ANDROID FANS WERE left annoyed after rumours that Google was getting rid of the app drawer in its next update started circulating.

While the rumours started late last month, they blew up after Google posted a video on Twitter using Google Maps late last week.

What caught attention wasn’t the apps on show, but how the app drawer icon was replaced by the contacts app.

Google Maps / Twitter Google Maps / Twitter / Twitter

To give some context, the app drawer is where Android stores all your apps on your phone. Instead of placing all of them on the home screen like on iPhone/iPad, it tidies all of them away, keeping your home screen organised.

Yet the response to its possible removal has been less than positive. The replies to that tweet alone has numerous fans asking where it had disappeared off to, believing it would be gone once the next major update, called Android N, arrives later this year.

Google later told Droid Life saying it was an inaccurate version of Android and wasn’t a hint or preview of what’s to come, but the rumours that it will scrap the app tray continue to persist.

There is some justification to this response. The rumours of Android dropping the app tray started appearing last month, while some Android manufacturers like LG, Huawei and Xiaomi don’t include one. There is even a Samsung Labs option on the upcoming Galaxy S7 where you can delete the app drawer, keeping all of them on your home screen.

Also, there is the small matter of the change making it more similar to its rival iOS. Any similarities between the two, regardless of who came up with the idea first, is usually a contentious issue for both sets of fans.

But for now, the only people that know for certain are those working on Android N. Google will reveal its updates and changes at its developer conference, Google I/O, which is due to take place in May.

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