How To Hide Apps on iPhone: A Complete Guide [2023]

Can you hide apps on iPhone? The short answer is NO. But there is a way to kinda-hide apps using App Library – here’s how it works

Before the release of iOS 14, organizing all of your apps was a pain in the ass. Apple did not give you any way to organize or store them, save for folders.

If you download and use a lot of apps, this meant you have to have multiple home screens running packed with apps and folders. It wasn’t ideal, basically – especially since Android has an app drawer since day one.

However, with the release of iOS 14, iPhone users now have access to App Library – Apple’s answer to Android’s app drawer. But unlike Android’s app drawer, App Library is a machine-learning-powered organization suite.

With App Library, you no longer have to have hundreds of apps and folders on your home screens. You can just run the apps that you daily and store all the other, less-used apps inside App Library.

This means your home screens are less cluttered, giving you more room to show of things like your iPhone’s wallpaper.

How To Hide Apps on iPhone

Apple, in its unique way, doesn’t exactly give you the tools to “hide” apps on your iPhone. When you’ve got an app installed, it’s going to be out in the open – either flaunting itself on one of your home screens or tucked away in the App Library.

And this still stands as of right now, inside the iOS 17 era.

Now, you might be thinking, “So, I can’t make it invisible?” Well, not quite. You can’t send it to some secret vault, but you can certainly make it play a good game of hide and seek. This is where the magic of the App Library steps in.

Wondering how to get to this App Library? It’s a breeze. Just keep swiping left, past all your home screens, until you can’t swipe anymore. That’s the cozy corner where App Library has set up its residence.

Home Screen pages can display widgets that are customised for work, travel, sports, entertainment, and other areas of interest. At the end of the Home Screen pages is the App Library, a new space that automatically organises all of a user’s apps into one simple, easy-to-navigate view, and intelligently surfaces apps that may be helpful in the moment. Users can choose how many Home Screen pages to display and easily hide pages for quicker access to the App Library.

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Once you’re inside, it’s like walking into a well-organized digital library. There are folders, labeled and sorted, making it a cinch to locate categories. Need to find an app quickly? Just tap on that handy search bar at the top. And, of course, every app you’ve ever installed on your iPhone is there, waiting to be accessed.

Understanding the App Library

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Introduced in iOS 14, the App Library acts as Apple’s answer to Android’s app drawer. Unlike Android, Apple’s App Library uses machine learning to organize your apps, ensuring a cleaner home screen experience.

Wrapping Up…

While you cannot technically “hide” an application inside iOS, you can make sure it is not viewable on any of your home screens by removing the app and letting it live solely inside Apple’s App Library.

This process is simple to do, requiring a long press on the app in question and then selecting REMOVE APP. The app is then kind of hidden, as it removes it from the home screen and places it inside App Library which is located on your last home screen, away from prying eyes.

And check out the 3 best ways to organize apps on your iPhone!