Managing iPhone Applications is a Pain

I've now downloaded more then 140 iPhone applications, mostly the free ones, to take a look at which ones I'd like to use.

The problem is that you can't keep them on your iPhone because of the 144 application icon limit that the iPhone home screen has.

So I've been trying to figure out how to manage them using iTunes, but you can't. The "Sync Applications" pane just alphabetically lists the names of the applications (which, BTW, do not always match the names that the icons will load on your iPhone, i.e. "Your Personal Assistant" ≠ "PageOnce"). There is no way to click to see what each one does (is AirSet a flickr app or a social network app?), nor to take any notes. The Applications section of iTunes library is useless also, it just shows the icons, there is now way to switch to a list view, and they are not linked to the AppStore so that you can get the description of what you have downloaded. In addition, there is no ability to say "download this to my iphone the next time I sync" — you must be connected to choose apps.

You can search for the name of the iPhone while in the AppStore, which of course, obscures the window that allows you to set which one one want to sync to your iPhone. If you select an app to sync to your phone, then go back to the App Store to look at another, you'll be asked to sync the one change you just make, and if you don't, your selection is reverted. Thus I've had to resort to a hand-written list of apps to load each time.

Hopefully Steve Jobs is as frustrated with all the apps on his iPhone that he'll get this fixed soon.

Comments

[ronkinoz]

Here, here. It's a real pain to manage lots of apps.

I'd like to see the ability to create a tabbed set of app categories. Only in my dreams, I reckon...