The Android operating system allows us to do some really amazing things that just aren't currently possible on other smart phone devices. One of which is organize our apps outside of the normally folder system allowed by the "front end". In an iOS device, that means dragging and dropping apps onto one another to create a folder, naming it, and adding other apps to that. On Android, you can do the same thing to your home screen by adding a folder, naming it, and dragging and dropping apps into that folder. But apps can this better.
An app called Application Folder Pro allows you to create folders within itself. Making these folders within the app, at first, may seem meaningless and can be meaningless if you choose to do nothing with them. Creating these folders does nothing to your home screen until you add a widget or shortcut.
All the apps within a folder can be accessed from a single icon on your home screen much like a folder, but maintenance is done through the app. If you ever decide to remove this folder widget or shortcut, you can always just bring it right back. On iOS or with Android folders, you'd have to drag and drop all those apps into a folder again and again to recreate the folder if it were ever removed. But folders through Application Folder Pro are just a long press away from being recreated.
On top of that, you can edit the apps order, add apps or remove apps while the widget/shortcut exists. Everything is changed from the backend to the front end seamlessly. Furthermore, the appearance of these folders can be customized. You cannot customize anything about folders on iOS. Some home replacement apps on Android will change the look and feel of folders but there still is only one kind. With Application Folder Pro, there are several different looks to how to the folders open. And they are all really cool and useful.
My favorite feature of Application Folder Pro is the fact that you can use is as a shortcut on your home screen and not just a widget. If you have Go Launcher EX installed, you can actually add a shortcut (or other cool things) to any icon in your dock by way of a gesture. A simple swipe of the finger from the icon, up, will open a shortcut. In this case, if the shortcut is a custom folder created within Application Folder Pro, then you have just eliminated the need for multiple home screens.
Another app with a similar feature set is called Folder Organizer. The biggest difference between the two is only in the way they look when used on your desktop. Folder Organizer allows you to create different sized widgets and even allows for scrolling within the widget if you are using a home replacement app like Go Launcher EX. Where as Application Folder Pro creates simulated folders.
I highly recommend taking a look at these two apps. It definitely wouldn't hurt to use them both as I have. Though I've come to like Application Folder Pro much more for its aesthetics and usability, you may see it differently. They both can be found in the Android Market and Amazon Appstore.
Application Folder Pro:
Android Market Amazon Appstore
Folder Organizer:
Android Market Amazon Appstore
