iOS 18 Lets You Hide App Labels on Your iPhone Home Screen - MacRumors
Skip to Content

iOS 18 Lets You Hide App Labels on Your iPhone Home Screen

As part of its Home Screen customization overhaul, iOS 18 lets iPhone users hide the labels on app icons for a cleaner look.

hide app labels ios 18
Turning off the labels causes the icons to expand and take up the space where the text usually appears underneath. Here's how it currently works in the iOS 18 Developer Beta.

  1. On the Home Screen, press and hold on an empty area.
  2. Tap Edit in the top-left corner.
  3. Tap Customize.
  4. In the customization menu that appears, tap the Large button.
  5. Tap anywhere on the Home Screen to save your preference.

Home Screen

As things stand, it's not possible to hide labels and keep app icons small, but this could change in succeeding beta versions.

In addition to hiding app labels, other new Home Screen customization options in iOS 18 include the ability to place app icons anywhere, and a dark tint option for app icons.

Read our iOS 18 announcement coverage for more details about the update, which is now available in beta for members of the Apple Developer Program.

Related Forums: iOS 18, iPadOS 18

Popular Stories

Four iPhone 18 Pro Colors Mock Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Tuesday May 26, 2026 6:32 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not launching until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component will be moved under the...
Apple Watch Ultra 2 Black Titanium

watchOS 27 Will Add These New Features to Your Apple Watch

Sunday May 24, 2026 11:53 am PDT by
Apple will unveil watchOS 27 during its WWDC 2026 keynote on Monday, June 8, and a handful of new features have been rumored already. The first developer beta of watchOS 27 should be available immediately following the keynote, and a public beta typically follows in July. The update should be released to all users with a compatible Apple Watch model in September. Below, we recap watchOS...
Apple Watch Blood Glucose Monitoring Feature 2

Apple Watch for Diabetes: The Latest on Apple's Plans for Non-Invasive Blood Sugar Monitoring

Tuesday May 26, 2026 9:30 am PDT by
For many years now, it has been rumored that the Apple Watch will eventually gain non-invasive blood sugar monitoring capabilities, which would enable millions of people with diabetes to track their blood glucose levels without needing to prick their skin with a needle or wear a dedicated continuous glucose monitor. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple recently shifted oversight of...

Top Rated Comments

kirky29 Avatar
26 months ago
I mean, they could have let us make the icons smaller, so we can fit more on a row AND remove labels, not exactly difficult I'm sure. :-/
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
26 months ago

Has Apple fired their designers, LMAO. What is this...
This, is called choice. It's a great thing.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nortonandreev Avatar
26 months ago
Has Apple fired their designers, LMAO. What is this...
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sunapple Avatar
26 months ago
My Home Screen has looked like this for the past year or so. Clean enough for you?



Attachment Image
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jonnysods Avatar
26 months ago
100% using this!
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MrCrowbar Avatar
26 months ago
I wish I could edit app names. I have a folder with a bunch of smart home apps and the icons are pretty much all a house within a rounded square and some variation of "home", "smart" in it. I wish I could call them "temperature sensors", "lights", "security cam", "solar", "vacuum", etc.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)