Why Your iPhone Apps Are Moving & How To Stop It

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Have you ever noticed the app icons on your iPhone screen wiggling like maniacs? It may look like your iPhone is going crazy, but worry not! It’s not something unusual. Your iPhone is entirely normal. 

Read on to find out why your iPhone apps are moving and how you can stop them from shaking. Then, get all your questions answered about iPhone apps moving.

Why Do The Apps On My iPhone Keep Moving?

If you tap and hold any app icon on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod for a few seconds, all the apps on your iPhone will start moving and wiggling. That’s because tapping and holding on the app icons puts your iOS device in the ‘delete or rearrange apps’ mode.

Before you learn how to stop iPhone apps from moving, you need to know what causes this phenomenon in the first place. To put it simply, your iPhone app icons on the home screen start moving and shaking after you tap and hold on to a particular app for a couple of seconds.

However, the trigger for moving app icons might vary depending on the iOS version you have. For example, if you have iOS 1.1.3 to iOS 12, you will need to properly tap and hold on to the app icons to make them shake. 

But in iPhone 6s and later models that come with 3D touch screens, even a slight tap and hold on the app icons would trigger the shaking. And if you hold on to the icons hard, a shortcuts menu will pop up with specific features. 

The same will happen if you have iOS 13 and later on any iPhone model, not just those with 3D touch screens. Tap and hold on to any iPhone app icon, and a shortcuts menu will pop up. For example, tap on “Edit Home Screen,” and you will notice all the app icons moving and shaking. 

Alternatively, you can also trigger the app icons shaking on iOS 13 and later after holding on to the icon for a more extended period after the shortcuts menu has appeared and disappeared.

iPhone app icons shake because you have put your iPhone in the “delete or rearrange” apps mode that allows you to delete or rearrange one or more apps on your home screen. 

Once the apps start shaking, you will notice a small (X) or (-) icon on the top left corner of the apps. Tapping on the (X) or (-) icon allows you to delete the app from your iPhone. On the other hand, if you want to rearrange the apps, drag the shaking app icon and drop it to a new location anywhere on your home screen. You can also lower the app icon into another app to create a folder for those two apps.

Curious what cables you can safely charge your iPhone with? If so I recommend you read my dedicated article.

How Do You Stop iPhone Apps From Moving?

Settings > Accessibility > Touch > 3D and Haptic Touch > turn off 3D Touch – then hold down on the app and you should see an option at the top to Rearrange Apps. For iPhone X and above, you can control the app icons from moving by tapping on the “Done” option on the top right of your screen or by simply tapping on a space on your screen. 

It is straightforward to stop iPhone apps from moving on your home screen. Here’s how you can stop iPhone apps from moving, depending on your iPhone model:

  • If you have an iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iPhone SE (1st generation), iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, or iPhone 8 Plus, press your Home Button to stop the apps from shaking.
  • Suppose you have an iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, or iPhone 12 Pro Max. In that case, you can stop the apps from shaking by tapping on the “Done” icon on the top right corner of your skin. 

Alternatively, you can also tap on any space on your home screen to stop the shaking. 

That’s all about the app icons in the middle of your home screen. But what if the dock icons on the bottom of your iPhone’s home screen start shaking? Well, read on to find out.

Can you damage your iPhone using it while charging? I recommend you read my article to learn the truth.

Why Do My Bottom Icons On My iPhone Keep Moving?

The bottom icons on your iPhone are moving because you have triggered the iPhone to ‘delete or rearrange apps’ by tapping and holding down on a specific app icon which allows you to rearrange or delete apps on your screen. To stop this, change the screen orientation from portrait to landscape, and then immediately back to portrait

However, if you notice that the bottom or dock icons on your iPhone keep rearranging by themselves, this is a common issue that iPhone users have faced for years. What happens is that the dock icons on your iPhone’s home screen rearrange themselves after a short while, even if you arrange them numerous times.

How to Stop Bottom Icons on iPhone from Moving?

Luckily, there is a fix. To stop your bottom or dock icons on your iPhone’s home screen from moving, do the following:

  • Rotate your iPhone so that it is in landscape mode and then immediately rotate it back to portrait mode. 

Doing so would fix the solution, and your iPhone app icons would rearrange themselves into the order you previously set them in.

Want to know the tell-tale signs that you have to replace your iPhone? If you are not sure you should read my dedicated guide on how to know.

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