Thursday, February 16, 2012

[who is ronjie.com?] My smartphone home screen [UPDATED]

Click the figure for the full-resolution image file.
UPDATE 1: My home screen is now on Swipe the Linen.

UPDATE 2: I've narrowed down my number of apps from 950 to just 150 now, and my number of home screen pages to just 2.  Having a 3rd home screen page alerts me to new apps I've downloaded and that I need to evaluate if I should keep them or not, and if I should delete other apps to make room for these new ones. I've also updated my home screen a little bit - changed the wallpaper and swapped two icon positions. Check out the image at the bottom of this post.


UPDATE 3 (JULY 2012): My home screen is now NOT on Swipe the Linen. I don't know since when. Screw that. Check out homescreen.me instead.

I discovered this website, Swipe the Linen, which showcases a curated selection of people's iPhone or iPod Touch home screens, through "Inspired" by Apple - whose author's home screen was also featured there earlier.

I've always liked organizing my home screens to follow certain patterns and to include my most wanted apps. I must say I found even more inspiration from the earlier featured home screens on Swipe the Linen, not to mention discovering a few new apps. So actually I did a little tidying up and re-arranging before I posted this home screen photo here. But I think this will stick, except I'm still reducing the number of apps I have on my phone (from around 950 apps down to around 550 now). Do you notice the types of patterns I try to follow for my home screen?

If this were just a plain phone, the apps on my dock are the main apps I would use. Perhaps my next mostly used and you can say one of my favorite apps is feedly, my Google Reader client. I've tried many other things, but this just suits my needs best.

Early March 2012 update.
The Fitocracy and "Atsugi" icons are actually bookmarks to a daily webapp I use, and to hourly weather in my current city (using Accuweather), respectively. I also use the "Atsugi" icon if I need to launch Safari; otherwise, Safari is hidden. Kotoba, a Japanese-English dictionary, and Torch, a flashlight app, are apps that I often need quick access to. Obviously I use the Dragon apps for voice-to-text stuff. I don't really need the voice commands that Vlingo provides; the iPhone 4's built-in Voice Control fills that need. I have a "Call (block)" icon which, in one tap, dials my wife's number. I generated this using QuickContact, which has been featured on some news websites/blogs.

How cool is my wallpaper? :-D  Most of the apps I use are freebies.