Galaxy S7 hints that Samsung is next to kill the app drawer

Gaalxy S7 app drawer

There's something of a debate raging at the moment – do Android users really want an app drawer, that separate menu from the home screen that houses all the software you've downloaded from the Play Store?

Rumours of Android N getting rid of the app drawer have been doing the rounds for a few days, but investigating the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge a little further at MWC we found that under the 'Advanced Features' section of the settings menu, a 'Galaxy Labs' option gives the choice to have all your apps on the home screen.

Samsung Galaxy S7

This then drops the app drawer, making it so you've got every downloaded app available by swiping right on the home screen.

Closer to Apple

This essentially gives it the same layout as the iPhone, but with the addition of widgets and greater customisation. However, many Android fans have been vocal about not wanting the app drawer to disappear, so this could perhaps be a choice in the future to enable / disable it.

Galaxy S7 Edge

That said, LG (which recently dropped the app drawer on the LG G5) has said offering that option is more complicated than people might think, and it's a slicker experience to have only one option.

Will the Samsung Galaxy S8 have dropped the app drawer too? Would that put you off buying it? Let us know in the comments below.

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.

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