[pbhjpbhj]

Actually, I just looked at this .. and they have a function (who knew??). If you click then it shows the alphabet as a block in a dialog and you can jump to a different letter!

I'd still get rid of them (or push/float the app links to the right) and save the vertical space.

[bchanudet]

The behaviour you found out is an inheritage from the good old Windows Phone 7.

I use it quite frequently, because when I'm going through the list it's usually because I couldn't reach to the program I wanted by just typing the name. So if what I need it's under "W", then it's a way to be quicker.