Why I do NOT like the folder option on my phone...

and maybe you will rethink this option as well.

The folder options, the ability to combine apps into a folder on your home screen, became popular around 3 or 5 years ago. At first, it was very convenient and eye opening. "Hey look, I can stick all of my social media apps in this one folder!" ... till today.

My current phone is a Samsung Galaxy S5, upgraded from a S3, previously upgraded from an Iphone 4. When I updated from IOS to Android, it was a little difficult at first, but I eventually loved the way an android functions. With IOS I felt very constricted and with the Android I had so much freedom.

On my current phone, I had a folder for games, social media, stores, ect. After realizing that I was adding an extra step/tap to get to my apps, it dawned on me, take them out of the folder. Now the difference between an IOS and Android, is when you download an app; IOS allows you to customize the location of the app, Android sticks your apps in alphabetical order and is separate from your home pages.

I honestly believe that if we kept our home pages simple and only include the apps that we regularly use, our phone searches would be so much easier! Granted, I still have 2 folders on my home page, which I will explain later.

My constant 3 icons on each page:

• Phone
• Messages
• Apps

On my first home page, I have my generic dashboard. It includes the time, weather and date. I have a Google quick search widget, and a third row for email, camera, play store, then google FOLDER. 

Inside the google folder, I have all things google:

• Chrome
• Gmail
• Maps
• Hangouts
• Play Movies & TV
• Drive
• Youtube
• Translate

My second page is:

• Clock - used for setting alarms and setting timers and stop watches
• Calculator
• Keep - notes (I could probably delete)
• Viber - similar to Skype
• Flashlight 
• Cookie Jam - use to be in my game folder, till I noticed it was the only game I really played
• Gallery 
• Finance
• Viggle
• Scottrade
• BuzzFeed
• Instagram
• Coupon Folder
• U-verse
• Facebook
• Snapchat
  (side note, I use to have a Social Media folder, till I realized it was quicker to click on the app, then to select the folder then the app)

My 3rd and final page is a calendar dashboard.

So often, we keep apps on our phone that waste room and memory. I suggest cleaning your apps every quarter to illuminate space wasting apps. 

Hopefully this post will make you rethink the functionality of your phone and apps.