When you want to maintain some privacy around your dating life, learning how to hide dating apps on iPhone can be a useful skill! In this article, we’ll get into the weeds with a step-by-step process on how to hide certain apps from your phone, regardless of what model you use.
Methods for Hiding Apps Pre-iOS 18
If your operating system predates the latest iOS 18 upgrade, here are the steps for increasing your privacy:
Hiding a Single App
To hide a single app, such as Tinder or Amazon Prime, you’re going to find the app icon on your Home Screen. Long press the app (aka hold your finger on the app for a few seconds) until you see the ‘Remove App’ option. Select ‘Remove App from Home Screen.’
Hiding an Entire Screen
If you want to hide an entire screen full of apps on your iPhone, you’ll start by long pressing any of the apps, it doesn’t matter which one, and wait until you see all of the apps start to jiggle. At this point, you’ll notice dots appear at the bottom of the screen, where you can then ‘Edit pages.’
From here, you can deselect entire pages which will then be hidden from your Home Screen.
Accessing Hidden Apps Pre-iOS 18
These steps will remove a single app or page of apps from the grid on your Home Screen so that they’re only accessible in the App Library or with the search function. So, to find them, you simply have to go to your App Library or look for the app you want to access by typing it in the search bar.
Methods for Hiding Apps in iOS 18
If your iPhone uses the iOS 18 upgrade, hiding apps and accessing hidden apps is a little different. Here are the steps:
Hiding and Requiring Face ID
The big difference between hiding apps on pre- and post-iOS 18 is that on iOS 18, your apps won’t only be removed from the Home Screen but they’ll also be placed in a Hidden Folder requiring biometric authentication or a passcode to access (more on that in a moment.)
To hide apps in iOS 18, you’ll long press the app you want to hide until you see the option for ‘Hide and Require Face ID.’ Tap this option to confirm and the app will be moved to a Hidden Folder
Accessing Hidden Apps in iOS 18
So, once your app has been hidden, how can you access it?
To access this Hidden Folder, go to your App Library and scroll down to the bottom. Here, you’ll find and tap the Hidden Folder. You’ll be required to use Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode to authenticate access.
Additional Privacy Measures Pre-iOS 18
Pre-iOs 18 iPhones have another layer of privacy for apps that you want hidden, which is to remove them from your search results. This will make sure that anyone accessing your phone can’t see the app even when using the search function.
Removing Apps from Search Results
To make use of this privacy setting, you’ll access your settings and tap on ‘Siri & Search.’ Find the app you want to hide and toggle off for ‘Show App in Search.’
Additional Privacy Measures in iOS 18
One of the additional privacy layers for iOS 18 is that your hidden apps will not send you notifications. Additionally, when you access your app settings, the hidden apps won’t appear, rendering them virtually invisible. Here’s how to implement these additional security measures:
Notification and Settings Privacy
When you hide an app, you should automatically stop receiving notifications from it and it will disappear from your app settings page. If you do need to make setting adjustments for a hidden app, you can find the option under Settings > Apps > Hidden Apps. As with accessing the app itself, you’ll need to provide authentication in order to see hidden apps and adjust their settings.
Limitations and Loopholes
Although these are some reliable methods on how to hide dating apps on iPhone, there are certain limitations that you should be aware of, including:
Visibility in Background App Refresh and other functions
Unfortunately, there are a few times when a hidden app can still appear, including:
- Background App Refresh
- Data Usage Statistics
- Your Photo Privacy settings
- in iPhone Mirroring on macOS
- while accessing related websites
Work-Arounds by Tech-Savvy Users
While hiding certain apps can be a useful step in preventing children from accessing them, a tech-savvy adult with a mission of seeing your hidden apps is another story. This is especially true if someone who has access to your phone or linked mac computer also knows your passcodes.
System Apps Exclusion from Hiding Feature
As of right now, both the pre-iOS 18 and post-iOS 18 iPhones prevent certain apps such as Weather, Journal, Fitness, Clock, and Settings from being hidden.
Unhiding Apps Pre-iOS 18
If you want an app to reappear on your Home Screen, you’ll find it in the App Library and long-press it. This will allow you to drag it back to the Home Screen.
Unhiding Apps in iOS 18
In order to unlock and unhide an app in iOS 18, you’ll first access your Hidden Folder (located in your App Library.)
Unhiding via Hidden Folder
Once you’ve accessed your Hidden Folder, you’ll find the app you want to remove from hiding.
Long press the app you want to unlock until the option to ‘Don’t Require Face ID’ appears. Confirm with authentication so that the app can be removed from the Hidden Folder. This will place the app in the App Library, where you’ll be able to long press it and drag it back to the Home Screen.
Opinions and User Feedback
In general, users who want more privacy within their iPhone appreciate the ability to hide their apps from their Home Screen or in a Hidden Folder.
