Tip: The easiest way to hide apps on your iPhone or iPad

BY Osas Obaizamomwan

Published 7 Jan 2016

Abracadabra! A classic, one-word phrase that means something magical has just happened. And while the iPhone did blow people away when it was first released, that magical aura has definitely faded. But there is one thing you can do right now, that may impress your friends and clear a little space on your home screen. We are going to make our apps disappear.

The easiest trick to hide stock apps on your iPhone or iPad

There have been methods before for people who wanted to hide their unwanted apps from the home screen. But most of those required either some sleight of hand or a little extra time, and made it extremely annoying to do time and time again. On iOS 9.0 – 9.2, the trick is much, much easier.

Step 1. 

Find some apps that you would rather not see on your Home screen. Some popular suggestions are stock apps such as Tips, Find my Friends, Podcasts, Health, and iBooks. There are all Apple apps that cannot be manually deleted, so you are stuck looking at them, unless you utilize this trick.

Step 2. 

Put all of these apps in a folder. If you just want to remove one app, you still need to place it into a folder.

New Folder - App

Step 3.

Once inside the folder. Tap and hold the app you want to disappear to bring up wiggle mode. Now, move  that app to the next page, so that it is alone. Release your finger so that the app slides into place. “Wiggle mode” should still be active.

Lone App - Folder

Step 4.

Tap and hold the app again so that you can move it around.  Now, move it from the second page onto a third page. When moving, make sure to drag all the way to the right edge of the page. Do not let go of the app.

You will see the third dot at the bottom light up when you are on the third page. Once on the third page, still holding the app, bring it back into the center while still holding and tap the Home button. You’ll see the app fly off into the top left corner of your phone and vanish. Once you exit out of the folder you will see that the app in question is nowhere to be found.

Final Act - Hide Apps

That’s that. Watch the video to get a better idea of how easy it is to hide apps on your iPhone or iPad using this trick.

Note: Like with any trick like this, once you restart your device, all the hidden apps will reappear where they used to be.

Let us know how successful you were in trying this neat little trick in the comment section.

Thanks Jose Rodriguez for the tip!

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