How to create and rename app folders with tvOS 9.2 on Apple TV

Just a few months after the platform launched, folders are already coming to tvOS, in the form of an upcoming 2.2 update that will make it easier for Apple TV owners to organize their apps.

Creating folders in tvOS 2.2 is simple, and will be intuitive for anyone who has completed the same task on an iOS device, though there are some tvOS-specific tweaks.

To create a folder, click and hold on an app icon with the Siri Remote's trackpad until the icon begins to jiggle. Then swipe the trackpad to move the icon around, and hold it directly over a second app's icon. If held in the right place, a folder will be created and both apps will appear inside of it.

When in a folder, swipe up past the top row of apps toward the folder's name to access a virtual keyboard and rename the folder. As in iOS, folder names are automatically created based on the type of apps combined to create the folder.

A tvOS folder is capable of displaying nine full app icons on an HDTV at once. Beyond that, additional apps can be added and accessed by swiping downward — Â there are no "pages" for apps like in iOS.

Once created, a folder can be repositioned on the tvOS home screen as the user sees fit, just like a standard app icon.

Apps can be removed from a tvOS folder by dragging them to any edge of the display.

As with iOS, you cannot create a folder within a folder in tvOS. And from our basic tests, we didn't find a hard limit for how many apps could be placed in a folder.

Finally, to delete a folder, simply drag all of the apps outside of it and it will automatically disappear.

tvOS 2.2 is currently in beta, and is available to developers for testing.

9 Comments

yojimbo007 1165 comments · 12 Years

About 8 years ago

Why not a folder in folder? Why is apple so stubborn about giving users more organizational control? Like total lack of file management in ios. Give it to us Apple. Those who dont want it simply wont use it...

Now i want to see apple allow for favorites tracking through user created intelligent interapp universal folders with notifications. example scifi faves... allows me to consolidate my fave scifi shows from all different apps and sources in one folder.. And then let the folder give me notifications of new shows/episodes availability. ...etc.. Like ios folders, with a number showing notifications pertaining that folder !

slurpy 5388 comments · 15 Years

yojimbo007 said:

Why not a folder in folder? Why is apple so stubborn about giving users more orginizational control? Like total lack of file management in ios. Give it to us Apple. Those who dont want it simply wont use it...

Nobody wants folders-in-a-folder, except you. "Total lack of file management"? There IS file management, in the form of iCloud Drive, or, there's a shitload of 3rd party apps. Or do you want Apple to give users access to all system files, so they can fuck things up? Not a single person I know who owns an iPhone cares about "total" file management. Stop pretending like you're somehow in the majority.

slurpy said:

yojimbo007 said:

Why not a folder in folder? Why is apple so stubborn about giving users more orginizational control? Like total lack of file management in ios. Give it to us Apple. Those who dont want it simply wont use it...

Nobody wants folders-in-a-folder, except you. "Total lack of file management"? There IS file management, in the form of iCloud Drive, or, there's a shitload of 3rd party apps. Or do you want Apple to give users access to all system files, so they can fuck things up? Not a single person I know who owns an iPhone cares about "total" file management. Stop pretending like you're somehow in the majority.

First thing first: iOS is not limited to iPhone. Remember iPads... Maybe File orginization and folder stuctures are not something u want .. But most people who like to use ios platform professionally (IPADPRO comes to mind ) need that.. And 3rd party apps are not the solution.. They are not reliable and there are disconnects between them and other apps. Icloud is getting there.. But cant be used offline.. Limited.. .also if one has many large files there is additional cost in buying the space . So iCloud is not the full answer. Its a partial solution . File management and organizational tools have to be at the heart/core of the os.. Be iOS, OSX, TvOS. And acceassible consistently through any app on the sys. As i wrote.. Make it available.. If one does not like it ... One wont use it. Very simple.

foggyhill 4767 comments · 10 Years

yojimbo007 said:
First thing first: iOS is not limited to iPhone. Remember iPads... Maybe File orginization and folder stuctures are not something u want .. But most people who like to use ios platform professionally (IPADPRO comes to mind ) need that.. And 3rd party apps are not the solution.. They are not reliable and there are disconnects between them and other apps. Icloud is getting there.. But cant be used offline.. Limited.. .also if one has many large files there is additional cost in buying the space . So iCloud is not the full answer. Its a partial solution . File management and organizational tools have to be at the heart/core of the os.. Be iOS, OSX, TvOS. And acceassible consistently through any app on the sys. As i wrote.. Make it available.. If one does not like it ... One wont use it. Very simple.
How is third party not a solution, because you say so? I'm going to state the opposite bud; so yeah, sue me!

I use Document 5 by Readdle and it does well; all the file management I need.
It Integrates NAS, windows shares, local storage, ftp servers, cloud storage from Apple or many others (dropbox, Google drive, Open Drive, Box, etc), webdav, etc. under one tree.

You can read many file formats right there (using the app itself), or open any external apps you want that also opens the file. Once done, you go back to the document tree.

Can download a 350mb movie file on a windows share, then open it with Imovie even on my Ipad 2 in very little time; on the air2 it takes mere seconds to access those large remote files and open it locally in whatever app is required.

And it's free too... Fantastic app.