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 Roundups: iOS 18, iPadOS 18
Related Forums: iOS 18, iPadOS 18

Popular Stories

iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Coming Next Week With These New Features for Your iPhone

Friday February 14, 2025 6:18 am PST by
The first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner, and the update is expected to include many new features and changes. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the iOS 18.4 beta to be released by next week. Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far. Apple Intelligence for Siri Siri is expected to get several enhancements powered by Apple Intelligence on iOS...
iPhone 17 Roundup Feature 2

iPhone Design to Change 'Significantly' This Year

Monday February 17, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple is set to "significantly change" the iPhone's design language later this year, according to a Weibo leaker. In a new post, the user known "Digital Chat Station" said that the iPhone's design is "starting to change significantly" this year. The "iPhone 17 Air" reportedly features a "horizontal, bar-shaped" design on the rear, likely referring to an elongated camera bump. On the other...
apple launch feb 2025 alt

What to Expect From the 'Apple Launch' Next Week

Thursday February 13, 2025 11:48 am PST by
Apple has yet to announce any new devices this year, but that could change starting next week. Apple CEO Tim Cook today said to "get ready" for a "launch" on Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," said Cook, in a social media post. The post includes an #AppleLaunch hashtag, along with a short video featuring an animated Apple logo inside of a circle....
Apple Maps 2024

Apple Maps Might Start Showing Ads

Sunday February 16, 2025 7:22 am PST by
Apple is "exploring" the idea of showing search ads in the Apple Maps app, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Back in 2022, Gurman said software engineering was "already underway" to display ads in the Apple Maps app, but Apple did not move forward with the idea at the time. Today, he said Apple is "giving this notion more thought" again. This time around, he said Apple has yet to...
Tim Cook Apple Park

10+ Announcements Apple Could Have Rolled Into a February Event

Saturday February 15, 2025 8:00 am PST by
Apple appears to have enough upcoming product announcements to justify a full event this month, yet all signs indicate these reveals will be handled through a series of press releases instead. There are a multitude of rumors from reliable sources about specific announcements in the coming weeks, so here's everything that Apple could have feasibly included in a hypothetical February event: ...
iPhone 17 Pro Render Front Page Tech

iPhone 17 Pro With All-New Camera Bar Design Allegedly Revealed

Thursday February 13, 2025 5:49 pm PST by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro will feature three rear cameras arranged in a familiar triangular layout, but the cameras will be housed in an all-new rectangular camera bar with rounded corners, according to YouTube channel Front Page Tech. iPhone 17 Pro camera design render created by Asher for Front Page Tech In a video uploaded today, Front Page Tech host Jon Prosser said the camera ...
m2 pro mac mini

Apple is Now Selling a Refurbished Mac Mini for Just $319 (!)

Saturday February 15, 2025 9:58 am PST by
A few days ago, we reported that Apple's refurbished Mac mini pricing had a problem, and it appears that Apple has taken note. Apple was offering a refurbished Mac mini with the M2 chip, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage for $559, which was $50 more than a refurbished Mac mini with the M4 chip, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. All other key specifications were equal. That's no longer...
iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

Apple's Next iPhone SE Launching on Wednesday - Here's What We Know

Friday February 14, 2025 4:04 pm PST by
Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an Apple announcement that's coming on Wednesday, February 19, and it's looking like that mystery announcement will be the next-generation iPhone SE. We've been hearing about the iPhone SE 4 for quite some time now, and we essentially know everything to expect. If you want a sneak peek at what's coming, read on. Naming Apple first introduced the iPhone SE in...

Top Rated Comments

kirky29 Avatar
9 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)
nortonandreev Avatar
9 months ago
Has Apple fired their designers, LMAO. What is this...
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
shenfrey Avatar
9 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)
sunapple Avatar
9 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
9 months ago
100% using this!
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fuzzball84 Avatar
9 months ago
This was a feature first proposed during an internal ideas meeting at Apple for iOS 4.

The person was told to keep it up their sleeve for iOS18

? Joking, but amazing how such simple ideas can take so many versions of an OS to make an appearance.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)