Automatic app sorting (in alphabetical order)

[Mikaela]

A little bit related to Global search (App launcher by keyboard search?), I would like the ability to have my homescreen apps automatically put into alphabetical order so when scrolling down the apps I could find what I am looking for by looking at the first letter of apps.

On iOS this can be done by resetting homescreen, except that it puts Apple apps first and everything else second in alphabetical order. However nowadays they have swiping left to find apps sorted by category and there swiping down opens alphabetical list of apps.

I guess the first line of apps should be excluded from this treatment (unless pre-installed/suggested apps were first) or there could be an option how many lines to leave for manual sorting.

Edit: TJC;
https://together.jolla.com/question/77524/feature-request-automatic-sorting-of-apps-in-the-app-launcher/

[jovirkku]

Sounds like a useful idea to me.

You probably know that it is possible to arrange the app icons manually by dragging them to any order. In addition, one can create folders, name them and select different colours and shapes for the folders. Now, app icons can be dragged to those folders. This makes it possible to have tens of apps in one view and opened with two taps.

This rearrangement is started by long-tapping at the app grid.

I have about 45 apps in this view.

[Mikaela]

Thank you, I am aware of that, but I am a little lazy and not so much of a manual sorting person. I would be happy with the few directories that I have made to get sorted as per their name too.

[Nreal]

Is there a way to sort app icons? This is very stupid to use time to search an app as they keep changing icons…

[nephros]

The order of icons and names and contents of folders on the Launcher is stored in ~/.config/lipstick/applications.menu, which is an XML file.
Quite readable too.

For some kind of mass update one could edit this and restart the Home Screen.

There is no UI way of doing it, apart from what was said above.