My 2017 Homescreen — iPad Edition
Each year, I post a screenshot of the homescreen of my iPhone to end the year. It’s something I often get asked about — though I suspect people are always sightly disappointed with the outcome. Because there aren’t a lot of new/undiscovered apps to be found there. Instead, I find the general trends of what apps I’m using (and which ones I no longer am) interesting. The same is true of the iPad. And while I don’t do this every year, given that my usage of the device continues to increase (I use it far more than my MacBook these days for the vast majority of my computing tasks), I thought I’d post it again.
The last time I posted my iPad homescreen was 2015. As you can see, quite a bit has changed in the past couple of years. First and foremost, iOS itself has changed quite a bit on the iPad. Whereas you used to be able to fit 6 apps in the dock, now you can fit — well actually I’m not sure how many you can fit. But it’s a lot. I currently keep 7 apps there — mainly because of the 3 slots taken by the recently-used apps to the right of those (not pictured). A 10-app dock feels like a good size, especially on a 10.5-inch iPad Pro.¹
So my iPad dock is similar to what it was a couple years ago, with Mail replacing Inbox (just as on my iPhone) and Slack replacing Facebook Messenger (just as on my iPhone). Bear and 1Password are new additions to the dock, simply because I’m using them both all of the time, and it’s great to have them right there at a swipe-up no matter where you are. Medium is still on my homescreen, but it didn’t feel necessary to be in the dock, as it was. Twitter, Pocket, and Safari, unsurprisingly, remain.
Elsewhere on the iPad, Videos has morphed into ‘TV’ — a name which makes very little sense since the content housed within is far more than television content. In fact, I have far more movie content in there. This whole branding confounds me. It’s the new iTunes (an app which now, of course, does far more than deliver music).
My actual TV app of choice is YouTube TV. I’ve tried a lot of these new, skinny bundles over the years, and I definitely like YouTube’s offering the most — the app is really well done. Can’t wait for the Apple TV version (soon, hopefully?).
While Newsstand the app (container?) is long gone, I still create my own version of it in folder-form (just as I did two years ago). As you might imagine, I use the iPad most often for reading. So I keep various magazine apps that I subscribe to in there (though these apps are still less than ideal, to say the least) as well as iBooks/Kindle. I’m a Kindle guy, myself, but have a few things on iBooks (and I still prefer the interface of iBooks — Amazon continues to need help when it comes to app design and interface, though their new Kindle icon is brilliant). I also have my RSS reader of choice, Reeder, in here — remember RSS? Anyone?
I also added a new folder for Entertainment apps — Netflix, HBO Now, Amazon Prime Video, etc. This is also where I house the Podcasts and Audible apps (which I use less on my iPad than I do on my iPhone).
Just as on my iPhone, Apple’s own News app has a place on my iPad homescreen. As does The New York Times (The Economist is in the Newsstand because I mainly listen to it on the iPhone, while reading along with the print version — true story!)
iA Writer has a slot as I do a ton of writing on my iPad (two years ago, I was mainly using Byword for this — still a great app, I just switch things up from time to time). Firefox Focus, my favorite fast browser/search app, is there as well, just as on my iPhone (replacing the Google app).
In terms of what’s gone, Foursquare is now on the second screen alongside Flipboard and Periscope. Facebook, for better or worse, endures…
So that’s my iPad homescreen and workflow right now. Nothing too exciting, but I feel pretty comfortable with it these days — again, this is the machine on which I do the majority of my reading and writing (yes, I use a keyboard: Apple’s keyboard cover). Not to mention watching, which I do a lot of on the road. My iPad is increasingly full of bundles. Funny that.
¹ I have both the the 12.9-inch iPad Pro (first generation) and an iPad mini (4th generation) as well. The former I got mainly as a curiosity a couple years ago, but rarely use. The latter I love but is so slow now with iOS 11. Apple suggests it’s not related to the battery/throttling issue, but I’m not so sure…
