At some point, we’ve all installed one app we don’t want anyone touching our devices to see. It might be a game you’re trying to restrict kids from playing. For the ladies, it might be a diary or the monthly guy calculator if you know what I mean. Anyways, it doesn’t matter which app it is. What’s important right now is that you don’t want to delete this app from your device however, you don’t want a second eye seeing the app, let alone accessing it. Unlike Android devices, you can easily change your launcher to a launcher that supports hiding an app. The only way to completely remove an app from your iPhone is to delete it. We have got you covered here on how to hide apps on iPhone.
To delete any app on iPhone, tap and hold its icon until the “X” appears, and then tap it. However, we’ll be looking at some tips on how to hide apps on the iPhone without removing it from your device. These include removing the app from Siri shortcuts and suggestions, disabling features like notifications from the app, and burying the app icon in a folder that anyone holding your device won’t access easily.
How to Hide Apps on iPhone
Want to hide that app from everyone who accesses your phone? You can easily achieve this by creating a folder for them on your iPhone’s Home screen, and moving these apps to the very last page of this folder. Below is a step by step guide;
On your device, tap and hold one of the apps you want to hide until your apps start jiggling. (on iOS 13.2 or later, you need to tap the Edit Home Screen button. While on iOS 13 to 13.1, you’ll have to tap on Rearrange Apps).
Now, drag the app you want to hide over another app. It doesn’t matter if you wish to hide the new app or not.
Once you’re over the second app, let go of the app. Your device would automatically create a new folder, which will automatically be named by your iPhone (according to the category of apps).
If you want to hide more apps, drag them into the newly created folder. You might want to place a few other ‘dummy’ apps in the folder, just to fill out the first page.
After adding all necessary apps to the newly created folder, you can rearrange their location to hide them within the second level folder. Do this by holding and dragging the desired app over to the right side of the folder until it slides to the next page. Once you let go and leave that app there, you can swipe back over to the first page and move your other personal apps to the second.
Finally, you might want to rename the folder, to give it a more bland title.
Note that any app on the first page of the folder will be visible from the Home screen, although they’ll be smaller than usual.
That’s it. If at any point you don’t want to hide your apps anymore, you can drag them out of the folder and place them back on the Home screen (do this by entering Edit Home Screen mode). Additionally, you can do the above with any kind of app, third-party or native. However, this app would still be visible to searchers.
How to Find Hidden Apps on Your iPhone
Every app downloaded on your iPhone, and not hidden from Siri & Search, you can be found easily using the Search function on your iPhone. However, You must type the app’s full name if you want to find out which folder it’s in. To search for an app,
- swipe down from the middle of your home screen to open Search.
- Enter the full name of the app you’re looking for (ignore the suggestions that appear under Applications until you have entered the full name).
- If your app doesn’t appear and you’re sure its installed, tap Search.
- The app should show up on top of the result.
If the app is hidden in a folder, the name of the folder will appear at the right-hand side of the app icon. Tap on the icon to open the app. Or open the folder on your Home Screen to find the app there. However, if the app is not on your iPhone, you will see View to the right of the app icon. Tap on View to download the app from the App Store. However, If the app doesn’t show up, double-check that you got the app name and spelling right.
How to Hide Apps from iPhone Search
Even if you hide apps deep in a folder on your iPhone, anyone could easily find this app using the Search functionality on your device. However, you can prevent apps from showing up in search results. So We’ll prevent our apps from appearing in search using the steps below.
On your device, tap on the gear icon to open Settings.
Tap on Siri & Search from the list of options in the settings window.
Scroll down to the app section and tap on the app you want to hide.
Tap the toggle beside Learn from this App to the Off position.
Tap the toggle beside Show in Search to the Off position
Tap the toggle beside Show Siri Suggestions to the Off position
You can carry out the steps above for all the apps you want to hide from your iPhone’s Search result. To allow an app in your iPhone’s Search result, go back to Siri & Search from your device Settings and toggle Siri Suggestions back on.
How to Hide Apps on iPhone from Your App Store Purchase History
Somehow, snoopers would always snoop. Smiles, for real, I’ll recommend your apps don’t have to show up in your purchase history especially if you have Family Sharing enabled. Once this is enabled, anyone in your Family Group can see and download the apps you’ve purchased and downloaded. To hide your purchase history, follow the steps below;
- Open your device’s App Store.
- Tap on your profile icon or your miniature photo at the top right-hand corner of the app interface.
- Tap on Purchased.
- Select My Purchases.
- Scroll down to the app you wish to hide and Swipe it to the left on the app and tap on Hide. Feel free to Swipe and Hide all other apps you want to hide.
- After that, tap on Done at the top right-hand corner of the screen.
Remember, this won’t delete or hide any app on your iPhone. It would only hide the app from your purchase history in the App Store. You also can’t hide app subscriptions from the Family Organizer in Family Sharing, even if you hide the app from Purchases.
To View Your Hidden App Purchases:
If you ever want to see your hidden app purchases, follow the steps below.
- Open your App Store.
- Tap on your profile icon or your miniature photo at the top right-hand corner of the app interface.
- Tap on your Apple ID. You may be required to input your Apple ID password. You could also use Face or Touch ID if prompted.
- Tap on Hidden Purchases.
How to Hide Apps That Come Pre-installed on Your iPhone
Although you cannot uninstall an app that came preinstalled with your iPhone, Apple allows its users to hide most of these apps. To hide the Apple stock apps, you’ll follow the process used to delete third-party apps. However, you’re only deleting the app’s icon, because the app’s data would not be removed.
- On your device, tap and hold one of the apps you want to hide until your apps start jiggling. (on iOS 13.2 or later, you need to tap the Edit Home Screen button. While on iOS 13 to 13.1, you’ll have to tap on Rearrange Apps).
- When the Action Menu pops up, tap on Delete App. However, if the Delete App option is missing from the Action Menu, then the app can’t be deleted. Simply bury it in a folder with the steps above.
Repeat the process for all the stock apps that you want to remove. However, If you change your mind and you need any of these apps in the future, simply download them from the App Store to get them back.
Note: Although you can delete some apps, such as the iPhone Calculator and Apple Music apps, some apps like the App Store and Camera apps, cannot be deleted.