Text
Rodion Danilov
How many apps are installed on your iPhone - 50 or even 100? Over the past year, the number of applications, without which (as it turns out) we all cannot live a day, has at least doubled. And the moment has come when it is simply necessary to organize these shortcuts so that they are all at hand. There are many ways you can arrange shortcuts to make them more effective. We have collected some of the most rational and original methods.
There is a whole area of research devoted to measuring how much time we spend on unnecessary movements of our fingers in search of desired application. Try to observe exactly how you hold the phone and which areas of the screen are most accessible to your fingers. This is where you should group the icons of the most frequently used applications. For example, if you are right-handed and use your phone with one hand, place them in a column along the right edge of the screen.
To ensure that the icons do not “spread” across 5 screens, It's worth keeping folders. The most obvious way to catalog applications is to collect apps that are similar to each other into separate folders. For many, folders with category names , that are offered in the system by default (such as Productivity, Reference, Entertainment) seem too vague. Instead, try creating folders with names that will be clear to you. Think about what you use your phone for. Watch videos, play games, listen to music, read books or news? Label folders with the verbs “watch”, “listen”, “read”, “study” and arrange applications in them accordingly. This will help you navigate a huge number of applications faster.
If you don't like using folders, try grouping shortcuts into rows by topic, for example, all Facebook, VKontakte, Twitter and Tinder applications - in a row social networks, all planning applications, such as calendar, task list and alarm clock, are in a different thematic series, etc.
If you are used to navigating the alphabetical order, Then the A to Z way of arranging icons will suit you. Instead of manually arranging all the application icons on your iPhone, launch Settings, select General, then Reset and reset Home Screen Layout. After this, all the icons are installed applications Apple will be located by default, and other applications will be sorted alphabetically.
One of the most popular ways to organize shortcuts applications involves placing them by frequency of use (in descending order). It is important to consider: in order not to clutter your phone and to have all the applications at hand, you should not have more than three screens. Place your most frequently used tools on your home screen, such as the camera; on the second page of the main screen are useful applications organized into folders by topic and category. On the third screen, put the apps you use least often. You can also put games there that constantly distract you from your work.
for visual learners, Mashable columnist Kylie Singh suggested. Since folders can be labeled not only with text, but also with emoji, it makes sense that a folder with a symbol, for example, sheet music, could contain music and applications associated with it. The folder with the palm tree can hold your vacation photos, and behind the running man can be the sports apps Runstatic and Nike+.
If after your “cleaning”, when all the icons are arranged in folders and scattered on different screens, you still cannot find anything, use the search. Let us remind you that quick access this function is accessed by swiping down.
). However, they can cause a lot of difficulties.
Even after you have decided on the format (SVG or icon font?) and created the desired set, certain questions may arise.
Here's a perfect example:
Tricky, right? Aligning icons can be quite a challenge, especially if the icons are made by multiple people. To be honest, I thought the question was so easy that it could be answered in one tweet. However, to perfectly align the icons in the text, you will have to try.
Fortunately for us, there are a couple of universal tips, following which we will always know that our icons are perfectly aligned.
1. Decide on the icon format
There are other ways to create icons besides SVG, and many of them are already outdated. Here are the main ways:
- inline images.
Regardless of your preference, the alignment of icons depends greatly on the format you choose. Let's say all your icons are included in one sprite. This means that the icons have a fixed size (unless, of course, you made them large in order to further reduce them using background-size). In this case, it is much easier to choose the size and line-height of the text to align with the icons.
The advantage of SVG is that it is scalable and you spend more time on CSS rather than design.
Conclusion: choose one format for all icons and build your alignment method based on it. The code will be much simpler this way, and your designer (or your internal designer) will thank you.
2. Use icons of the same size
Let's consider an ideal situation: all icons are square and the same size, 100x100. We know the sizes of the icons, which greatly simplifies the alignment process.
