Thumbwise

Guide

How to rearrange your iPhone apps from your Mac (without iTunes)

Rearranging apps on the iPhone itself means dragging icons one at a time across small pages. Doing it from your Mac gives you a bigger screen, a mouse or trackpad, and room to plan. Here are the ways to do it, then a step-by-step walkthrough with Thumbwise.

Updated

Your options

Older versions of iTunes let you arrange your iPhone apps from a computer. That feature was removed, and Finder, which now syncs your iPhone on a Mac, doesn’t offer it. These are the options today.

Apple Configurator

Apple Configurator is Apple’s free Mac app for setting up and managing devices. It can also change the app layout on a connected iPhone, but it isn’t built for everyday arranging. See how Thumbwise compares with Apple Configurator.

iPhone Mirroring

iPhone Mirroring on recent versions of macOS shows your iPhone’s screen in a window on your Mac, so you can control it with your pointer. You use the same Home Screen editing as on the phone, one drag at a time in a phone-sized window.

Thumbwise

Thumbwise is a Mac app made only for arranging your iPhone Home Screen. It reads your current layout, lets you arrange apps, folders and widgets in a larger workspace, shows a preview, then applies the layout directly to your iPhone. Your widgets stay, with their size and settings, exactly where you place them, and apps you keep only in the App Library stay there.

Rearrange your iPhone apps with Thumbwise

  1. Check what you need

    A Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 15 or later, an iPhone on iOS 27, and a USB cable to connect them.

  2. Download and open Thumbwise

    Download Thumbwise for Mac for free. After downloading, open Thumbwise and choose Move to Applications.

  3. Connect your iPhone

    Connect your iPhone to your Mac with the cable. If your iPhone asks whether to trust this computer, choose Trust. Thumbwise uses Apple’s device connection; no jailbreak is needed.

  4. Read your Home Screen

    Thumbwise reads your current Home Screen layout onto your Mac. Your layout stays on your Mac; there is no account to create.

  5. Arrange it your way

    Drag apps, folders and widgets between pages. Set apps aside in App Bank while you rearrange, then place them where you want. Moving an app doesn’t automatically shuffle the others.

    Thumbwise on Mac showing five iPhone Home Screen pages, an App Bank and an Optimization panel.

  6. Optional: let Thumbwise suggest a layout

    Optimization uses your available app usage data to estimate swipes between pages over the past 30 days, then can arrange a layout designed to reduce them. It uses Screen Time activity synced to your Mac, so turn on Share Across Devices in Screen Time on both your iPhone and your Mac, signed in to the same Apple Account. You can also connect a compatible AI assistant through Thumbwise’s MCP tools.

    Estimated page swipes over the last 30 days: the initial read shows 148, the current layout shows 48, and the comparison reports 68% fewer estimated swipes.

  7. Preview, then Apply

    Review the preview, then choose Apply to send the layout directly to your iPhone. Apply places only what’s on your pages. Apps you keep in the App Library stay there. Before it applies, Thumbwise keeps a local backup of your previous layout. Apply is unlocked with a one-time $14.99 USD license; organizing and previewing are free.

  8. Changed your mind? Restore

    Thumbwise keeps your 5 most recent Reads. Restore loads one of them and applies it again.

Connect an AI assistant

A compatible AI assistant can arrange a draft layout through Thumbwise’s MCP tools. It writes to your iPhone only when you explicitly ask it to.

  1. Turn on access

    Keep Thumbwise open. In Thumbwise, open AI Integration and turn on Allow local AI client connections.

  2. Add the server

    In AI Integration, pick Claude or Codex. The Claude tab has two parts; set up the one you use.

    Using Claude Code (the Code tab)? Choose Copy prompt, paste it into a Claude Code chat, then start a new chat. Terminal alternative: claude mcp add --scope user thumbwise -- /Applications/Thumbwise.app/Contents/MacOS/thumbwise-mcp

    Using regular Claude chat? Choose Copy config, add it in Claude’s Settings → Developer → Edit Config (inside “mcpServers”), then restart Claude. Use the Claude app on your Mac: Claude in a web browser can’t connect to Thumbwise, because Thumbwise runs only on your Mac.

    Using Codex? Choose Copy prompt, paste it into a Codex chat, then start a new session. Terminal alternative: codex mcp add thumbwise -- /Applications/Thumbwise.app/Contents/MacOS/thumbwise-mcp

    If Thumbwise is not in /Applications (for example ~/Applications), use the path shown in AI Integration.

  3. Start a new chat

    MCP tools load only when a chat starts, so start a new chat or session once after adding Thumbwise (in Claude Code, claude --continue reopens the same conversation). Claude’s chat tab and Code tab are set up separately.

More questions

The FAQ covers pricing, privacy and refunds, and the Apple Configurator comparison shows how Thumbwise differs.

Download for Mac (free) Read the FAQ