Maybe you are a concerned parent who is dealing with a pretty smart kid and needs to keep a track of the app usage of the child. Perhaps, you have accidentally hidden apps on your iDevice and are now looking for ways to unhide apps on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Or maybe your sweetheart often plays a prank with you and conceals some of your favorite apps on iOS. Irrespective of your personal reason, let me tell you that there are several effective hacks that can let you find hidden apps on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.
9 Ways to Unhide Apps on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch
Modern versions of iOS including iOS 14 and iOS 15 offers several ways to conceal apps. Hence, we will need to try out various methods to find and delete hidden apps on iPhone and iPad. While some tricks are quick, others are a bit tedious. Thus, be sure to have some extra ounce of patience. With that in mind, let’s dive right in learn how to delete hidden apps on iPhone!
1. Quickly Unhide Apps Using Siri on iPhone and iPad
Aside from letting you control music and answer queries, Siri can also let you quickly unhide apps on your iPhone and iPad. So, you don’t need to look anywhere else but the virtual assistant when you fail to spot any app on your device.
Just fire up Siri through the “Hey Siri” voice command or by pressing the home/side button. After that, say something like“launch the App Store.” The virtual assistant will instantly open the app. You can use this same nifty method to find all the concealed apps for that matter delete the hidden apps on iPhone if that’s what you intend to do.
Just touch and hold the app in question -> Remove -> Delete App -> Hide Delete in the popup to confirm the deletion and you are all set! Pretty handy, isn’t it?
2. Use Spotlight Search to Quickly Unhide Apps on iPhone and iPad
Spotlight Search is a powerful tool that lets you quickly find almost anything on your iPhone and iPad. Hence, you shouldn’t fail to use this smart tool if you are ever unable to unhide any specific app on your iOS/iPadOS device.
1. Unlock your iPhone and Swipe down from the middle of the screen to bring up Spotlight Search.
2. Now, type in the name of the app in the search bar. Voila, your app will instantly appear in the search result! Now that you know how this Spotlight Search hack works, go ahead and delete the hidden apps on your iPhone and iPad or unhide each one of them depending on your needs.
3. Make Sure Apps are Not Hidden Inside Folders
One of the simplest ways to hide apps on the iPhone is to use a folder and drop the app you wish to keep under the wrap on another screen. Yeah, that’s exactly what a number of folks do to conceal some private apps on iOS. Therefore, if your eyes fail to catch certain apps, make sure they are not hidden in folders.
4. Ensure That Apps are Not Hidden Inside App Library
With iOS 14 or later, you can directly install apps in the App Library. For the folks who don’t want a ton of apps to clutter the home screen, this is designed to be a neat feature. So, if some apps are not present on the home screen, be sure to search the App Library.
- Swipe towards the left to go to the right-most page of the screen. At the top center, hit the search bar and then type in the name of the app. The app in question will immediately show up.
- Deleting the hidden apps in the App Library on iOS is just as straightforward. Touch and hold the app icon -> Delete App -> Delete.
5. Ensure That Your iPhone or iPad Apps are Not Hidden with Screen Time
Screen Time is the built-in parental control feature that lets you conceal apps on your iPhone and iPad. If the app is hidden using Screen Time, follow the steps to unhide it.
1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone and tap on Screen Time.
2. Tap on Content & Privacy Restrictions. Make sure the toggle next to Content & Privacy Restrictions is turned on.
3. On the Allowed Apps screen, you should see a long list of built-in apps and features like AirDrop and SharePlay. Now, make sure the toggle next to the app you are looking for is turned on.
4. Quit the Settings app and the app will be visible on your iOS device.
6. Ensure That Third-Party Apps are Not Restricted By Screen Time
Screen Time also allows you to hide all the third-party apps in one go. What’s more, this robust parental control tool even offers you the flexibility to conceal apps based on ratings ( 4+, 9+, 12+, 17+). But bother not, you can easily remove this restriction and make the hidden apps appear on your iPhone and iPad all over again.
1. Go to the Settings on your iPhone or iPad and choose Screen Time.
2. Next, tap on Content & Privacy Restrictions and make sure its toggle is turned on.
3. Next, tap on Content Restrictions and hit Apps option.
4. Select Allow All Apps option.
Considering how efficient this Screen Time hack is, most folks use it to delete apps on iPhone that are hidden. Therefore, give it a crack and I’m sure it will live up to your task with aplomb!
7. Make Sure Home Screen Pages are Not Hidden
iOS allows you to hide all the apps available on the specific home screen pages. This is a neat way to keep certain apps out of sight without deleting them all. Thus, be sure the home screen pages are not hidden on your device.
Touch and hold the empty area of the home screen on your iPhone. When you are in editing mode, tap on the home screen pages menu at the bottom of the screen. After that, deselect the pages that you want to unhide.
Now, all the apps that are present on the specific home screen pages will appear. Head over to the home screen to delete the hidden apps on your iPhone or iPad.
8. Make Sure Apps are Not Hidden By Focus Mode
Focus Mode is one of the biggest highlights of iOS 15. What makes this all-new iOS feature so handy is the ability to let you keep all the distractions at bay so that you can focus on the things that matter to you. Whether it’s giving your best during a workout or study hours, Focus Mode comes into play. That’s not all, you can also use it to hide unwanted home screen pages. Therefore, make sure it has not put your apps under the wraps.
1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone and tap on Focus.
2. Next, tap on your focus profile and then choose Home Screen.
3. Now, turn off the toggle next to Custom Pages to unhide the home screen pages when the Focus mode is enabled.
9. Ensure That Apps are Allowed to Show on Apple Watch
Unhiding apps on Apple Watch is pretty straightforward. Guess what, you can get it done right from your Watch app from the paired iPhone.
1. Launch the Watch App on your paired iPhone and make sure that the My Watch tab is selected.
2. Now, scroll down to the “Installed on Apple Watch” section. Here you will see a long list of all the apps installed on your Apple Watch. Next, tap on the specific app hidden on the watch and ensure that the toggle right next to Show App on Apple Watch is enabled.
That’s pretty much to it! The changes will come into effect immediately.
Unravel Hidden Apps on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch With Ease
So, these are the tricks that can help you unhide or delete the hidden apps on your iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. From what I can tell all the above hacks work reliably. Hence, they can let you keep a tab on the concealed apps with ease on the iDevice. That said, which one of these hacks has let you unhide apps on your iDevice? Make sure to let us know your feedback in the comments section down below.
If you have loved reading this guide, you may also want to catch up other equally interesting articles such as the pro tips to blur background of images on iPhone and resize images on iPhone and iPad. Happy exploring cool hacks!
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