How to Hide Apps on Your iPhone: A Sneaky Trick Revealed!

We all have those apps on our iPhones that we’d rather keep private from prying eyes. Whether it’s a guilty pleasure game, personal finance tracker, or dating app, hiding certain icons on your iOS home screen keeps their purpose discreet.

Luckily, Apple has a built-in method for concealing apps on iPhones and iPads without anyone knowing they’re still installed. This easy trick doesn’t require jailbreaking or Apple’s Screen Time feature. Just follow these few simple steps to uncover the stealthy technique for vanishing apps on your iPhone or iPad!

 

 

Reasons to Hide Apps on iPhones

Here are common motivations for making apps disappear from your iOS device’s home screen:

• Keep apps like games or social media out of sight to avoid distractions
• Prevent awkward questions from friends or family about some apps’ purpose
• Discourage kids or partners from accessing inappropriate content
• Stop yourself from mindlessly launching certain addicting apps
• Visually declutter your iPhone’s layout with a cleaner homepage

So whether aiming to stay focused, limit app addiction tendencies, manage children’s usage or keep things discrete – hiding iOS apps has practical benefits.

Checking Settings Before Hiding Apps

First off, check a few quick settings on your iPhone to avoid hiccups when making apps vanish:

1. Disable Find My iPhone capability under Apple ID settings
2. Turn off any existing passcodes or biometric locks
3. Make sure iPhone is not actively backed up or syncing with iTunes

Handling these items now prevents unwanted passwords or errors during the app hiding process.

 

 

How to Hide and Unhide Apps on iPhone

Without further ado, here are the sneaky simple steps to make icons invisible on your home screen:

Hide Apps

1. Long press the app you want to hide
2. Tap the appearing (-) minus icon
3. Confirm removing the app from home screen

The app disappears from view just like magic!

Unhide Apps

1. Swipe left from your home screen
2. Scroll all the way down and tap App Library
3. Find the hidden app grouped by category
4. Tap the app icon to reopen

And the invisible app becomes visible again on the next empty home screen page!

Critical Things to Know Before Hiding Apps

While tucked away apps remain secretly installed, be aware:

• Apps still show up when searching iPhone
• Badges continue sending notifications
• Background activities and tracking stay active
• Upcoming updates still apply

The only change is no home screen presence. For true app-eliminating power, deletion remains necessary.

Clearing Out Storage Space After Hiding

Since concealed apps still occupy storage space, optimize your iPhone by:

• Offloading unused apps from the App Library
• Enabling optimize storage in Settings
• Manually deleting unneeded apps

This frees up room for capturing more pics, downloads or iOS updates.

Adding Visual Widgets to Replace Hidden Apps

Don’t leave awkward empty spaces after making icons vanish. Instead:

1. Long press the blank home screen spot
2. Tap Add Widget
3. Choose widget matching hidden app’s size
4. Select visually appealing widget like Clock or Photos
5. Drag widget into empty area to neatly fill space

Widgets prevent a conspicuous icon-less gap while also enabling helpful at-a-glance information.

Assign Secret Gestures for Fast App Access

Though apps are now hidden, you can set up quick shortcut access using Back Tap:

1. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch
2. Scroll down to Back Tap section
3. Choose Double Tap or Triple Tap
4. Select the concealed app you want assigned

Now discreetly open apps using your secret sneaky taps!

Keep Hidden Apps in the App Library Dock

Additionally, the App Library screen features a dock with up to four select apps:

1. Head to App Library
2. Long press an app icon
3. Drag and drop into the library dock below

This grants one-tap access to frequently used apps that you’ve hidden from view on home pages.

Password Protecting App Access for Extra Security

For even greater concealment regarding private apps:

1. Open Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions
2. Select Content Restrictions > Allowed Apps
3. Choose the app(s) to hide behind Touch/Face ID

Now prying eyes can’t sneak a peek at your hidden apps without biometric or passcode authentication!

Unhiding Multiple Apps in Bulk

If you hide several apps at once but later want visibility restored:

1. Head to App Library
2. Tap dotted icon (…) to select mode
3. Checkmark all the vanished apps you want visible
4. Tap Add to Home Screen

Previously concealed apps collectively reappear on available home screen pages.

Clever Ideas for Hidden App Usage

Beyond meetings, privacy or limiting distractions, other clever ways to leverage concealed apps include:

• Disguising secret spy recorder apps
• Embedding private notes into a generic todo app
• Stashing contraband candy crush levels away from diets
• Building hidden photo albums of inside jokes or surprises

However you put mysteriously missing apps to use, embrace your inner sneak!

FAQs About Hiding iPhone Apps

Here are answers to some common questions about concealing iOS apps:

What happens if my iPhone storage is full?

Hidden apps still consume storage space, so make sure to delete unneeded apps if maxing out capacity. Offload unused apps automatically in Settings.

Do hidden app badges send notifications?

Yes, concealing an app’s icon has no impact on its notifications. Activity badges will continue appearing from hidden apps. Mute notifications directly within each app’s settings if unwanted.

Can I hide pre-installed Apple apps too?

Unfortunately the hiding trick only applies to downloaded third-party apps. There is no way to conceal built-in Apple apps like Messages, Mail or Maps.

What if I hide an app by accident or forget?

No problem! Just open the App Library and locate the app to add it back to your home screen. The app hiding process is reversible and simple to undo.

Conclusion

Hiding personal or distracting iPhone apps helps organize your homepage without fully deleting favored apps. Using this easy iOS trick lifts visual app clutter while keeping private apps installed but subtle from prying eyes.

So slap on those sunglasses and sneak away apps you’d rather keep discreet! Just don’t forget how to find them when desiring secret access once more.