Find That App On Your iPhone Or iPad [iOS Tips]

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iTunes-search

Chances are, if you have an iOS device of some sort, you have apps. And if you have apps, chances are that you have too many of them. They start to get lost in the crowd. I find that, for myself, once I get past the first couple of app pages, I might as well tap at random for all I can find the app I need.

There are ways to launch the app you want, of course. You can bring up the multitasking bar with a double tap on the Home button, and swipe through a list of the most recently running apps. If you haven’t used the app you’re looking for in a while, though, it may not be there.

You can also use the Spotlight search function. When on the first page of apps, either swipe left or tap the Home button once. Type the name of the app you’re searching for into the field there and you’ll see that hidden app. Tap on it to launch. But you’ll have to do that every time. Spotlight won’t tell you WHERE that app resides.

Luckily, there’s another way to find that app, and make sure it stays found. Simply connect your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad to your Mac with that dock connector cable that came with it, and head over to iTunes on your Mac.

You’ll need to have iTunes set up to Sync your apps for the following steps. Select your device over in the list to the left in iTunes. Click on the Apps tab at the top of the summary window. You’ll now be able to use the Search box, located in the upper right, to locate the app you’re looking for.

Type the name of that app into the Search box. iTunes will filter the apps shown in the window. Once you find the app you’re searching for, double click on the app name. iTunes will show the app page it’s located on, and the app itself will get a little gray-blue outline as in the screenshot above.

Once you figure out where it is, commit it to memory, or, better yet, start organizing your apps in a way that makes sense to you. You can use iTunes to make folders of apps, move apps from one page to the next, and even switch the order of pages around. Spend a little up-front organizing time, and you’ll be better off in the long run.

Got an iOS tip of your own? Need help troubleshooting your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad? Drop me a line or leave a comment below.

Source: TidBits
Image: TidBits

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