Filed under: iPod Family, How-tos, iPhone, iPhone 101
iPhone 101: Two Home screen tricks
Here are two simple but useful tips from TUAW readers David B Alford and Andrew Akker that help you navigate through your iPhone or iPod home screens. David points out that if you tap just to the left or to the right of the dots at the bottom of your screen, you can move a page at a time without having to drag. Tap left, you move left. Tap right, you move right. It's quick and it's easy.
Andrew figured out how to pause his drag Home screen drags. If you start to move between screens by dragging and then tap the dots control during that drag, screen pauses. You'll see bits of both home screens at once, and can interact with them normally by tapping icons. You can see up to 24 icons at once (16 off to one side, 4 along the other side, and 4 in the bar at the bottom).
I've tested both tips extensively and they work great -- two really nice additions to one's Home-screens skills.
Get a WordPress.com Blog
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
pmd said 4:51PM on 1-23-2008
is there a way to get those Music and Video icons on the iPhone like you have in the screen cap of this post? Or is that just a iPod touch?
Reply
Dewey said 5:06PM on 1-23-2008
I believe there is a way to get those icons on a jailbroken iPhone, but I'm pretty sure that picture is of an iPod touch. With the latest update, Apple for some reason got rid of the touches dock-like...well dock and gave it the same dashboard dock as the iPhones.
Kris said 5:17PM on 1-23-2008
I'd love to get contacts on the homescreen similar to the touch as well.
Reply
Rick said 5:50PM on 1-23-2008
The left/right paging tap shortcut works anywhere you see those pagination dots, like in the weather widget. I think it's been in there since some time before 1.1.3.
Reply
Amit said 5:24PM on 1-23-2008
Is that iPod touch??? I dont see this in my iPhone...
bookmarked @ http://livbit.com
Reply
Peter Zich said 5:26PM on 1-23-2008
That is an ipod touch.
kevin heylen said 5:35PM on 1-23-2008
I've heard this update also works on an unlocked iPhone. Is that true?
Reply
Ryan said 5:45PM on 1-23-2008
I noticed they changed the bottom of the home screen in ipod touch. it now has the iphone dock unlike the leopard looking dock it use to have with the reflective bottom. whats up with that? why not give the touch and iphone both the leopard looking dock. its MUCH better looking, looks a lot more sharp!
Reply
Rob Jones said 6:03PM on 1-23-2008
Good tips, I likey.
Reply
evangelical said 11:33AM on 1-24-2008
yo that swipey thing is not new it. Also works in the weather app and has been for some time
Reply
doug said 7:37PM on 1-23-2008
This does not work on my jailbroke 1.1.1.
Reply
mattybinks said 10:29PM on 1-23-2008
Erica,
That left/right paging function has been in place since day one within the weather widget. It's not new to the iPhone UI.
Reply
webmin said 11:31PM on 1-23-2008
Doesn't work on my 1.1.1 updated to 1.1.2 iPhone
StoneRoses said 2:23AM on 1-24-2008
Paging tab in home screen does not work on my 1.1.2 jailbroken iPhone. But it does work in weather app.
Is there anything wrong?
Reply
alan said 6:39AM on 1-24-2008
i can confirm does not seem to work on 1.1.2 on homescreen but in the weather app it works...
Reply
Phaedrus said 1:49PM on 1-24-2008
I found a third.
If you remove all icons from the dock, then put a webclip in it, then delete the webclip, the dock will disappear until the next time you return to the home screen. you can even put items into the nonexistant dock, and they disappear. they come back when the dock comes back.
Reply
Andrew A. said 3:30PM on 1-24-2008
That's not a tip, that's a bug. lol