We also know that this is not always the case. Icons can take up varying amounts of space.
The map icon is narrower than the avatar icon, and that, in turn, is narrower than the shopping cart icon. Yes, you can trim off all the white space around icons to save file size, but you'll end up with icons of different sizes. If we are working with SVG, this is not a problem. But for raster graphics such as PNG, this arrangement is undesirable. In SVG, we can specify a certain space that an icon will occupy without losing resolution, but raster graphics will be stretched and distorted if the resolution is not respected.
Here you can adjust the conditions in which icons are created to the format used. If you're using SVG, the icon itself can be any size, but try not to touch the canvas dimensions in Illustrator (or any other graphic editor). This way you can scale the icons in the future.
Always respect permissions when working with raster graphics. Icons can take up different amounts of space, but the key is to make sure your icons are clear and proportional.
3. The font size should match the size of the icons
Icons are mostly treated like fonts. They are used in conjunction with or instead of text, so it is extremely important to size icons to fit the text for the same reason that using letters of the same size affects the legibility of the text.
This does not mean that icons must be 16px if the text font size is 16px. It is important to understand that your icons perfectly complement the text, whether they are slightly larger, the same size, or slightly smaller than the main text. A visual illustration of well-aligned icons and poorly aligned icons.
Although the alignment is the same in both examples, the icons on the left fit the text much better and are better aligned than the icons on the right.
4. Fine-tune the look with CSS
There is one accurate and simple way to align icons in text:
Icon ( position: relative; /* Adjust these values accordingly */ top: 5px; left: 5px; )
In the demo below, you can see the difference between perfectly aligned icons and text and icons that are slightly less aligned.
5. Use classes for individual icons
The example above is not bad, but you may have noticed that the location icon is narrower and located further from the text than the music icon. It's so annoying! Here CSS, written specifically for this icon, will help us out.
- Weezer
- Santa Monica
- Discography
- weezer.com
- Artist Store
So much better!
Conclusion
If this doesn't help you align icons and text accurately, you're not alone. It all depends greatly on how you created the icons. CSS is a pretty simple way.
This article only describes how to align icons within text, but there are many other elements such as buttons, form fields, menus, etc. And then there’s responsive design, right?! Regardless of what needs to be done, these five tips will help you get the job done.
There's an entire field of research dedicated to measuring how much time we spend fumbling around in search of the app we want. Try to observe exactly how you hold the phone and which areas of the screen are most accessible to your fingers. This is where you should group the icons of the most frequently used applications. For example, if you are right-handed and use your phone with one hand, place them in a column along the right edge of the screen.
To prevent icons from spreading across 5 screens, it’s worth creating folders. The most obvious way to catalog applications is to collect apps that are similar to each other into separate folders. For many, the default category folders (such as Productivity, Reference, Entertainment) seem too vague. Instead, try creating folders with names that will be clear to you. Think about what you use your phone for. Watch videos, play games, listen to music, read books or news? Label folders with the verbs “watch”, “listen”, “read”, “study” and arrange applications in them accordingly. This will help you navigate a huge number of applications faster.
If you don't like using folders, try grouping shortcuts into rows by topic, for example, all Facebook, VKontakte, Twitter and Tinder apps into a row of social networks, all scheduling apps, such as calendar, list tasks and alarm clock, - to another thematic series, etc.
If you're used to navigating in an alphabetical order, the A to Z way of arranging icons will work for you. Instead of manually arranging all the app icons on your iPhone, launch Settings, select General, then Reset and reset Home Screen Layout. After this, all the icons of pre-installed Apple applications will be located by default, and other applications will be sorted alphabetically.
One of the most popular ways to organize application shortcuts involves placing them by frequency of use (in descending order). It is important to consider: in order not to clutter your phone and to have all the applications at hand, you should not have more than three screens. Place your most frequently used tools on your home screen, such as the camera; on the second page of the main screen are useful applications organized into folders by topic and category. On the third screen, put the apps you use least often. You can also put games there that constantly distract you from your work.
