As developers, we often need to hide apps from our users’ prying eyes. Whether it’s to keep sensitive information safe or simply to improve the user experience, there are times when we want to keep certain apps out of sight. Luckily, iOS 18 provides us with a number of tools to accomplish this task.
Why Hide Apps on iOS 18?
Before we dive into the technical details of hiding apps on iOS 18, let’s first explore some common reasons why developers might want to do this.
Security and Privacy
One of the most common reasons for hiding apps is to keep sensitive information safe. For example, if you’re developing a banking app, you’ll want to ensure that users can’t accidentally access their account balance or other personal information from other parts of their device. By hiding the app in a less visible location, you can help prevent unauthorized access.
Improve User Experience
In some cases, hiding an app can improve the user experience of your app. For example, if your app contains a lot of sensitive data, you might want to hide it from prying eyes so that users don’t accidentally trigger any sensitive actions. By keeping the app in a less visible location, you can make it easier for users to find the information they need and reduce the risk of accidental activations.
Avoid Clutter
Finally, hiding an app can help keep your device clutter-free. If you have a lot of apps that you don’t use frequently, it can be overwhelming to scroll through all of them every time you want to access something. By hiding the apps you don’t need, you can reduce the visual noise on your device and make it easier to find what you need when you need it.
How to Hide an App on iOS 18
Now that we’ve explored some of the common reasons for hiding apps on iOS 18 let’s take a look at how to do it. There are a few different methods for hiding apps, but the most effective one involves using the app icon badge.
Icon Badge Hiding Method
To hide an app using the icon badge method, follow these steps:
- Open the app you want to hide.
- Tap and hold on the icon for a few seconds until it starts wiggling.
- Tap the “X” that appears in the top-left corner of the icon.
- Select “Remove App” from the popup that appears.
- A confirmation message will appear asking if you really want to delete the app. Tap “Cancel.”
- The icon will still be visible on your home screen, but it won’t launch the app when tapped. Instead, it will simply open up the App Store page for that app.
- To unhide the app, follow the same steps as above, but select “Move to Trash” instead of “Remove App.”
Note: This method only works if you have previously installed the app and want to hide it from your home screen. If you want to hide an app that is not currently on your device, you’ll need to use a different method.
Folder Hiding Method
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