Smartphones and other mobile technology are very personal devices. Not just that they're something that we have on us all the time, but they're devices that we customize to suit exactly our needs and our needs alone. We get used to how they're set up, and if we're handed somebody else's iPhone, well, we're lost. Just try dealing with somebody who has different Smart Corner settings on their Mac than you - it's maddening.
In customizing the set-ups for our devices we also customize our interactions with them. We develop weird habits and tendencies. Some of us are compulsive about the placement of icons in the launcher, others only want specific things in Notification Center. Sometimes it's about where we put the phone, and sometimes we just don't give a damn about some things that drive others insane.
Upon realizing that I do some weird and obsessive things with my iPhone, I asked the iMore editorial staff what weird things they do, and it turns out, we're weird. But you already knew that.
Keeping a slot open for... - Allyson Kazmucha
My main screen on my iPhone and iPad are my most used apps. If I don't use them on a regular basis, they're all put into folders and not allowed to run amuck causing chaos. I don't alphabetize things but they all have to be in correct folders under a descriptive category. My iPhone and iPad also have the same workflow so no matter what device I'm on, I know where to find things.
I'm super picky about Notification Center and what order notifications show up in. Things like email, messages, and Twitter must populate towards the top with lesser important things on the bottom.
My biggest nitpick is ugly icons. If an app has an ugly icon, it goes in a folder, no exceptions. My Home screen must be visually appealing at all times and an ugly icon will throw off that balance. Album art must also be present for everything in my music library or it makes me twitch in cover flow mode. I will literally delete a song from my iPhone if there is no album art.
My weirdest quirk is probably that I need to have at least one empty slot on my first Home screen. I'm not quite sure why but I've done this as long as I can remember. I don't know why it bothers me to have a full page of icons but it does and I must have one free slot on my main page or I feel dirty. Call me weird, I already know I am and I accept it.
Default all the things - Chris Parsons
I have to have my main home screen stock. I do it on all devices except for Android, because Android such a cluster f*** of ugly icons some of it has to be hidden.
Triple-teaming the ringer switch - Derek Kessler
I know the ringer switch vibrates when I switch it to silent and doesn't when I flip it to noise. But when switching from silent to ring without looking at the screen, I always have to flip it three times: ring, silent (so it buzzes), and back to ring. Sometimes I do the same thing when switching to silent: silent (buzz), ring, silent (buzz). I don't know why, but it's like I subconsciously don't trust the switch.
I'm a little psychotic about my app organization. The first page is home to the apps I use the most, and those are alphabetically arranged (excepting the dock). The next page is also alphabetically arranged, with my tier of second-most-used apps but not daily or need-quickly apps out and everything else is put into folders which are... alphabetically-arranged and separated. The only exception are my games, which are put into their own folder, yet still alphabetical inside. Reason being: I'm usually looking for a specific app (except for games), not a category of apps, and muscle memory can guide me. And organization, man.
Updates… what updates? - Georgia
The strangest thing about myself and my iPhone is that I rarely let it be far from my side.
So if I have to go somewhere and my outfit has no pockets ill place my phone in the inside of my pant belt so I can keep my previous close at hand.
My phone is also always on silent with no vibration on. So calling me rarely gets a immediate pick up. I started this due to my job as a therapist but then quickly realized that I am more relaxed when I am not hopping for my phone.
I also don't ever update my phones applications unless there is something I really want in the update. Strange part is that I never read what the update so I find things out by people telling me something cool has changed. At one point I had 150 plus updates on my phone.
And no I don't wear my iPhone as a hat, that rumor was a lie.
Weirdos all of you - Leanna Lofte
Um... I don't do anything weird with my iPhone that I know of. I don't organize my apps... my home screen isn't even that thought out. I could care less how my apps are organized because I just use Spotlight. Spotlight is way faster.
You're all a bunch of freaks.
That like-new look - Peter Cohen
I like to leave the home screen bone stock.
I pile it full of apps on the second page and beyond, but I want my home screen to look like it did when it came out of the box.
Captain Default - Rene Ritchie
I keep my iPhone Home screen stock. What Apple loads, I keep. That's because I switch devices and restore devices a lot. I do add a few apps to the empty spaces, namely Fantastical, the iMore app, and Tweetbot. If I haven't switched or restored in a while, I'll add Launch Center Pro to my dock, because, awesome.
So I may not be Captain Default exactly, but I'm not Mr. Excitement by any means either.
Line it up - Richard Devine
I'm absolutely no tidy freak, far from it. Just take a look in my office any given day of the week and you'll see that. But, for whatever reason I am totally OCD about where stuff sits on my desk, especially my iPhone. It has to be in one of the corners, and it has to sit absolutely in line with both straight edges of the desk.
I also put it on something, like a magazine, or some random paper. Because I don't keep it in a case at home -- cases aren't nice in hero shots -- and I absolutely hate the idea of any thing on the desk damaging or just making dirty the back of my phone.
How weird are you?
There you go, we've bared our weirdness to the world, and, well… what weird people we are. It takes some self awareness to realize these oddities, and if there's anything we should be as technology users, it's aware of how we use that tech.
We're all weird, but in our own unique ways. Except for the Captain Default crowd out there, you're just weird together. What weird iPhone habits and compulsions have you picked up over the years? Sound off in the coments.
