Organize iOS App Icons, Sort, Rearrange

Question

Is there a faster way to sort hundreds of iOS app icons on app pages than to use iTunes?

Answer 1

Springboard app icon layout order data is stored under IconState.plist. It is located under /User/Library/SpringBoard or /private/var/mobile/Library/SpringBoard/.

You could use plutil -xml IconState.plist to convert the binary plist file to XML and plutil -binary IconState.plist to convert it back to binary.

To sort by app category, use plutil -showjson /User/Applications/*/iTunesMetadata.plist > appmetadata.json.

Update: This website, IconState, can convert plists and sort icons.

Answer 2

I like to use "MultiIcon Mover"

You hold your finger down - like usual - but then instead of having to drag each one individually... you just tap on the ones you want to move... even if they're on separate pages. they get "highlighted with a checkmark... and then you navigate to the "page" that you want to put them on. Hit the home button and they'll all plop onto that page. (space permitting)

You can sort hundreds of icons in just a few minutes. No more ridiculous dragging around.

Jailbreak only. Find it on Cydia.

Answer 3

It's still manual, but one way to organize icons a bit more more efficiently in iTunes is to hold SHIFT to multi-select icons (or folders) on a single screen. You can drag them to another screen (or into a folder, or out of a folder) all at once.

Definitely makes things easier.