Where to look for lost app icons on iPhone with iOS 14

You know you have this app installed on your iPhone. You get notifications from her, you see her in both the app switcher and Settings. And even in the AppStore there is an Open button next to it instead of Download. However, you cannot find the icon of this app on your home screen. If you have a similar problem, here's a solution.

App icons can disappear from your iPhone's home screen for a number of reasons. iOS 14 causes the most problems. This is due to a new functionality called the application library. This is where all the apps on your iPhone are located. It acts as an application directory, grouping applications into folders based on their type, and allows you to view all the applications installed on your iPhone in alphabetical order.

What does the application library have to do with missing application icons?

Depending on the iPhone's settings, application icons may end up in both the home screen and the application library, or only in the application library. This is possible because iOS allows you to remove app icons from the home screen while storing them in the App Library. It also allows you to automatically add apps to your app library only, leaving your home screen clean and tidy. By the way, giving the impression that the application did not install.

To see where your app icons go after you install them:

Launch the Settings app, then select Home Screen. Under New Downloaded Apps, see where the icons go when you install the app.

iOS 14 introduces significant but seemingly unnoticeable changes to the handling of app icons. A new feature has appeared in the system – the application library. By default, iOS 14 adds app icons to both the home screen and the app library. However, if someone plays with the settings and inadvertently changes the settings, the icons of new applications will only end up in the application library, which is quite difficult to find, especially if you do not know what to look for. Although several months have passed since the release of iOS 14, some users are still unaware of this novelty.

If you want the icons of installed applications to go not only to the library, but also to the home screen, you need to enable this option. To do this, launch the Settings app and select Home screen. Then go to the New Downloaded Apps section and select To Home Screen.

Remember: Changing this setting will not affect the content of hidden Home screen pages, if you have any.

Your missing app may be on a hidden home screen page

Another new feature in iOS 14 is hiding home screen pages. If you've ever hidden a home screen page, the app you're looking for may be on one of these hidden pages. To check this, press the screen and open the home screen editor, tap, then select all unchecked pages.

Hiding the home screen page will stop displaying new apps

Hiding the home screen page affects the subsequent installation of applications that many people are unaware of. The first time you hide a page or page count, icons for newly installed apps will automatically only appear in the app library, not on the home screen. So, if you don't remember setting your new apps download to work this way, you may have accidentally launched it after hiding the home screen page.

Check if you accidentally deleted an app icon

The addition of the App Library functionality in iOS 14 also changes the way you delete apps from your iPhone. When you long-press an app on the home screen and tap Remove App or tap the minus (-) icon in the home screen editor, there are now two options: Delete App or Remove from Home Screen. Acting quickly, you can click delete instead of delete. You think the app has been deleted, but really only its home screen icon has been removed. If you want to get it back, you don't need to reinstall the app because the only thing that has been removed is the icon on the home screen. Instead, all you need to do is bring the app icon back to your home screen.

How to find and add an application icon back to the home screen

In case the application icon is on a hidden page of the home screen, unhide that page. If you do not want to unhide the page, drag the application icon to the page that is not hidden. If you don't have any hidden pages, you can quickly find the missing app in the app library and add it back to the home screen. To go to the app library, swipe left on the home screen next to the last home screen page. Then browse through the folders or search the application list.

There are two ways to restore a found app's icon to your home screen. You can tap an app icon and then drag and drop it to where you want it on your home screen. Alternatively, you can long-press an app icon and tap Add to home screen, and the app will automatically appear in the first free spot on your home screen.

If you don't see Add to Home in the menu, and the app isn't on your home screen, it's probably hidden on a hidden home screen page. If you don't want to dig through hidden pages, you can still use drag and drop to move it from the hidden page to the active one.

Where to find lost app icons on iOS 14 iPhone

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