Your “Imagine…” hypothetical is literally how I run my iPhone. I don’t need piles of icons cluttering up my screen. I can pull down and type 1-2 characters and get any app on my phone, easily.
More room for glanceable, informational widgets that way.
Hah. I can pull down and type 1-2 characters and my app might show up. Eventually.
Sadly you can’t swipe left and instantly type into the App Library search - that search bar actually works pretty well.
I have a 16 pro and pull down and type a couple of characters is delivering apps to me pretty much instantly