Another original way to organize icons for visual learners was suggested by Mashable columnist Kylie Singh. Since folders can be labeled not only with text, but also with emoji, it makes sense that a folder with a symbol, for example, sheet music, could contain music and applications associated with it. The folder with the palm tree can hold your vacation photos, and behind the running man can be the sports apps Runstatic and Nike+.
If after your “cleaning”, when all the icons are arranged in folders and scattered on different screens, you still cannot find anything, use the search. Let us remind you that quick access to this function is carried out by swiping down.
www.lookatme.ru
How to organize apps on Samsung Galaxy devices - android.mobile-review.com
Based on materials from cnet.com
Once you've removed everything you don't need from your device, it's time to organize what's left. A few tips will allow you to get a new, uncluttered user experience.
Sometimes "cleaning" Android devices is more than deleting files to free up space. Hide apps you don't plan to use, provide quick access to the ones you need, change the availability of shortcuts - all this can make using your smartphone more rational. Below you will find several ways to “refresh” your relationship with your smartphone without much effort.
1. Hide unnecessary things
The application information page allows you to disable those you don't use.
Before you start organizing the apps you need, it's worth hiding the ones you don't use. Click “Menu”, go to settings, and then to the last item, “General”. There you will see the Application Manager which will allow you to see the list of applications installed on your device. Please note that not all unnecessary applications you can turn it off. For each application that you want to disable (this means that it will not run in the background or appear among your applications), you need to select it and click on the “Disable” button. Now there will be less fuss with things you will never use.
2. Change your apps' display settings
Change the order in which apps appear to make them easier to find
Please note: this item is only relevant for users who have not yet received Android 5.0.
As you add or remove apps, and especially if you do it frequently, your apps can become difficult to navigate. What can further complicate this is that they are not displayed in alphabetical order. So let's solve the problem. Go to the menu and find the “View” item. In the menu that appears, choose what suits you best.
3. Create application folders
Instead of a clutter of application icons on the home screen - neat folders
If you find that searching for apps has become difficult and inconvenient, then you have a lot of clutter on your home screen(s). In the case of the screen, this is even less convenient than with the general list of applications. So why not try using folders, grouping apps by task type or frequency of use? Let's create the first folder. Long press on free space home screen– select “Folder” and give it a name. You can now pinch and drag applications to a new folder. You can achieve the same effect by placing one application icon on top of another. So it all depends on your version of Android; for the “five” the first method is not suitable.
4. Select icons for quick access
You should have quick access to the application icons that you need most
When organizing apps, it's worth choosing which ones are worthy of being included in the shortcut bar at the bottom of the screen. These are supposed to be shortcuts to the most necessary applications, but the default set of these applications may differ from what is convenient for you personally, and this does not correspond to the original idea of this line. So just simply click on an icon, hold and drag - and the desired application is already in your quick access. Very simple.
5. Use widgets for the most necessary application functions.
The circular battery widget displays charge in this elegant way
You may find it inconvenient to open an application every time to use one of its functions. This is where widgets come to the rescue. Quickly write down a thought? Need to inquire about the weather? No problem. See what widgets you already have installed: Tap on your home screen and select Widgets. To use any of them, do the usual action - hold and drag to where you want the widget to appear. Remember that different widgets take up different amounts of space, so the numbers below their names indicate the vertical and horizontal size.
6. Sort notification bar icons.
Wi-Fi and GPS icons should always be at hand
Without being tied directly to apps, the ability to quickly access Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and volume from the notification shade is important. Here's another space for customization. Go to “Settings” - “Device” - “Notification Panel”. For older ones Android versions it will be “Settings” - “My Device” - “Display” - “Notification Panel”.
Even if you use a couple of the tips offered, you will see how much the convenience of working with the device will improve.
