MacMost Now 832: Organizing Your iOS Apps With iTunes 11

By syncing your iOS device with your Mac or PC, you can use iTunes 11 to organize your apps. You can sort your iTunes app library by size or date to remove old apps you no longer use. You can also search for apps on your device and re-arrange them using iTunes.

Comments: 18 Responses to “MacMost Now 832: Organizing Your iOS Apps With iTunes 11”

    Roberta
    12 years ago

    Dear Mr. Rosenzweig, thank you very much for this (and all) your video(s). It was very helpful. However, I have one question please. During your demonstration in the video you pointed the cursor to an area in iTunes that displays your devices that contain the apps in iTunes however the cursor point was hidden behind the smaller screen on the video that displays you speaking. Could you please tell me where I click in iTunes to display my devices. Many thanks! R. Huey

      12 years ago

      Assuming you are running iTunes 11, and you have the left sidebar off (default), then you will see a button on the upper right with the name of your device. But if the left sidebar is on (so it looks like iTunes 10) then the devices appear in the left sidebar. You can see it in http://macmost.com/a-look-at-itunes-11.html where it says "iPad" in the upper right.

    Toni
    12 years ago

    Once again, I have learned something basic that I hadn't noticed before...the list view! Also, thanks for the little explanation of 'other', I always wondered about that.

    Cathy
    12 years ago

    Great tip, thanks once again. I'm finding I have lots of "duplicate" apps for iPhone and iPad. I would like to delete the iPhone apps on my iPad. But there doesn't seem to be any way to distinguish easily which is which. Perhaps the iPad app is ALWAYS bigger? (I notice on your demo it is slightly bigger, for instance). It gets confusing because the app icons are exactly the same on the iPad -- so it's difficult to tell which one you are deleting. Would be easier to manage on the desktop.

      12 years ago

      Try setting it to "Sort by Kind" at the top. Then search for one of those apps using the search box just to the right of that. It should show both apps, but it will be clearer which one is which because of the sorting.

    Cathy
    12 years ago

    Ok, thanks. I've been fussing around with this for a while but haven't had an organized approach. But it's time to clean up because I've got many more apps than data of any mind.

    JohnW
    12 years ago

    Your videos are always informative but this was especially worthwhile because someone finally explained the "Other" category! Thanks.

    Mary
    12 years ago

    Hi Gary, I have iTunes 11 but my devices are not showing top left. Could this be because I've never synced my iPad Mini to my Mac, only over the air to iCloud?

      12 years ago

      Are you connected via a cable? If using a cable it should show. If not, you have to use a cable first to sync at least once and turn on wifi syncing.

    Frank
    12 years ago

    Doesn't it make sense to just keeps apps on the computer for those that store important info, such as medical history, journals, password keeper, trip checklists, etc? why keeps all the apps on a 64-128 GB SSD laptop where free space is a premium?
    I'm thinking about deleting most of them since syncing ipad/iphone happens less often and then there are "64 apps ready for update". Thoughts? Thank you for your helpful videos!

      12 years ago

      Don't confuse storing apps with storing app data. App data is separate. That is part of your backup. The video here discusses just the apps themselves.
      Most apps are tiny, using very little space. Only a few apps, like some big games, use any real space.

    jade
    12 years ago

    I have an ipad mini and itunes 11. I am trying to sort my apps in itunes but the columns you have in your video don't show up. I've tried every which way to locate them. I have my ipad device plugged into my computer, shows my device in itunes 11, but with a lot less options and no three lights on the top left. I simply don't have required columns to be able to move apps into folders.
    Thank you Jade

      12 years ago

      It sounds like maybe you are looking at the apps in your iTunes library, not the apps on your iPad. Select the iPad and you should see Summary, Info, Music, etc. across the top.

        jade
        12 years ago

        Thank you Gary, now I see. At first this opened automatically and then it didn't, always easy when you know how.

    Bruce
    11 years ago

    Hi Gary, I just restored my iPhone. I synced with apps I want on the iphone. Now I need to put them into folders. Is there not a third party application that can make the interface easier than doing it in iTunes. I find the iTunes interface setup for this restricting.

    Thanks and I look forward to your reply.

      11 years ago

      It doesn't get any easier than doing it in iTunes. It is just drag and drop. Seems pretty optimal to me.

    Sarah
    11 years ago

    How can I use iTunes to get the last played date for each app for each device?

    I want to know if the 338 apps that iTunes tells me I have updates for today are even installed and if they are installed if they are played otherwise I'll delete them and save my time and bandwidth.

      11 years ago

      You can't. It doesn't have that information. Just go through them in small groups when you have a minute here and there and remove ones that you no longer use.

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