That being said, the opinions aren’t entirely positive. Online forums like Reddit, for instance, point out that loopholes, such as the ability to see apps in data usage statistics, render the hidden feature useless. In other words, if someone really wants to know what apps are on your phone and they know how to circumnavigate the hidden folder, you don’t have full privacy.
Other users point to the problem of having a Hidden Folder so clearly marked. As one Reddit user pointed out, a Hidden Folder can essentially serve as a sign saying “I have apps I want to hide here” which can raise suspicions.
Finally, one suggestion that users have made is to have a separate passcode for hidden apps than the main iPhone passcode. That way, users could still have privacy even if someone has been able to access their phone.
The Case for Hiding Apps on iPhone
You may have some of your own reasons for wanting to hide certain apps on your phone. But, what are some of the other benefits of boosting your iPhone’s privacy settings? Take a look at some of these commonly cited reasons for wanting to learn how to hide dating apps on iPhone:
- Children using your phone. Back in 2023, a story came out of Massachusetts of a 5-year-old spending $3,000 on her mom’s Amazon Prime account while using her phone. It was quite a headache for mom, but she admitted that it was a teaching moment for them both: she was able to teach her daughter about what apps she could use on the phone and she learned not to grant her daughter free access to all of her apps!
- Financial security. Another benefit of hiding certain apps on your iPhone is in the case of your phone being stolen. As we mentioned, there are a few loopholes here, but having certain sensitive apps hidden can give you time to contact your financial institutions before the thief has time to do too much damage.
- Parents or other family members. Many families struggle with boundary setting, which can lead to certain siblings, parents, or others snooping through your apps if you happen to leave your iPhone within reach!
- Screen sharing with colleagues. In our current digital age, it’s not uncommon to screen share in virtual meetings. And, even if you have a great meeting prepared, there’s nothing that can throw you off guard more than your colleagues seeing your dating apps on your Home Screen while you’re getting set up!
Privacy and Security Enhancement Demand
The development team behind the iPhone knows how to take the temperature of what their users really want! And, the fact that they’re rolling out these new privacy features is an indication that more of us are looking for better control over our app usage and visibility.
iOS 18 Release Information
Apple announced the roll-out of the upcoming iOS 18 release earlier this year at the Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10th. Just a few months later, the update became publicly available for supported devices on September 16th.
Along with the hidden apps developments, the iOS 18 update also included features for password management, the ability to use iPhone Mirroring to edit the Home Screen, changes to the Photos app and more.
Comparison with Samsung's Secure Folder and Android’s Private Space
For years, the rivalry between Android and iPhone has revolved around user experience and features like privacy and app settings. So, how do the hidden app features on iPhone compare to similar software developed by Android and Samsung phones?
For one thing, Samsung offers its users a Secure Folder that requires a unique passcode or pattern to access. Once installed, it can be used to store sensitive files, photos, and apps.
The Samsung Secure Folder will appear automatically on the Home Screen but can be hidden for more privacy. Once hidden, the Secure Folder can only be accessed via Settings.
This year, Android also rolled out a new feature called Private Space, which is essentially a separate user account in which you can operate in private. It allows you to install apps onto your Private Space so that they don’t appear on your phone when you’re not in this privacy mode.
Best Methods for Enjoying Privacy Online
Looking for more ways to keep your sensitive information, dating apps, and other online habits private? Here are a few other words of advice from tech professionals!
- Make sure your passwords are strong (and don’t share them!). If you’re worried about someone close to you snooping through your phone, probably don’t use passcodes that they could easily guess, such as your birthday or important anniversaries.
- Use biometric authentication when possible. This will ensure that the only person able to access your hidden folder is you!
- Always install the latest software upgrade. Security features are improving all the time, so don’t be left behind with old software.
- Don’t use unsecured wifi. If you’re afraid of hackers accessing your sensitive financial apps, avoid using them when you’re on public wifi connections.
- Avoid opening attachments from unknown sources. This can put your phone at risk for hacking.
- Always check that you’re downloading the official app and logging into the official website.
- Close hidden apps when you’re not using them. If someone else in your household is going to have access to your iPhone, make sure that you close out any hidden apps you don’t want them stumbling upon.
- Delete cookies. Cookies can be used to send you targeted ads that could point to your online activity. So, make sure to clear them out periodically.
Conclusion
In this article, we’ve covered some of the common reasons why someone would want to learn how to hide dating apps on iPhone—as well as other apps like financial or banking apps! And, now that you’ve got the step-by-step guide on how to hide certain apps from your Home Screen, you’re in a better position to have control over your phone privacy settings.
No matter what your reasoning for wanting to hide certain apps, we hope that you feel better about your online autonomy and privacy. Given that this is a feature that so many users are interested in, we can only assume that iPhone and Samsung will have even more to offer by way of hidden apps and folders in the future!