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Use this simple trick to hide App Store purchases on your iPhone in iOS 8

Published Oct 3rd, 2014 2:35PM EDT
Hide App Store Purchases

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Apple still has plenty of work to do on iOS 8 before users will be satisfied with the update, but there are plenty of improvements in place that make for a better (and safer) operating system. We already pointed you in the direction of seven privacy settings you should change, but there’s one more great feature that made its way from desktop to mobile in iOS 8: the ability to hide App Store purchases.

FROM EARLIER: The 6 craziest new iOS 8 keyboards in Apple’s App Store

As AppleInsider notes, the only way to hide App Store purchases previously was to go through iTunes on PC or Mac, but iOS 8 lets you hide apps from any iOS 8 device. All you have to do is open the App Store app, head to Updates > Purchased and swipe to the right on any app you don’t want to see any more. A big red “HIDE” button will appear. Tap it and your list of Purchased apps will begin to shrink.

Of course, this won’t delete the app from your account entirely. If you see the app on the App Store, it will still have an iCloud button next to it to indicate that you’ve purchased/downloaded it before.

Unfortunately, this method does not work with iTunes Store purchases. You’ll still have to head to a computer to hide music, movies and TV shows.

Jacob Siegal
Jacob Siegal Associate Editor

Jacob Siegal is Associate Editor at BGR, having joined the news team in 2013. He has over a decade of professional writing and editing experience, and helps to lead our technology and entertainment product launch and movie release coverage.