Minimal iOS Homescreen 2019

Like most, I'm becoming more aware of how my phone sucks my life away. I started thinking about what would be a spherical-cow optimal phone usage: You never get interrupted until it is necessary. You push one button and respond to the question or problem and you put your phone back down.

So inspired by a podcast, I'm trying to build my iPhone into that optimal phone… or 90% of the way there.

My current home screen

I've shamelessly stolen this idea from from CGPgrey's homescreen, his looks like this.

Here's the basic theory:

• Contextual actions instead of apps.
• Grouping notifications into folders.
• Do one thing, put the phone down.

The first screen is just these apps in the dock. They are all chosen because they are apps I use to act immediately, and process later.

Drafts is where all text starts on my phone. Texts, emails, blogposts (like this one!) usually start from this wonderful app.

Launch Center Pro is a customizable dashboard for all my applications and Apple Shortcuts.

Things 3 is where all my tasks and priorities live. I use the quick add functionality (deep press on the icon or use siri) constantly.

Timery is a time tracking via toggl, will likely be hooked into shortcuts in Launch Center Pro.

Because all my apps are deep linked in Launch Center Pro, I can send a message or scan a document without hunting through pages of notifications and distractions.

I've organized the actions in Launch Center Pro by context… so I find myself asking less "what app can do this for me?" and more "what am I doing?" I've got a working out group, with the three apps I use, and deep links to the Spotify playlists I use while running or lifting.

Notifications and Everything Else

All the other apps else gets pulled up into these folders on the last page. By deep pressing on a folder, I can see what app spawned the little red dot and jump to it. I group apps be context or responsibility, like financial apps or apps related to my work.

I don't often dive into the folders to find apps, I usually use Spotlight to find them.

By optimizing and changing your notification settings, you can set your apps to only put notifications in your Notification Center about what's important. I had to tweak some settings on email or calendar apps to make this workable for me. Still tweaking.

Just because all that is hidden on the next page, and I rarely see them because most of my work is done in one swipe in Launch Center Pro, it has dramatically changing my phone usage over the last month. Even as small a thing as having a shortcut to message my wife, which is the main thing I do in Messages, has saved me time and focus. I'm sure it's going to evolve, (primarily in time tracking shortcuts,) but I've gained enough productivity and writing/reading time back that I think it's going to stick.