Where are my apps in Android 12?

I upgraded my Pixel phone to Android 12, and I couldn’t find my apps. When I swipe up on the home button, I get my running apps, but not the full list. Where are my apps on Android 12?

Swipe up on the desktop and you’ll find your list of installed apps in Android 12. Swiping up on the home button now pulls up the list of running apps.

Where are my apps in Android 12
I tapped the button in the bottom of the screen to pull up my apps, and I got my running apps instead. They moved the functionality in Android 12.

I found them. To get my full list of apps, I need to swipe up on a blank part of my home screen. Any part will do. That brings up the whole apps list. From there, I can launch an app, drag its icon to my home screen for faster access, or whatever else I want to do.

Why the change?

I found an Android 10 device and the swipe-up trick worked then, so I’m not sure exactly when that was introduced, or if it’s been that way for years and I just never knew it. The change threw me for a minute, but I only switched back to Android this summer, so I’m not sure if I’m being a curmudgeon.

And now that I think about it, I think it makes more sense this way. I don’t think it was change for the sake of change. I just have to remember to swipe the home screen to find my apps list, and swipe the button to see my running apps. And frankly, I need to pull up the list of running apps from time to time, more than one would think, and this makes it quicker to do that. So I think I can get used to swiping on the home screen to bring up my apps.

But that’s the trick. Swipe up on a blank area on your desktop, and that’s where your apps are hiding in Android 12. So far, that is the only change that has thrown me off.

Now I wonder if they figured out how to do anything about accidentally enabling one handed mode?

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3 thoughts on “Where are my apps in Android 12?

  • November 17, 2021 at 2:52 pm
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    Dave, my Pixel 2 XL running Android 11 operates in this way (swipe up from anywhere on the bottom for all apps, tap the home button for current/recently used apps.) But I’m not sure if that’s an Android 11 thing, or just a Google Pixel thing.

    • November 20, 2021 at 11:43 am
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      Interesting. It was after the Android 12 upgrade that the behavior changed on my Pixel. At any rate, if someone else runs into this, maybe this will help them.

  • December 2, 2021 at 1:33 pm
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    The change was on Android 12. Appreciate this post since I thought I was forced to use the Google Search Bar for finding anything.

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