Article: Lindsey McElroy’s iPhone 5

Lindsey McElroy not only helps out behind-the-scenes of this site, but she also cohosts Slide to Unlock. In this edition, she shares her iPhone’s home screen and workflow.

My list reads left to right, like a book, or article on the Internet, because no one reads books anymore:

1. Calendar – So I can know what day it is. Also Shiftplanning (#4) only gives you the date and not the day of the week. I wish I knew why.
2. Photos – So I can quickly look at all of the pictures I’ve taken of my dog. I’m so embarrassed.
3. Camera+ – When I want to take fancy pictures. Or when I drop my keys in a movie theatre and need the flash light to find them.
4. Shiftplanning – So I can know when to show up for work.
5. Facebook – Reading things I don’t care about and also wasting time because the newest app update is awful.
6. Tweetbot – For Twitter!
7. BMO Harris – Mobile Banking, eh.
8. Mail – Mail
9. Settings
10. Calculator – When I can’t figure out an appropriate tip or percentage off something I probably don’t need to buy anyway.
11. Solar – Current favorite weather app. My-Cast and Dark Sky both used to occupy this spot. Mainly I like to know the temperature and if/when it’s going to rain/snow. I guess I could get rid of this and ask Siri, “Is that rain?” while looking out the window…
12. Reminders – So I know when to pay my student loans, give my dog his Revolution, and pay my car payment, among other things.
13. Clock – Alarm clock. I know there’s all sorts of “cooler, better” alarm clock apps, but I don’t really care what it looks like as long as it makes noise and gets me out of bed in the morning.
14. Starbucks – Feeding the addiction.
15. White Noise – Only way I can sleep at night.
16. Safari – Ya know, for interneting.

When I upgraded to my iPhone 5 from my 4S, I didn’t have the heart (or the strength) to add an additional row of apps to the home screen. I’m kind of stubborn and set in my ways when it comes to things like that. Plus, I like the look of the 4×4 square with a break before the docked apps. Looks less cluttered.

I loved the addition of folders to group apps, but not on my home screen. My home screen is dedicated to my most used apps. All of my folders are on the second page. I like my home screen to look clean, organized, and balanced. Folders stress me out.

I don’t have each row dedicated to a specific group of uses, but after staring at my home screen while writing this, I realized that I somehow color coordinated my apps (orange in Calculator next to Solar, row of blues) without any intention. Years of working retail? Who knows.

I also wanted to point out that my wallpaper is of a plaid shirt that I wear way too often and I can’t remember why I took a picture of it in the first place.