't have the device in our hands

 

[Madd62]

I can swipe up from the middle of the screen and get a search. Is that an App Drawer? If so, then yes.

But I already told you that information, so I consider your request (and your whole approach) to be rude and inappropriate.

Dear Sir / Madam,

Would you be so kind as to elucidate further on your use of the word 'search' in this context above?

Do you mean a search window where you can type the name of the app to find it, or do all the installed app icons appear, generally in alphabetical order?
If the latter, that is referred to as an App Drawer, and has confused Android users for centuries.

I possess an older model Moto E6 as a second phone in the UK.
It is on Android 9 (you may wish to vacate my post at this stage).
It, and previous Motorola models I have used, do not have the famous Moto clock circular widget (again impertinent of me to include that information).

Motorola may tell you, or their user forums what changed with Android 12, if anything, that is relevant.


I can long press on the clock app icon in the App Drawer (or list) and swipe it up to a home screen - as on most devices.

As I have a clock widget (digital or analogue) on my main home screen, pressing it serves the same purpose as tapping the clock app icon. It brings up the various alarm and stopwatch options etc.

Were you long pressing on the app icon and waiting for an add to a Home Screen option, or long pressing on a Home Screen to add an app icon? With these large forums you have to reduce your expectations to my intellectual level.

Your original post could be deemed ambiguous and open to different interpretations, dare I bravely say so.

However, B. Diddy has now been escorted to the rear of our premises and severely thrashed for his impertinence, in the hope you will continue to serve us with your presence.

Best regards, Mr Wonderful.

 

[karat]

I am using gesture navigation without a 3rd party launcher. The method of accessing the app drawer via gesture navigation changed in an update a while back (swiping up from middle rather than bottom), as do other features, so I'm never sure what the intended behavior is. It is good to know that long press should still be working. (It didn't help that I searched and found that long press behavior had been replaced in several other features and apps, so I mistakenly thought that there was a new way of doing the old thing.)

In the meantime, I have figured it out. While the app drawer has a list of installed programs and icons, it also has a search feature at the top, which is handy when the list of installed programs is long. All good so far. What broke my brain was the fact that interacting with the search results is not the same as scrolling down, finding the item, then interacting with it there.

While I thought I was long pressing on the icon in the app drawer, I was actually long pressing on the search result, which I wrongly assumed would be equivalent to scrolling down and long pressing when I found the icon. Long pressing after scrolling down does work, but long pressing on the search result does not work.

This does violate my concept of how search should work, which really confuses me. My expectation was that search simply narrows the list but does not change how one interacts with the list. Besides, the search result is useless if the results don't have the desired functionality once one finds the app -- that is, one still has to scroll down anyway.

 

[karat]

What exactly is rude and appropriate about my request? If you're not sure what an App Drawer is, simply ask. We get a lot of members here who have widely varied experience levels, and there have been times when people have considered it rude to be explained what a term is because they already know it. So we tend to presume a certain level of familiarity with Android and other tech terms, but it's never a problem to ask.

The App Drawer (or as Moto calls it, the App Tray) is the list of all of your installed apps that you can bring up directly from your homescreen. (This is different from going to the system settings and selecting Apps -- that's to get specific information about an app, and to do certain operations for that app like clearing its cache or data.) You can bring up the App Drawer in a couple of different ways, depending on if you're using gesture navigation or not. If you're using gestures, then you typically swipe up from the lower half of the screen. If you're using nav buttons (the 3 buttons at the bottom edge of the screen), then there's typically an App Drawer button in the bottom row of your homescreen (i.e., the Favorites tray) -- this button looks like a circle or square with a grid of dots in it.

Things can be further complicated by how an individual manufacturer tweaks the interface. For example, Moto give you the option to choose between "App Tray" and "Open" -- the latter completely eliminates the App Tray and shows every single installed app on the home screen (like an iPhone). See this support page: https://www.hardreset.info/devices/...-2022/faq/faq/drawer-mode-motorola-android12/

In your case, make sure App Tray is selected. You should then be able to bring up the App Tray by swiping up from the bottom of the screen. Once the App Tray comes up, find the Clock app, long-press it, then drag and drop it to the homescreen.

You mention that long-pressing isn't working -- is that from the App Tray? That's why I was asking for a screenshot, to see where you're attempting the long-press. I didn't ask if you're using a 3rd party launcher because you didn't initially specify that -- are you using a 3rd party launcher? That certainly would be good information to know.

Thank you.

 

[B. Diddy]

Glad you figured it out.

 

[B. Diddy]

However, B. Diddy has now been escorted to the rear of our premises and severely thrashed for his impertinence, in the hope you will continue to serve us with your presence.

Ouchie, my hiney hurts now.