How did you start customizing your smartphone for yourself? Share in the comments.
android.mobile-review.com
9 Most Convenient Ways to Arrange App Icons on iPhone
The simplest sorting method, in which popular applications are located on the main screen or closer to it, and launched ones rarely take their place on last pages.
Advantages: The applications you need are always at hand.
Disadvantages: if there are many applications, the time required to find and launch the one you need increases.
2. Folders by category
Since the appearance of folders in iOS, God himself ordered them to be used for sorting. The most logical way is to group them by topic. “Internet”, “Sports”, “Office”, “Games” - the system itself suggests names for combining two similar applications. Usually everything is placed in folders on the second screen, and the first one frees up space for more popular programs.
Advantages: You can compactly accommodate a large number of applications.
Disadvantages: difficulty in searching and one additional action to start.
3. Action folders
Unlike the previous one, this method uses the purpose of applications - the actions that they help to perform - as a sorting criterion. For example, the “Read” folder contains iBooks, Reeder and Pocket, the “Listen” folder contains Spotify, “Podcasts” and “Music”, and the “Play” folder contains games.
You don’t have to bother with names and use emojis instead of words. This way, not just one, but several actions can easily fit into a signature.
Advantages: ease of perception and minimal search time.
Disadvantages: There may be too many folders, and some applications may be suitable for several of them at once.
4. Folders on one screen
The essence of this method is a conscious refusal to use several desktops in order to place everything on the main screen. You will have to try and group the applications so as to fit into the available space. But then you won’t have to scroll through it - just open one of the folders and launch the desired application.
Advantages: maximum compactness.
Disadvantages: It is quite difficult to group all applications into several folders.
5. By topic without folders
Despite all the advantages of folders, sometimes it’s easier to just swipe a couple of times and find what you’re looking for, seeing all the applications in front of your eyes. To do this, they must all be grouped into rows or columns.
Advantages: clearer visual perception and faster search.
Disadvantages: it is almost impossible to fit the necessary applications on 2-3 desktops; they stretch across 5–7 screens.
6. Minimalism
Good way, making it easier to find apps and making your desktop look attractive. However, it is suitable only for those who have so few installed applications that they can be placed on 1-2 screens.
Advantages: beautiful and clear.
Disadvantages: useless if there are more than twenty applications.
7. Alphabetically
The most severe method for those who are too lazy to sort applications in any way. It is used by default in iOS. If you know the name of the application, finding it will not be difficult. To enable this type of sorting, open “Settings” → “General” → “Reset”, select “Reset Home settings” and confirm the action.
Advantages: strict order.
Disadvantages: Requires scrolling through desktops and remembering application names.
8. By color
The most exotic sorting method, the essence of which is to select adjacent icons by color. It will appeal to aesthetes and those with a good visual memory, since after such sorting you will have to search for applications exclusively by color.
Advantages: very beautiful.
Disadvantages: almost useless. Finding the right application becomes quite difficult.
9. Combined method
Finally we get to the most common and most convenient sorting method. All of the above options for grouping applications are good, but very radical.
Why go to such extremes when you can take the best from each of them and place the most used ones on the main screen, place a folder with programs of the same topic in the Dock, and within one folder arrange applications according to icon colors or purpose.
Advantages: opportunity fine tuning for yourself.
Disadvantages: longer time spent searching for applications compared to more concise sorting methods.
How to keep your desktop tidy
Whichever method you choose, don't forget to keep things organized. This is very easy to do. It is enough to follow simple rules:
- Create no more than three desktops, otherwise scrolling through screens will take a lot of time.
- Once a month, delete apps you don't use. There will be fewer icons and more order. You will also save space.
- Don't forget about searching. Swiping down on any screen will open Spotlight, where you can easily find the application you need by typing just a couple of characters.
lifehacker.ru
Complete order: How to organize icons on your smartphone
Text: Rodion Danilov
How many apps are installed on your iPhone - fifty or even a hundred? Over the past year, the number of applications, without which (as it turns out) we all cannot live a day, has at least doubled. The moment has come when it is simply necessary to organize these shortcuts so that they are all at hand. There are many ways you can arrange icons to make them more effective. We have collected some of the most rational and original methods.
