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.]
