How-To
How to remove the home screen search button on iPhone
If you don’t like the idea of a new button on your home screen, you can get rid of it with a few simple taps.
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You may have noticed something new on your home screen after updating your iPhone to iOS 16. With Apple’s latest update, they added a search button located just above the dock.
If you tap the search button, it will launch Spotlight. Spotlight will bring up a search box, allowing you to quickly find something on your device.
Before iOS 16, you had to swipe down from the middle of your screen to access Spotlight. It worked well but may not have been as intuitive as Apple hoped.
To remedy that, Apple added it to everyone’s home screen.
How to get rid of the iOS home screen search button
If you find the presence of the new search button distracting or annoying, Apple made it super easy to turn off.
After turning off the search button, you can still access Spotlight the old way by swiping down from the middle of the screen.
If at any point you change your mind, just follow the steps again and toggle Show on Home Screen.
That’s it, you’re done. A nice, quick, and painless fix to rid yourself of the search button and to get your clean home screen back.
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