Are you a visual person? Then the method of arranging objects by color will work not only for your closet, but also for your phone or tablet. Application icons are specially designed to be easy to remember and identify. If it is much easier for you to remember the color of the icon of a particular program than its name, then it is logical to place them according to the shades of the rainbow - from red to purple. The end result will definitely be pleasing to the eye.
Another original way to organize icons for visual learners was suggested by Mashable columnist Kylie Singh. Since folders can be labeled not only with text, but also with emoji, it makes sense that a folder with a symbol, for example, sheet music, could contain music and applications associated with it. The folder with the palm tree can hold your vacation photos, and behind the running man can be the sports apps Runstatic and Nike+.
There's an entire field of research devoted to how much time we spend fumbling around with our fingers to find the app we're looking for. Try to observe exactly how you hold the phone and which areas of the screen are most accessible to your fingers. This is where you should group the icons of the most frequently used applications. For example, if you are right-handed and use your phone with one hand, place them in a column along the right edge of the screen.
Every owner of an iPhone or iPad has probably paid attention at least once in his life to the “correct” arrangement of icons on the desktop. During your work, you have probably encountered the fact that iOS, for example, does not allow you to place two favorite applications in the middle of the screen and nothing else. But now everything has changed!
The iOS desktop, just like other elements of iOS, is practically not amenable to user customization without the device going through the jailbreak procedure. However, craftsmen managed to find at least two clever ways to create empty space on a springboard, which we will discuss in this instruction.
2 . Open the downloaded image in the app Photo and tap the screen to hide the application interface elements.
Important: Please note that the selected image completely covers the screen (you can enlarge or reduce it if desired).
4. Open the standard Safari browser and follow this link.
5. Go to the " Create BLANK icons" and then press the button "Add".
7. Select the screenshot image that was taken in step 3. Click the button "Send".
After loading, your screenshot with the location of the icons will be displayed on the page.
8. Select a place where you want to see empty space in the future, for example, a 2 × 2 square.
After these simple steps, a “dummy” with a piece of wallpaper will appear on your desktop. All that remains is to place it in the desired position.
11. Arrange the pacifiers as you wish, for example, in the shape of a letter or figure:
By clicking on the dummy, you will immediately open the service page. Return to the previous page of the site and repeat the steps starting from point 8 to add new “dummies”.
To prevent the “pacifier” from standing out, ideally you need to turn on the “Reduce Motion” function, for which go to Settings → Basic → Universal Access → Reduce movement and activate the corresponding switch.
Dummies are removed in the same way as any application in iOS.
How to Arrange Icons on iPhone and iPad Anywhere on the Home Screen Using the Commands App (for iOS 12 and Later Devices)
If you want to leave just a few programs on your desktop and - most importantly - arrange them the way you want... Another solution is also offered by the new application from Apple - Teams.
However, unlike the previous method, we only need a plain “wallpaper” on the desktop. Otherwise, all the charm of the trick is lost - you will see dummy icons, and this is a complete failure. At the same time this method allows you to add “magic” effects. However, first things first.
For this example, we'll use an all-black “wallpaper.” This picture is already in the system settings of your iPhone or iPad: Settings → Wallpaper → Snapshots. The black image is the very last one on the list. Install it.
Now open the Teams app (if you don’t already have it, download it from the App Store; it doesn’t come with iOS by default). Here's what you need to do:
1. Click New team.
2. Tap the settings toggle icon in the upper right corner.
3. Click on the field with the name. To prevent the title from being visible, copy the characters between the square brackets. There is no need to copy the parentheses themselves.
