Navigating the Home Screen and Other Odds and Ends, Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Good afternoon Techstravaganza friends,

Have a listen today’s fantabulous tutorial of navigating the Home Screen, and other odds and ends, at the following link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7oBOqnvO4ppCpIvzvRooW1

Show Notes

Navigating the iPhone Home Screen with VoiceOver

Siena demonstrated how to navigate the iPhone home screen, open apps, and work with folders using VoiceOver gestures.

• Details
  • Siena: Explained that swiping up from the bottom edge with one finger produces two blips — the first indicating the start of the gesture, and the second (higher-pitched) confirming arrival at the home screen.
  • Siena: Demonstrated opening a folder (e.g., Social Networking folder) and launching an app (Messenger) via double-tap.
  • Siena: Showed how to return to the home screen by sliding a finger up from the bottom edge until hearing the two blips, then lifting.
• Conclusion
  • Beginners are advised to slide up slowly, pause at the second blip, and wait for VoiceOver to confirm “Lift for Home” before lifting their finger.

Using the App Switcher

Siena demonstrated how to access and use the App Switcher to navigate between open apps and close them.

• Details
  • Siena: Explained that swiping further up (past the second blip to a third blip) opens the App Switcher.
  • Siena: Demonstrated closing individual apps by swiping up with three fingers on the app in the switcher.
  • Siena: Showed that once all apps are closed, the phone returns to the home screen or the last active folder.
• Conclusion
  • The App Switcher allows users to navigate between open apps and close them individually.
  • After closing all apps, VoiceOver returns the user to the home screen or the last active folder.

Control Center Overview

Siena provided a detailed walkthrough of the Control Center, including its contents and how to navigate it.

• Details
  • Siena: Explained that the Control Center is accessed by swiping down from the top edge until hearing the second blip, then lifting.
  • Siena: Demonstrated available controls including Airplane Mode, AirDrop, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, orientation lock, brightness, volume, flashlight, timer, calculator, camera, alarms, music recognition, stopwatch, screen recording, watch ping, sound recognition, voice memos, screen mirroring, ambient music, and media playback.
  • Siena: Noted that the Control Center has multiple pages (e.g., Page 1: Favorites, Page 2: Now Playing) navigable by swiping up and down.
  • Siena: Mentioned that the Control Center can be customized, though that topic was noted as scope for a separate tutorial.
• Conclusion
  • The Control Center provides quick access to frequently used settings and features.
  • Customization of the Control Center will be covered in a future tutorial.

Notification Center Overview

Siena briefly demonstrated the Notification Center, including how to access and clear notifications.

• Details
  • Siena: Explained that the Notification Center is accessed by swiping down from the top edge until hearing the third blip.
  • Siena: Noted an anomaly where the Notification Center displayed an incorrect date (Tuesday, January 9) despite the correct date being Wednesday, July 15, 2026, as confirmed by Siri.
  • Siena: Demonstrated navigating notifications (Reminders, Calendar, Messages, Discord, Messenger) and clearing all notifications using the “Clear All Notifications” action.
  • Siena: Showed that the Notification Center heading can be accessed via the VoiceOver rotor using the Headings setting.
• Conclusion
  • The Notification Center is accessible via a downward swipe from the top edge.
  • All notifications can be cleared at once using the available action menu.
  • The incorrect date display in the Notification Center was flagged as an unexplained anomaly.

Moving Apps to Different Locations

Siena demonstrated how to move apps between pages and into folders on the home screen using VoiceOver edit mode.

• Details
  • Siena: Explained the process — navigate to the desired app, swipe down to “Edit Mode,” double-tap to activate, swipe down again to “Drag,” then navigate to the target location and double-tap to drop.
  • Siena: Demonstrated moving Google Keep from page 1 to page 2, and Find My into the Utilities folder in alphabetical order.
  • Siena: Showed how to navigate between home screen pages using three-finger swipes (left to go forward, right to go backward), noting this is the opposite of single-finger navigation.
  • Siena: Demonstrated creating a new folder by dragging one app onto another (e.g., Games folder created from Dirty Mind and Games apps).
  • Siena: Explained the concept of “phantom pages” in edit mode — temporary extra pages that appear to allow app placement but disappear when empty after exiting edit mode.
  • Diane: Asked about moving apps to different locations, which prompted Siena to cover this topic next.
  • Macara: Asked why the drag action times out even while in edit mode.
  • Siena: Responded that it may be intentional VoiceOver behavior, canceling the drag if no movement is detected, and suggested a workaround.
• Conclusion
  • Apps can be moved by entering edit mode, initiating a drag, navigating to the target location quickly, and dropping.
  • The drag action times out if the user takes too long, requiring the process to be restarted.
  • Recommended workaround: explore the target location outside of edit mode first, then re-enter edit mode and execute the drag quickly.
  • Three-finger swipes move between pages in the opposite direction of single-finger swipes.

Deleting Apps from the Home Screen and App Library

Siena demonstrated how to remove apps from the home screen and delete them entirely from the device.

• Details
  • Siena: Showed two options when deleting: “Remove from Home Screen” (keeps the app in the App Library) and “Delete App” (removes it from the device entirely).
  • Siena: Demonstrated removing Google Assistant from the home screen (kept in App Library) and fully deleting Studio, Google, Vimeo, Sero, Where Is My Ride, and AquaMail.
  • Siena: Showed how to access the App Library by swiping left past the last home screen page, and how to search or browse apps alphabetically.
  • Siena: Demonstrated deleting AquaMail directly from the App Library, including managing and canceling an associated App Store subscription before deletion.
  • Siena: Noted that iOS will prompt users about active subscriptions when deleting an app that has one.
• Conclusion
  • Apps can be deleted from both the home screen and the App Library.
  • Users are prompted to choose between removing from the home screen or deleting entirely.
  • If an app has an active subscription, iOS will prompt the user to manage or cancel it before deletion.

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