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iPhone 101: Restore your homescreen icons

Rearranging the icons on the home screen of your iPhone is a part of the customization fun that Apple built in. However, if you rearranged your icons and want them back to factory specifications, it is as easy as a simple tap. Just navigate to Settings > General > Reset. Once there, select the "Reset Home Screen Layout" button. A dialog will pop-up asking for a confirmation.

Once you return to the home screen, you will notice that all the icons are placed just like they were when you first turned on your iPhone! Third-party applications' icons will follow the default applications.

Want more iPhone tips and tricks like this? Just visit the TUAW iPhone 101 section.

Rearranging the icons on the home screen of your iPhone is a part of the customization fun that Apple built in. However, if you rearranged...
 

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Kiran

I have hidden my boss pref icon using poof, unfortunately all the other icons are hidden along with it. unfortunately the boss pref icon is hidden too and i dont have any way to unhide. Can anyone suggest how do i restore my screen!!????

September 11 2008 at 5:41 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
JKT

The icons I want back are the thumbnail previews for my current photo roll. When I updated to 2.0.1, most (not all) of my thumbnails went away, leaving me dozens of blank white squares when I go into Photos->Current Roll. Isn't there any way to tell the phone (or iTunes) to rebuild the thumbnails? (And why would upgrading the firmware make some but not all of them go away?)

August 18 2008 at 12:06 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Prakash

Hi guys,

I need a solution for my iphone.. i don't know what has happened to it.. all it shows me is a cable with a disc picture on it.. every time i start it.. some junk numbers/commands keep on scrolling rapidly.. can anyone help me with this..

August 18 2008 at 10:26 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Prakash's comment
Dave

Have you tried a restore?

August 18 2008 at 12:50 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Emal

Hi Guys,

Do you know how to delete default application I have no use for? Thx

August 18 2008 at 4:44 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Emal's comment
jinto.lin

You can with remove links with Boss Preferences, but to get that you need to jailbreak your iPhone. But it's worth it for the themes! And you get to keep app store.

August 18 2008 at 11:26 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Loneoak

The most annoying is how you lose your custom arrangement when you update programs.

August 18 2008 at 12:05 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jinto.lin

So what happens to the jailbroken apps? They disappear? Or, because they can not be deleted the normal way, are the counted as 'default'?

And, yes, I agree that they need a better app management thing. Maybe something that looks like an app, but opens into a screen that looks like the current app screen, but has a back button on the top or bottom?

August 17 2008 at 11:01 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Rowan

Come on Apple. The screen customization was a great idea, but it needs refining now there are over 1800 applications, games and utilities on the App Store.
Icon 'folders' or 'stacks' should be used.

August 17 2008 at 9:50 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
clmensch

I wish there was a better way of organizing. I have so many pages of apps...admittedly by my own design so I could have them organized by "most regularly used", "somewhat regularly used", "games", and "system". I wish I could have icons on the main page to take me to these other pages, rather than having to constantly flick.

August 17 2008 at 9:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Dripps

Now tell me how to get my icons back to my specially arranged pages after a restore...when you then try to restore from backup and you get the message that the backup isn't compatible and won't work. This has happened twice and I'm wasting so much time getting back to the way I can find things.....especially after having to wait so long for the restore and reinstall of everything!

August 17 2008 at 9:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Dripps's comment
Pixelton

Exactly! So annoying...

August 17 2008 at 9:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jimmy E

The Tuaw tips just get worse and worse. Can this really be considered a tip?

August 17 2008 at 8:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Jimmy E's comment
Macroy

I assume that's why this is called iPhone 101 instead of "ADVANCED INSIDER IPHONE SECRETS".

August 17 2008 at 9:00 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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