iPhone Tip: create an Apple folder

With iOS 4, we can now create folders to group similar apps.  One folder that I created on my iPhone contains the apps developed by Apple that I don't use very much.  Some are apps included with the iPhone that I rarely use but cannot delete, such as Stocks and Compass.  Others are apps that I sometimes use but don't use very often, like Voice Memos and Find my iPhone.  Then there is the YouTube app:  I almost never launch it directly; I just let the iPhone take care of launching it when I click on a movie link on a web page or elsewhere.  I like the idea of storing all of these Apple-created apps in one folder so that they don't take up valuable space on my Home Screen.

What should I call this folder?  I could just call it "Apple," but here is a tip for instead giving the folder a more distinctive identity by using the Apple symbol for the name so that it looks like this:

How do you do this?  The Apple symbol is not on the iPhone keyboard, so you can't just type it.  Instead, you need to use the free Glyphboard web app created by software developer Neven Mrgan.  As I've previously noted here and here, to use Glyphboard, go to this address on your iPhone:  http://mrgan.com/gb/  Then follow the on-screen directions and press the plus sign at the bottom of your Safari screen to Add to Home Screen.  Then click on the icon that you just added to your home screen to start the web app, and you can copy a special character from Glyphboard and then paste it someplace else, such as in an e-mail.  Glyphboard includes 48 special characters, including the Apple logo:

 

After you have Glyphboard installed, you just launch it and hold your finger down on the Apple symbol until you see the option to copy.  Copy the Apple, then create a new folder, and in the name field for the folder, delete the default folder name and paste that Apple icon.  There you have it! 

Feel free to also create folders called things like ☺ or ♥ or ♪.  For you intellectual property lawyers out there, you'll relish having folders called © or ™.  Use an umbrella for your weather apps and use an airplane for your travel apps.  And for fans of Daring Fireball, just look at the bottom right corner of Glyphboard and you'll know what to do.

[UPDATE 7/5/10:  Click here for a follow-up post on how to use color Emoji icons in your folder names.]

Comments

[David]

This is a great tip. Thank you :).

[Elna Reese]

When I go to the site and press the + sign, I do not get the option to add to home page. I only get "add bookmark" and Mail link to this page." Could this be because I have more than the 120 apps on my phone, which is more than will show up on your home screen? If so, is there a way around this without deleting apps?

[Derek Martin]

FYI: they're almost illegible on the 3GS. I assume the retina display will help.

[Jeff responds: Yes, I have an iPhone 4. The square picture in this post is from a screenshot on my iPhone 4, so you can see how good the Apple logo looks. As for other icons on the iPhone 4, some look better than others.]

[Matthewjohnbell]

You can also use the Japanese emojo keyboard.

http://img.ly/1BD2

[Jmsadlercpa]

The Glyphboard is genius! Thanks for the tip.

[Aaron]

You can also do this through iTunes, and have a wealth of other glyphs available to you.

[Andrew]

These look pretty horrible on an iPhone 3GS so I can't use them, but still pretty interesting. Thanks!

[John Smith]

does not seem to want to start up without crashing.... 3GS running iOs 4.0

[Sachin]

great tip..thanks

[Walt French]

I'll see if other glyphs work better than that airplane… it's nearly invisible even on my 4.

Next up, maybe somebody will hack a folder picture so we can recognize these tiny can'o'apps visually.

[Park]

They look great on my 3GS.

[Mathias Bynens]

There's also http://mackeys.info/ which is limited to MacBook keyboard keys.

[ubi de feo]

mine crashing too on 3gs iOS4

[Koffie_]

I just use the http://www.copypastecharacter.com/ site, it's a bit silly imho to install an application or homescreen icon for something you only rarely use...

[Doug]

@Elna

This is correct.
If you have iOS4, which you need anyway to support folders, then just group apps into folders until you have free space at which point 'add to home screen' will become available

In the past when I have had the same problem I have deleted one little used app from any home page, quickly launched mobile safari before the iphone has realised and rearranged it's pages and the option has been there - once Glyphboard is on your iphone you can search using spotlight even if its not visible

[Nathan]

I just copy-pasted all the glyphs from the cited websites into a 'glyphs' note in the notes app. They appear correct, but being on the ipad I have not had a chance to paste them into a folder name. This seems so much easier than dealing with a new glyphboard app - am I missing something?
♥ ★ ✔ ♨ ☂ ✈ ♪ ♫ ⌚ 

[Dave]

If it's crashing you probably have a jailbroken phone ... There's a bug in the jailbreak that causes all standalone web apps to crash.

[TK]

You can also use something like Emoji Free and rename your folders with colorful little hamburgers, apples, turds, etc.

[DCM]

That's cool. I grouped most of the same apps into a folder called: Apple Crap Apps.

[Dean Lockwood]

Who cares about fancy folder NAMES? I want custom folder ICONS!

[Josh Greco]

I'm really curious, what does this ( ♨ ) symbol, erm, symbolize?

[Toby]

I think you could easily copy and paste the folder names with special characters in iTunes while the phone is docked and rename them there too. You could get the actual characters from this article, just copying from the body of the text where it is discussing characters. "☺ ♥ ♪ © ™ "

[Symbolic]

♨ = Hot springs. Used widely in Japan for onsen.

[RB]

Thanks- very cool.