PSA: Do Not Put These Apps on Your iPhone Home Screen — Do This Instead
Credit: Wit Olszewski
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Gone are the days when you had to keep all your apps on your iPhone’s Home Screen. Now, you can only keep the ones you use or like the most.
However, having all the necessary apps on your Home Screen might not be a good idea. Sure, it gives you quick and easy access to important apps whenever you need them, but some apps are better off staying hidden in your App Library.
We’re talking about financial and investing apps. Whether you’re investing for your future with an app like Interactive Brokers or keeping your riskier investments in a crypto wallet like the Kraken Wallet, these apps should be far away from your Home Screen — unless, of course, you want to be a target.
Keeping Crypto and Investing Apps on Your Home Screen Can Make You a Target
This might not apply to everyone, but if you ride the bus or train to work, you probably already know you need to be careful with your iPhone.
Maybe someone doesn’t care about your iPhone directly, but if they see you with a couple of crypto wallets, they might become more interested in what you’re doing. They might start snooping if they learn your iPhone’s passcode or, worse, your wallet’s passwords.
There’s a term for this: shoulder surfing. This term refers to when someone spies on you when you’re using any electronic device, like your iPhone with a crypto wallet or investment app on your Home Screen.
If they manage to get enough information to unlock your iPhone or access one of your accounts, stealing your data won’t be as challenging for them. Multiple times, people have had their iPhones and private data stolen because someone was shoulder surfing in a public place.
It Might Also Increase the Chances of Getting Robbed
On the other hand, even if the criminal can’t access or get hold of your crypto wallet password, they might still want to steal your iPhone and see if they can figure the password out for themselves.
Remember that a lot of people use weak passwords, so they’re easier to remember. There are hundreds of easy passwords like “password” and “123456” that people still use in 2025. These passwords take seconds to crack, and they might give access to all of your cryptocurrency.
Of course, this might not be the case for you; you might have a really hard password that not even the best thief can crack. However, the criminal won’t care at that moment. Even if they find they can’t break into your crypto wallet, they’ll still have your iPhone, and they can always try to resell it.
Leaving Your Apps on Your Home Screen Might Give You Unnecessary Stress
Last but not least, how comfortable are you with your financial apps on your Home Screen? Doesn’t it stress you out that someone might be looking over your shoulder while you’re on the bus?
Maybe you didn’t think about it until now, but it’s still a possibility. Even if it’s not happening to you right now, you might still feel a little bit of stress just for having such valuable apps on your iPhone Home Screen.
Most of us already have enough stress in our daily lives, and we don’t need to give ourselves another layer of responsibility just for having an app conveniently placed on our Home Screen.
Don’t Keep Your Crypto Wallets or Financial Apps on Your Home Screen — Do This Instead
If you have never considered it, this is your chance to reduce potential risk by removing your financial apps from your Home Screen. Here are some tips to keep your investment apps safe and give you some peace of mind.
Keep Your Financial Apps in Your App Library
By default, any new app you install will be added to your Home Screen, which can be messy and risky. Instead, you can remove the apps from your Home Screen and keep them in your App Library.
Most investment apps and crypto wallets will be placed inside your Finance folder in the App Library, which means they’ll still be pretty easy to spot and open.
Suppose you don’t want your iPhone to add new apps to your Home Screen. In that case, you can go to Settings > Home Screen & App Library and select App Library Only under Newly Downloaded Apps.
Hide or Lock Your Apps
If you want to add an extra layer of security to your financial apps, you can hide or lock them. These features are available in iOS 18 or later and help ensure that only you can access your apps; Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode are required to open them or even know they exist.
If you hide your apps, no one can see them on your Home Screen or in your App Library. You also won’t see any alerts or notifications in the Notification Center.
To hide or lock an app, long-press it and then select Require Face ID. Then, choose Require Face ID to lock it, or Hide and Require Face ID to hide your app.
If you choose to hide it, you can find all your hidden apps inside the Hidden folder, which is located at the bottom of the App Library.
To add an extra layer of security, consider turning on Stolen Device Protection. This will prevent your passcode from being used to open locked apps or access your hidden folder — only Face ID or Touch ID can be used, ensuring that a shoulder-surfing thief can’t get access to them by watching you enter your passcode.
Use Two Factor Authentication
Two-factor authentication, or 2FA for short, is a must for anyone trying to protect their financial data. When you turn this feature on, even if the other person knows your password, they’ll still need to verify it’s you by using another authentication method, like accepting a confirmation email or message.
Of course, if someone has your iPhone, it might be easier for them to bypass 2FA, but it’s still a useful solution to have at all times. Plus, you could set it so you receive a message in an email that is not registered on your iPhone for a bit of extra security.
Enable Face ID on Your Financial Apps
If you don’t have iOS 18 or just want to add another layer of security, you can enable Face ID or Touch ID on your financial apps.
Most financial apps let you enable Face ID as a quicker, and maybe even safer way to access your accounts. That way, even if the person snatches your iPhone from you and figures out your passcode, they still won’t be able to go through Face ID.
Consider Deleting Your Crypto Wallets and Financial Apps From Your iPhone
The best way to keep your investments safe is to keep them away from your iPhone. After all, no one can access them if they’re not there.
You can simply redownload the app temporarily or even access your accounts from Safari whenever you need to. Granted, it might be a hassle, but you might be safer this way in the long run.
Consider Getting a Hardware Wallet
On the other hand, if you really want to keep your crypto wallets safe, you might want to get a hardware crypto wallet instead.
A hardware crypto wallet works like a USB key, but you’ll have thousands of dollars worth of crypto on it instead of having your homework files. Well, actually, it works more like a key that will give you access to all your investments.
This option might not be for everyone, but a crypto wallet is the perfect way to keep your assets safe from online and offline attacks. If you have a large investment in your crypto wallet, this is the best way to keep it safe.
Keep Your Investments Safe From Attacks
As you can see, having your financial apps on your Home Screen might not be the best option for most people. If you have large amounts of money invested in crypto or the stock market, having these apps on your Home Screen could be risky.
Even if you don’t have much money, if people see that you have crypto wallets on your iPhone, they might try many ways to access your assets, hoping they will hit the jackpot.
Instead, hide your apps or delete them until you need them.
