Home Screen Makeover on Android

How the Home Screen Works

Let us get our bearings before we move anything. Once you see how it is laid out, the rest is easy.

Your Home screen is not one screen but several, side by side, like pages in a photo album. Swipe your finger left to see the next page, and right to come back. A small row of dots near the bottom shows how many pages you have and which one you are on.

• The bottom row is often called the dock, or the favorites tray.
• It holds a few apps, usually four or five, and stays put on every page.
• Put your very most-used apps here, such as Phone, Messages, and Camera.

The App Drawer: Where Every App Lives

This is the single most useful thing to understand on an Android phone. Your Home screen shows only some of your apps. The app drawer holds every last one.

Think of the app drawer as your closet, where everything is kept, and the Home screen as the few things you set out on the counter. An app can sit in both places at once. Taking it off the Home screen does not remove it from the drawer, so nothing ever truly goes missing.

• Put your finger in the middle of the Home screen and swipe up.
• A full list of every app on your phone slides into view, usually in neat rows.
• There is a search box at the top, tap it and type a name to find any app fast.
• Swipe up and down to browse. Swipe back down, or tap Home, to leave.

Moving an App Around

This is the heart of the whole makeover. Once you can move one app, you can arrange your entire phone.

To carry an app to a different page, drag it to the right edge of the screen and hold it there for a second. The phone flips to the next page, and you can drop the app wherever you like. It takes a little practice, and there is no harm in trying again.

• Press your finger on the app you want to move and keep it held down.
• After a moment it lifts up and follows your finger. A little menu may pop up, just keep sliding.
• Slide the app to where you want it. The others shuffle to make room.
• Lift your finger to drop it. That is all, it is saved right away.

Putting an App From the Drawer Onto Home

When you want one of your closet apps out on the counter, you can pull it from the app drawer onto the Home screen. This is how you add a favorite to the front.

Placing an app on the Home screen leaves it in the app drawer too. You now simply have a handy shortcut to it out front. If you later take that shortcut off the Home screen, the real app is still safe in the drawer.

• Swipe up to open the app drawer and find the app you want.
• Press and hold that app until it lifts up.
• You will feel the phone switch to the Home screen behind it.
• Slide the app to an empty spot and lift your finger to drop it.

Making a Folder

A folder is a little pocket that holds several related apps together, so one square on your screen can open many apps. It is a wonderful way to cut down clutter.

Open the folder and tap where it says Folder, or the name at the top, to type a plain label like Banking or Games. To take an app back out, open the folder, press and hold the app, and drag it out onto the Home screen. Empty a folder completely and it simply disappears.

• Press and hold one app until it lifts up.
• Drag it directly on top of another app and lift your finger.
• The two tuck into a folder together. Tap the folder to open it.
• Drag more apps onto the folder the same way to add them.

Your Favorites on the First Page

The first page is prime real estate. It is what you see the instant you unlock your phone, so it should hold the apps you reach for every single day.

Think about what you actually open most, probably Phone, Messages, Camera, the weather, maybe your photos or a video-call app. Those belong on the first page and in the dock. Everything else can stay tucked in the app drawer, out of the way until you need it.

• Pull your everyday apps from the drawer onto the first page.
• Drag your top few down into the dock along the bottom.
• Move apps you rarely use back off the Home screen (they wait in the drawer).
• Lift your finger, and enjoy a first page that fits your life.

What Widgets Are

A widget is a little panel that shows information right on your Home screen, so you can see it at a glance without opening an app.

Widgets are bigger than app icons and show real information, not just a button to tap. For many folks, a large weather panel and a large clock make the phone far friendlier at a glance, with no squinting and no digging through the drawer.

• Weather, so you see today's temperature and rain without opening anything.
• A big clock, with clear time and date you cannot miss.
• Photos, which quietly shows a favorite picture that changes through the day.
• Calendar, so your next appointment sits right in front of you.

Adding a Widget

Putting a widget on your Home screen takes about a minute, and you can remove it just as easily if you change your mind.

Widgets come in different sizes. Larger ones are easier to read and show more, but they take up more room. For weather or a clock, a medium or large size is usually the most comfortable to see. You can always swap it for a different size later.

• Press and hold an empty part of the Home screen until a small menu appears.
• Tap Widgets from that menu.
• Scroll the list for what you want, such as Weather or Clock, and tap to open its choices.
• Press and hold the size you like, then drag it onto the Home screen and lift your finger.

A Photo Widget You Will Love

Of all the widgets, the photo one is a quiet delight. It puts a favorite picture right on your Home screen and refreshes it through the day.

The photo widget shows pictures from your library, often grandkids, trips, and old favorites you had forgotten. Some let you pick a specific person or album to feature. Tapping it opens that photo full size. It is a small, cheerful thing that makes the phone feel like yours.

• Press and hold an empty spot and tap Widgets.
• Look for Google Photos (or Gallery on Samsung) in the list.
• Pick a larger size so the picture is nice and clear.
• Drag it onto the Home screen, then follow the prompt to choose which photos it shows.

The Google Search Bar and At a Glance

Many Android phones keep a long search box across the bottom of the Home screen, and a small line of helpful information near the top. Here is what they are.

On Pixel phones, the small line of text near the top of the Home screen is called At a Glance. It shows the date, the weather, and gentle reminders such as an upcoming appointment or a birthday. Samsung phones have a similar strip. You do not have to do anything, it simply keeps you informed.

