Introduction to iOS Home Screens

Home Screen pages display your apps and widgets and provide important information about your device and connections. Knowing how to get around your Home Screen pages is a basic skill you must master to use your device.

Swipe up from the bottom edge of your screen (or press the Home button) to open the last Home Screen page you were on. Swipe up a second time (or press the Home button twice) to open the main Home Screen page (the page furthest to the left). Swipe left or right to flip through your pages. The last page to the left is your “main” Home Screen page. Swiping left from the main Home Page opens the Today View. Each page is represented by a dot just above the dock. Touch the dots and pause; then, without lifting your finger, slide your finger left or right to skim through your pages quickly.

You can rearrange apps, for instance, put all games on a single Home Screen page, or combine apps into folders and name the folders. You can also remove app buttons from the Home Screen entirely and instead access the apps through the App Library. Swipe left to scroll through your Home Screen pages. A series of dots just above the dock shows you how many Home Screen pages you have. The highlighted dot indicates your current Home Screen page.

Home Screen also has a status bar with information about connections and battery at the top. A Dock at the bottom can contain up to four app buttons. The Dock remains no matter what page of the Home Screen you are on.

The Home Screen layout includes:

• Status bar. Helps you keep track of your cellular strength, battery status, and Internet connection. See the chart below for common status icons.
• Home Screen pages. You can put many apps and widgets on a Home Screen page. As you add apps and run out of space, more Home Screen pages will be added to the right.
• The Dock. This is the area along the bottom of your Home Screen that holds up to four apps or folders. The dock remains the same no matter what Home Screen page you are on.

Status bar

The Status bar is the narrow bar of icons across the top of your Home Screen. The status bar displays the time, information about connections, and battery life. Yours may differ depending on your carrier and model. Some of the common status icons are explained below:

• Cell Signal . Shows whether you are within range of a cellular tower. The more bars shown, the stronger the signal.
• Wi-Fi   . Indicates Wi-Fi status. The number of bars indicates strength.
• Airplane mode  . Shows that Airplane Mode is on. Initially turns all radio signals (cellular, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth) off. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can be turned on while in airplane mode, but cellular will remain off.
• LTE. Shows that your carrier’s LTE network is available.
• 3G/4G/5G. Shows what type of network you are connected to.
• Bluetooth  . Symbol displays when a Bluetooth device is connected.
• Battery    . Shows the charge level of the battery. If the device is being charged, a lightning bolt will appear next to the icon.
• Personal hotspot . Shows when providing an Internet connection.
• Location services  . An outlined arrow indicates location services is turned on. A filled-in icon appears when an app uses Location Services to find your location.
• Camera in use  . A green dot appears at the top of your screen whenever the camera is used.
• Microphone in use  . An orange dot appears at the top of your screen whenever the microphone is in use.