4. Now let's change Icon. Click on the appropriate line. Tap the text Home Screen.
Here you can take a photo or select a ready-made photo from the library. Of course, it should be the same color as the background image on your desktop. We simply took a screenshot of a black photo (you can download it) and then specified it as an icon. Click Ready.
Click Add.
Done – our absolutely black icon has appeared on the desktop! As you can see, it blends into the surrounding background, and you get the complete impression that there is nothing on the screen except icons arranged in a very strange order for iOS.
Make as many icons as needed. To do this, just go to Teams again and repeat the same actions with the already created shortcut.
P.S. By the way, if you wish, you can also attach useful actions for the calendar, browsing the Internet, maps, contacts, to the “absolutely black” icons. Apple Music etc. This is already an incredible level of magic - you just press your finger on a black background, and iOS suddenly starts doing something!
Fantastic - but not for those in the know.
For example, let's display a Word shortcut on the desktop.
Press the Start button 1. Then move the cursor (without clicking the mouse buttons) over the All Programs 2 menu. A list of programs installed on your computer opens. Follow the arrow to go to this list and hover over the folder you need - Microsoft Office 3 .
A list of programs included in Microsoft Office will open. Move the cursor to the program we need:
Microsoft Office Word 2003 4
Now, hovering the cursor over Microsoft Office Word 2003, press the right mouse button.
It will open before you context menu.
Releasing the right mouse button, move the cursor to the Send 5 item, a submenu will open on the right, in which you select Desktop ( create shortcut) 6 and press the left mouse button.
That's it, now you can admire the program shortcut that has appeared on your desktop and launch Microsoft Office Word using it.
If you do not find the program you need in the Windows Main Menu
But sometimes you can't find it in the main menu the desired program(someone accidentally or deliberately deleted the shortcut). Don't despair, the matter can be fixed. If the program is on the computer, then you need to find the program launching file and display a shortcut from it on the desktop.
For text Word editor the way will be like this. By using Windows Explorer or file manager Total Commander find the Program Files folder, in it - the Microsoft Office folder, then
open the OFFICE11 folder and find the WINWORD.exe file in it
On the found file, right-click to open the context menu, and then act
already proven method. Proceed the same way with any other program.
Find its folder in Program Files, then find the file that launches the program in the folder
(most often it has the extension .exe, but there are others). If you don’t immediately understand which file is launching, double-click it and try to launch it. If the program starts, then everything is correct, this is the main file. Display the shortcut from it on the desktop using the method
shown above.
Note: B Program folder Files nothing can be deleted using the Delete button. Otherwise the program
which is located in this folder will stop working!
How to rename a desktop icon
If the name assigned to the shortcut Windows program, you don't like, for example, Shortcut for Word, then you can change it.
To do this, hover the cursor over the shortcut (icon), right-click to open the context menu and select the item Rename. Immediately the signature text under the label will be highlighted and you can remove the words “Shortcut for”, or completely rename the shortcut. After this, be sure to press the Enter key - only then will your name be saved.
Please note that such actions (rename, delete) can be performed only with shortcuts(they have a small black arrow in the lower left corner of the label). Files
programs located in their own folders in Program Files cannot be renamed! Otherwise they will stop working. You can only display shortcuts from them, and do what you want with the shortcuts!
How to display a website shortcut on your desktop
A site visitor asked me a question: " How to display a website shortcut on your desktop?". At first I thought that this made no sense, because links can be placed in Favorites. But after testing this option, I was convinced that this method of opening a site has a right to exist. After clicking on the shortcut, the web browser starts, and at the same time the site opens (two actions at the same time) How to create a shortcut to your favorite site on your desktop that you open every day? Internet Explorer installed with Windows on any computer, let's create a shortcut using it.
So, open Internet Explorer and open the desired site in it. Now in the File menu move the cursor to the Send link, then to the right and click the link Shortcut to desktop. That's it, shortcut ( icon) is already on the desktop. You can check!