• The bar with a colorful G lets you search the web or your phone without opening a browser.
• Tap it, type or speak your question, and results appear.
• It is really a widget, so you can move it or remove it like any other.

Making Icons and Text Bigger

If you are squinting at your phone, you are working too hard. A few settings make the whole Home screen larger and easier on the eyes.

You can also change how many apps fit on a page, called the grid. Press and hold an empty spot, tap Settings or Home screen settings, and look for a grid choice such as 4 by 5 or 5 by 5. A smaller number means fewer, bigger icons per page, which many folks find much easier to tap.

• Open Settings and tap Display (on Samsung it may be Display, then Font size and style).
• Find Font size and slide it toward the larger end.
• Find Display size and slide it up, this makes icons and buttons bigger too.
• On Samsung, turn on Bold font to make letters thicker and clearer.

A Simpler, Less Crowded Layout

A tidy Home screen is a calm one. You do not need dozens of apps staring back at you. Fewer, larger, well-chosen icons are far easier to use.

Because the app drawer already holds every app, you do not need most of them on the Home screen at all. A great many folks are happiest with just one clean first page of favorites, and everything else reached with a quick swipe up. Less on screen means less to hunt through.

• Keep only your everyday apps on the first page.
• Tuck the rest into a few clearly named folders, or just leave them in the app drawer.
• Remove apps you never use from the Home screen (they stay in the drawer).
• Leave a little breathing room instead of filling every square.

A Favorite Photo as Your Wallpaper

Nothing makes the phone feel like yours faster than a picture you love behind your apps. Grandkids, a garden, the lake, whatever brings a smile.

Your phone often asks whether to use the photo on the Home screen, the lock screen (the one you see before you unlock), or both. Pick whichever you like. You can set a calm photo behind your apps and a different favorite on the lock screen if you wish.

• Press and hold an empty part of the Home screen.
• Tap Wallpaper (on Samsung, Wallpaper and style).
• Choose Gallery or My photos, then pick the picture you love.
• Slide it to position it, and tap Set or Done, choosing Home screen if asked.

Remove From Home vs. Uninstall

This is worth getting straight, because the two sound alike but do very different things. One tidies, the other truly removes.

This takes the app off your Home screen but leaves it on your phone, waiting in the app drawer. Your account and the information inside it are untouched. This is the gentle choice for clutter, and it is the one to reach for most of the time.

• This removes the app from your phone completely.
• It also clears the information stored inside that app on the phone.
• You can download it again later from the Play Store, free again if it was free.
• Use this only for apps you are truly done with.

How to Remove or Uninstall Step by Step

Now that you know the difference, here is exactly how to do each one, calmly and correctly.

If you only removed it from the Home screen, it is safe in the app drawer, swipe up and search for its name. If you uninstalled it and want it back, the next page shows how to download it again from the Play Store.

• Press and hold the app until a small menu appears.
• To just tidy it away, drag it to Remove at the top of the screen, or tap Remove in the menu.
• To take it off the phone for good, drag it to Uninstall, or tap Uninstall in the menu.
• If it asks Do you want to uninstall this app, tap OK only if you are sure.

Reinstalling From the Play Store

Changed your mind, or uninstalled an app you now miss? Getting it back is quick, and if you had it before, it usually costs nothing again.

The Play Store may ask you to confirm with your fingerprint, your face, or your Google account password. That is normal, it is just making sure it is you. Reinstalling an app you already had does not charge you again if it was free the first time.

• Open the Play Store (a colorful triangle icon).
• Tap the search bar at the top and type the app's name.
• Find it in the list and tap it to open its page.
• Tap Install. It downloads and returns to your phone.

Samsung and Pixel: The Differences

The steps in this guide work on nearly every Android phone, but the two most common kinds have their own little quirks. Here is a plain rundown so nothing surprises you.

• Home screen settings live under a menu called Home screen settings when you press and hold an empty spot.
• The app drawer can be turned off, putting every app on the Home screen, which some folks prefer and some do not.
• Wallpaper choices sit under Wallpaper and style, with its own themes.

Putting Your Makeover Together

You now know every piece. Here is a gentle plan to bring it all together into a Home screen that truly fits you.

Your Home screen should match how you live, not a rulebook. Arrange it, live with it a few days, and adjust anything that does not feel natural. Because nothing here is permanent, you are free to keep tinkering until it feels just right.

• Decide your daily few and pull them from the drawer onto the first page and dock.
• Group the rest into a handful of clearly named folders, or leave them in the drawer.
• Add a large weather widget and a large clock or photo widget.
• Remove apps you never use from the Home screen, they wait safely in the drawer.
• Finish with a favorite photo as your wallpaper.

What's in the 27-page PDF

• How the Home screen and its pages work (pages 3-4)
• The app drawer, moving apps, folders, and favorites up front (pages 5-9)
• Adding widgets and the Google search bar (pages 10-13)
• Bigger icons and text, and a favorite photo as wallpaper (pages 14-16)
• Removing versus uninstalling, reinstalling, and Samsung versus Pixel (pages 17-20)
• A cheat sheet and a plain-English word list at the back (pages 21-22)

Why I wrote this

I write these as printable handouts because a guide you can keep in a drawer beats a web page you have to find again. No jargon, no judgment, no rushing. If you'd rather have someone sit beside you and go through it together, that's a flat $99 first visit with the 30-day follow-up included — serving Portage County from Atwater, Ohio. — Bill