How to Rearrange Icons on the 6th & 7th Generation nano

This article explains how to rearrange the app icons on the home screen of a 6th and 7th generation iPod nano.

Luckily, both the 6th generation iPod nano and 7th generation iPod nano let you rearrange the app icons to suit your needs. Here's what you need to do:

1. Wake the nano by clicking the sleep/wake button on the top-right edge.
2. If you're not already there, get to the nano's home screen by swiping left to right until it appears.
3. Tap and hold the app icon you want to move until the icons begin shaking (in the way same that you move icons on iOS devices).
4. Drag the app, or apps, to where you want them to be. This can be on the same screen or to a new screen (more on that later in the article).
5. When the icons are moved into the positions you want, click the sleep/wake button on the top (6th gen. model) or the home button on the front (7th gen. model) to save the new arrangement.

Can You Rearrange Icons on Other iPod nano Models?

No. Only the 6th and 7th generation models have app icons. All of the other versions use menus, whose order cannot be changed.

How About Deleting Apps Built Into the iPod nano?

No. Unlike on the iPhone or iPad, apps that come built into the iPod nano have to stay there. Apple doesn't give you a way to remove them.

What About Making Folders of Apps?

While the ability to combine multiple apps into a single folder has been available on the iPhone and iPod touch for years, Apple doesn't offer that feature on the iPod nano line-up. Given the small number of apps on the nano, and that you can't install third-party apps (more on that in a second) folders likely wouldn't be of a lot of use.

So You Can't Install Apps Either?

Nope. There's no equivalent of the App Store for the nano (though some early models did have third-party apps). There's a lot of complexity required to support third-party apps that users can install on their own. With the steadily declining sales of the iPod line, and the outright discontinuation of the Shuffle and the nano in 2017, Apple won't invest the resources required for this.

Can You Create More Screens of Apps?

Yes. By default, the apps are arranged on a couple of screens, but you can create more if you'd like.

To move an app to another screen, drag it to the right or left edge of the last screen of apps you have (that is, if you have two screens, create a third by dragging an app of the right edge of the second screen). A new screen will appear where you can drop the app. This is essentially the same process as on the iPhone.