In this article, we will discuss the ways with the help of which you can hide apps on your iPhone running iOS 14 or later. There arise instances when you would surely prefer to hide a specific app or a set of apps to prevent them from getting seen or accessed by the prying eyes. Even though the Face/Touch ID does its job of preventing unauthorized access pretty well, it doesn’t always prove to be the best way for safeguarding your apps. There’s a need for more than that. This article lists some of the best methods that you can follow to hide your iOS device’s apps.
Tips and Tricks to Hide Apps on iPhone
Below we have mentioned classic as well as all-new tricks for hiding your iOS device’s apps. You can use these tips and tricks to restrict your apps from getting exposed.
Use of Screen Time for Hiding Apps
Screen Time or Restrictions is amongst some of the best reliable methods for keeping the apps out of sight of the prying eyes. No matter if it’s your sibling or a naughty kid you are dealing with, the use of the built-in parental controls is a must to conceal the applications on the device.
You need to proceed to Settings, then click on “Screen Time,” and then go to “Content & Privacy Restrictions” and check if it is turned on or not. You need to then click on Allowed Apps. You will see a list of apps like Mail, Camera, Fitness, Wallet, Health, FaceTime, iTunes Store, Siri Dictation, and more. Among them, you can disable the toggle for the desired apps, and the changes for those will come into effect immediately. To unhide these apps, come back to the same settings, and enable the toggles for every app accordingly.
You can also hide other (including third-party) iOS apps using the Screen Time feature. The apps will be concealed upon the age ratings. Go to Settings > Screen Time -> Content & Privacy Restrictions and enable the toggle for it. Further, click on “Content Restriction” and choose “Apps,” and then you need to choose the age rating according to your requirements.
You can also completely disallow the apps on your iOS device, but we recommend you to go for it only when you want extreme protection for your apps. On selecting the settings for the same, all the iOS apps will get disabled except the few essential ones like Messages, Settings, Phone, etc.
Remove iPhone Apps from Home Screen
If desired, you can even remove the applications from your device’s home screen and make them visible only in your App Library. Even though this is not among the best ways to hide your apps, still, you should try it at least once if you want only some specific apps to be out of sight of others, and that too in an effortless way.
You can long-press on a particular app icon and then click on “Remove App” and then tap on “Remove from Home Screen” to let it get removed from your home screen.
Hide Purchased Apps in the App Store
Apple offers a way to keep all the apps that you have purchased under the wraps in the iOS device’s App Store. If you have ever needed hiding the applications you have purchased, this trick is for you. Please be noted that the hidden app will not be appearing in the list of your purchased apps any further. However, it will continue to be shown in your purchase history.
To accomplish this task, open your iPhone, click on Profile, then on Purchased, and go to My Purchases. Further, tap on the “All” tab to figure out every purchased app and choose “Not on this iPhone” to access apps that aren’t present on that specific device. Then select the app which needs to be hidden, then swipe leftwards, press on the “Hide” button, and your app will not be appearing in your purchase list.
In the future, if you want to remove any specific app from the list of hidden apps, then open the App Store and click on your profile, then tap on your Apple ID or your name, and press the option “Hidden Purchases.” The list of all the downloaded applications will appear on your screen. Find the required app, and then press the download button to download it again.
Hide Apps from Siri Suggestions
Siri keeps track of the most extensively used apps in your list. With the help of this feature, you can quickly access the required apps. This feature might sometimes become a cause of concern due to privacy reasons. So, you can hide the apps from getting suggested by Siri. For that, proceed to the Settings app, then click on the specific app, and turn off Siri & Search for the “Show App” and “Suggest App” in search.
Hide iPhone Apps Using Folders
Most of us would be familiar with hiding the apps using the folders. If you want a simple yet effective way to hide the apps using the folder, then go to the folder, simply drag and drop an app onto the other app and then drag that app onto the other page inside your folder.
So, these were some of the best ways to hide apps on your iOS device, having iOS 14 or later.
