What is an App Drawer?

An App Drawer is a dedicated section responsible for keeping a record of all the applications installed on your mobile phones or tablets. An app drawer consists of two words: an app which means application, and drawer, which represents a container, but before further discussing what exactly an app drawer is, first, let us begin with its function.

For iOS users, it would seem like the home screen as it has a list of all the installed application forms where you can directly access them. But in the android operating system, an app drawer and a home screen are two different things. The user is provided with both the home screen and app drawer on these devices.

Whenever you install an app from the google play store or any other source, once the installation is started, you are required to choose whether you want that application to be present on the home screen or not. Though some drivers may automatically add it to the home screen, the user can remove them from there. This choice is provided because installing the application is directly added to the device's app drawer.

It's a choice to directly use the app shortcut on the home screen or use the app drawer to run the app. The user can choose either method to access the application. It is preferred to add frequently used applications on the home screen for quick and easy access.

Now that you have an idea about the home screen and app drawer, let us differentiate between the two.

App drawer v/s Home screen

They are integrated components of the system launcher and have their roles to perform in your device. The main difference between a home screen and an app drawer is the user's control. It depends upon the user to choose what application he/she wants to be displayed on the home screen. It is not necessary to have all the applications there.

Only the ones that are frequently used or require quick access are stored on the home screen. But that is not the case in the app drawer. Any application installed on the device should be listed in the device's app drawer. The user must uninstall or hide the app to remove it from the app drawer. If the application is not visible in the app drawer, it simply means it is not installed on the device.

The second difference between them is that while the user can add widgets to the device's home screen, there is no support for widgets in the app drawer. It exclusively lists all the applications.

Access and Open the App Drawer in Your Android Devices

The user can access the app drawer from the home screen itself. The interface to access the app drawer can differ from device to device. The two most common ways to access the app drawer are as follows:

If a small arrow is pointed upwards on the screen, the user is only required to swipe up the screen to access the app drawer.

By default, a dock usually houses a Phone, Camera, and Messaging app. While in some devices, all you have to do is click on the icon for the app drawer. The icon is usually present in the dock; it is the part of the home screen that does not change even when you change the slide of the home screen. 

The icon for the app drawer mostly looks like these three icons.

How Does an APP Drawer look?

It looks similar to the home screen; maybe that's why most people get confused between the two. The difference is that you won't see any widget or dock in the app drawer. At the same time, the application on the home screen can be scattered. In the app drawer, all the apps will be arranged properly. The user can customize the app drawer in some launchers, such as changing the number of apps in the rows or columns by changing the menu style.

Sorting Application in the App Drawer

Most of the time, the apps are arranged according to the installation date, with the oldest installed app in the first and the latest installed put in the last of the list. Some app drawers may also arrange the application alphabetically to make it convenient for the user to find the application. Some app drawer also allows the user to customize the arrangement of the app drawer by providing multiple options. The user can click on the three vertical dots at the topmost right corner. The user can choose from alphabetical, most used, and other options.

How to Scroll Through Apps in App Drawer

The new launchers provide multiple scrolling styles to the user. If the user wants to surf through the list of applications, all he needs to do is scroll the menu upwards or downwards; as already discussed, the application arrangement will depend upon the sorting method chosen by the user.

Some app drawers may arrange the applications in different slides, and the user can slide the screen sideways to switch between different horizontal pages. This arrangement is similar to the home screen; the only difference is that the next slide is only used when the previous one is fully occupied. The user can choose from 6 grid or 9-grid arrangement to a circular dial-up menu. The user can open the launcher setting to check for the available app drawer-style menus.

Other Functionalities of App Drawer

It may seem that the work of the app drawer is only to list the application, but along with this function, it provides certain salient features also.

These functions are discussed below:

Folders: The user can arrange similar applications on the home screen using folders. This makes it more organized. In some launchers, the same function can also be performed in the app drawer. Certain launchers that provide this feature are the default launchers from Samsung, Microsoft, and the Nova launcher. They allow the user to store the app in the app drawer.

The user can also make a purchase for the premium version of Nova Launcher. It further increases the functionality of the app drawer by providing the user an option to arrange the app into different sections. These different sections are called tabs.

Search: An app drawer is a collection of all applications. As the storage of the device increases eventually, the user can download numerous applications, and sometimes it becomes difficult to search the application specifically when arranged randomly or according to the date of download. Almost every launcher provides a search bar on the top for finding the application quickly from the app drawer. The user can also double press the home button to open the search menu in the Nova launcher.

Placing the Applications on the Home Screen: When the user downloads and installs the application on the device, its name is automatically added to the app drawer. This is not in the case of the home screen; it is done to maintain the organization of the home screen, as it is the first screen that appears when the user opens the device, which is preferred to be clear by most users.

All applications are added to the home screen only when the user has enabled the add apps to the home screen from the settings. Some applications may explicitly ask the user about adding the application on the home screen. For other applications, if the user wishes to move an application from the app drawer to the home screen. You can either hold the icon of the app in the app drawer, and it will redirect to your device's home screen, where you can manage the position of the application. When you release the icon, it will be automatically placed there.

Requirement of the App Drawer

An App drawer is an excellent feature if the user is fond of a clean and well-managed home screen. It prevents the apps from directly appearing on the home screen. It allows users to download numerous applications from cluttering and scattering on the screen. It also provides double assurance to the user. As if the application is deleted from your device's home screen by mistake. It will still be available in the app drawer from the device. It is necessary to delete it from there to uninstall the application completely.

The drawback of the App Drawer

The major drawback with the app drawer is related to its less use by the user. Usually, the user adds the frequently used and other favourite applications to the device's home screen. Ultimately, the user rarely opens the app drawer to access any application, which results in forgetting about the applications installed on your device but hardly ever used or are not required by the user. This leads to a wastage of storage on the device. So, if the user does not want an app drawer on the device, the user can always purchase the mobile with launchers that do not provide support for the app drawer.