How do you hide app purchases on iPhone?

A vault app can be well hidden on the Home Screen and still sit in plain view in the App Store, under your account. Apple lets you hide an app from that list. It does not erase the record. This guide follows Apple’s support article on hidden purchases, published on 2026-09-17, and Apple’s iPhone User Guide for iOS 27. We checked both on 2026-10-09.

Hide an app in the App Store

1. Open the App Store and tap your photo or initials. Or tap the My Account button and sign in.
2. Tap Apps & Purchase History.
3. Tap Your Apps.
4. Find the app, swipe left on it, then tap Hide.

If you are in a Family Sharing group, Apple’s guide says you may see My Apps or a list of family members at step 3. Tap My Apps.

What hiding does and does not do

Apple lists the effects:

	After you hide the app
Your list of apps in the App Store	The app no longer shows
Complete purchase history in Settings	The app and its in-app purchases still show
Family members with Purchase Sharing	They cannot download it from your shared purchases, and your in-app purchases stop being shared
The app on your iPhone and other devices	Stays installed

So hiding helps against a quick look through your apps list. It does not help against a person who opens Purchase History, and it does not touch receipt emails or card statements.

Where your purchase history lives

Apple’s iOS 27 guide gives this path. Open the App Store and tap the My Account button or your photo. Tap Apps & Purchase History, then Purchase History. iOS may ask for Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode first. That prompt is the main protection for the full history. If someone knows your passcode, they can read it. See what to do if someone knows your passcode.

Unhide an app

1. In the App Store, tap your photo or initials.
2. Tap your name. You may need to sign in.
3. Tap Hidden Purchases.
4. Find the app and tap Unhide.

If you deleted the app, Apple says it does not come back on its own. Download it again from the App Store. You do not have to buy it again.

Family Sharing and purchases

With Purchase Sharing on, family members who opt in can see and download eligible purchases. Apple’s guide says you can turn this off for yourself:

1. Open Settings and tap Family.
2. Tap Purchase Sharing.
3. Tap your name, then turn off Share Purchases.

Apple says family members then will not see your purchases. It also notes that your purchases still use the shared family payment method. On a family plan, that means the person who pays can still see a charge. Our page on privacy on a family phone covers what parents and organizers can see.

Hiding the app itself

Hiding a purchase does not hide the app on your iPhone. For that, touch and hold the app, tap Require Face ID, then Hide and Require Face ID, and tap Hide App. The app moves to a locked Hidden folder at the bottom of App Library. Our guide to hiding apps on iPhone has the full steps and the places where a hidden app’s name still shows.

On Android

Google Play keeps your app orders in Payments & subscriptions, then Budget & history, in the Play Store profile menu. Apps you installed before also show in Manage apps & device, under Manage, with the filter Not installed. The Google Play help pages we checked on 2026-10-09 do not describe a way to hide an app from either list. If this matters, check how to hide apps on Android for private space, which hides apps on the phone.

What York Vault does

York Vault cannot change what Apple or Google record about a download. It can make the app look plain once it is on your phone:

• Neutral icons. Choose an icon that looks like a common tool. On iPhone, the name under every icon is “YV”. See disguise icons.
• A working calculator. The calculator front works as a real calculator until you type your code. See calculator disguise.
• Nothing in search. York Vault adds nothing to Spotlight or Siri suggestions.

If you subscribe, you cancel in the store where you bought the plan. See cancel a subscription. York Vault is on the App Store and Google Play. Download York Vault.