Organizing Your iPhone

First off, this isn’t about shaming. You organize your phone how you want. Like your bedroom, if you have underwear on the floor but you keep it there because that’s where you want it, good for you!

I’m writing this because I need things organized. I need things at the touch of a finger and if the only way to find something is to do it in the ‘search’ window, I’ve already had to do too many steps. So I’m showing you how I keep mine organized and simple to navigate!

I currently have 304 apps on my iPhone X. 

Yes, it’s more than I’ll ever need and they’re probably unnecessary but I’m an ‘app junkie’ and am always downloading new ones to try! But I keep it from getting overwhelming by organizing all of my apps into folders (did you know you can do this?) so anything I need from my phone can be accessed right away.

You’ve only got 28 total slots for you to use on your home screen so I make the most of the space by organizing mine into 3 sections: Folders, Shortcuts, and my Dock.

The Dock and Shortcuts contain apps I use most often since those apps are easy to reach with my thumb. The Folders contain apps I use less often but I still find important.

What’s In My Dock?

I’ve got my Phone app for calls (I try to make as few of these as possible) and IG (because I can’t quit you), Edison’s AI-powered Mail app for email (which I prefer over Apple’s default Mail app and don’t have updated here), and iMessages for all texts.

My Shortcuts

Above the Dock are all my Shortcuts: I use these 12 apps every day, so I don’t organize them into folders  – if it’s not on my home screen I rarely remember to use them. I also keep these below the Folders so I can reach them all with my thumb! (lazy or smart? I prefer smart!) You’ll also notice I keep these alphabetized – sorta. Sometimes when I’m rearranging I don’t get them quite in the right order. ‘A’ for effort, right?

Don’t be afraid to switch up your shortcuts – mine change ALL the time. Nothing is permanent on my phone – apps have to earn their keep!

Organizing Your Folders

I can easily fit most of my apps into 12 categories. But like my shortcuts, these change all the time.

My 12 folder categories include:

1. Adobe:  for all of my Adobe Apps that allow me to edit photos (Lightroom)
2. Banking, for wallet, credit card, and financial information
3. Entertainment: for watching Netflix, Prime, Apple TV and movies
4. Food: Favoreats – my #1 recipe app, for delivery apps, restaurant reviews, recipe apps
5. Health: Where I track my fitness stats, record what I eat, and track OTF
6. Music: for iTunes, Podcasts, Spotify and other audio apps required by certain headphones
7. Organization: for my calendar, notes, reminders, appts, contacts (basically the apps that come preloaded on my phone
8. Photo: for taking pictures, my photo album, editing – basically anything photo related!
9. Read: for all of my books, news outlets, magazines
10. Shopping: for all of my shopping apps I love to use
11. Social Media: for social media apps
12. Travel: for navigating and getting around

When I download new apps, I’ll usually keep them on a second page for a short amount of time so I remember what my new apps actually are – do you have this problem? If they absolutely blow my mind or I find myself using them a ton right out of the gate, I’ll organize those apps into folders — I’ve also had apps totally replace Shortcuts as well! Google Photo replaced my native Apple photo album as soon as I started using it.

Creating A Folder

Do you organize your phone in a way that is life-changing? Am I missing out? Tell me in the comments!