Ever feel like your iPhone's home screen is a bit too cluttered, or perhaps you have a few apps you'd rather keep out of casual sight? It’s a common feeling, and thankfully, Apple gives us a few neat ways to declutter and add a touch of privacy without actually deleting anything.
Think of it like tidying up your desk. You don't throw away your pens and stapler; you just put them in a drawer. Hiding apps on your iPhone works much the same way.
The Quickest Way: 'Remove from Home Screen'
This is probably the simplest method. Let's say you have an app you use, but you don't need to see it every time you unlock your phone. Here’s what you do:
- Press and hold the app icon you want to tuck away.
- A little menu will pop up. Tap 'Remove App'.
- Then, choose 'Remove from Home Screen'.
And poof! It's gone from your main view. Now, don't panic – it's not deleted. It's just moved to your App Library, which is like a digital filing cabinet for all your apps. You can still find it by swiping all the way to the right on your last home screen page, or by using the search bar.
Hiding a Whole Page of Apps
Sometimes, you might want to do a bigger clean sweep. Maybe you have a page dedicated to games you rarely play, or a collection of apps you only use for specific tasks. You can hide an entire page:
- Press and hold anywhere on your home screen until the icons start to jiggle.
- Look at the bottom of the screen. You'll see a series of dots representing your home screen pages. Tap on those dots.
- Now you'll see all your pages laid out. Beneath each page, there's a little checkmark. Tap the checkmark on the page (or pages) you want to hide. The checkmark will disappear.
- Tap 'Done' in the top right corner.
That page, and all the apps on it, will vanish from your home screen. If you ever want them back, just repeat the process and tap the circle under the page to bring the checkmark back.
Keeping Apps Out of Search Results
Even if an app isn't on your home screen, it might still pop up when you search for something. If you want to be a bit more thorough, you can disable this:
- Go to Settings.
- Tap on Siri & Search.
- Find and select the app you want to hide from search.
- Toggle off 'Show App in Search'.
This is great for privacy, but it's important to remember this doesn't free up any space or make your phone run faster. For that, you'd actually need to delete the app.
The New iOS 18 Way: Hiding and Locking
With iOS 18, Apple has introduced a more robust way to hide apps, moving them into a special 'Hidden' folder that requires authentication to access. This is a big step up for privacy.
- Press and hold the app you want to hide.
- In the quick action menu, you'll see options like 'Require Face ID' (or Touch ID/passcode).
- Select 'Hide and Require Face ID' and authenticate.
- Confirm by tapping 'Hide App'.
These apps won't show up in your main App Library folders, and their notifications will be silenced. The only place to find them is in the 'Hidden' folder at the bottom of your App Library. Even if you haven't hidden any apps, this folder will be there. To unhide, you go to the 'Hidden' folder, authenticate, press and hold the app, and select 'Don't Require Face ID'.
Unhiding is Easy Too
Whenever you want to bring an app back into view, it's just as simple. Head to your App Library, find the app, and either drag it back to your home screen or, if you used the iOS 18 method, go to the 'Hidden' folder and adjust its settings.
It’s all about making your digital space work for you, keeping things tidy and private just the way you like them.
