How To Remove Grey Bar at Bottom of iPhone

The grey bar at the bottom of your iPhone screen is the home bar. This home bar mainly displays some of the apps you are currently using, and it also contains the home screen buttons, Control Center, and App Switcher. 

Even if the home bar doesn’t prevent you from using any app on your iPhone, it can sometimes be distracting. Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t include a setting to disable the grey bar. But, you can use the “Guided Access” setting to remove the grey bar from your iPhone screen temporarily.

To learn more about removing the grey bar at the bottom of your iPhone screen, read this article to the end.

Overview of Removing the Grey Bar at the Bottom of Your iPhone Screen

If you’ve used earlier iPhone models before, you’ll realize that the grey home bar is a replacement for the home button. With this bar, you can access more control buttons and navigate your iPhone faster. 

The bar also changes orientation according to the iPhone’s viewing position and sends a “Swipe to Unlock” pop-up when you pause a few seconds. As you browse from page to page, you’ll barely notice it. But, when using an app or playing a game, the grey home bar can be distracting.

As mentioned earlier, iPhone doesn’t have a setting to disable the home bar. The alternative is to use the “Guided Access” setting to remove it when using a particular app. “Guided Access” is a child-proof feature that controls your iPhone’s screen display, including the grey bar. The only limitation with the “Guided Access” method is that it only works for one app at a time.

Technically, you’ll need to enable the “Guided Access” setting for every app you use if you want to remove the grey home bar.

Next, we delve into the exact steps to remove the grey bar at the bottom of your iPhone screen.

Removing iPhone’s Grey Home Bar: Step-by-Step Guide

As we’ve established, the only way to remove the grey home bar at the bottom of your iPhone screen is to enable “Guided Access” settings. Here’s how to do it.

1. On your iPhone, go to Settings > “Accessibility“.
2. Scroll down to “Guided Access“.
3. Slide the toggle next to “Guided Access” from off to on.
4. Follow on-screen instructions for enabling “Guided Access”.
5. Click on the “Passcode Settings” tab and set Guided Access Passcode. Alternatively, enable Face ID to stop a “Guided Access” session.
6. Go back to the “Guided Access” window and tap on “Accessibility Shortcut“.
7. A pop-up with the accessibility options to double-click the side button to enable “Guided Access” will appear. Tap on it.

After enabling “Guided Access” settings, follow the steps below to remove the grey bar.

1. Launch the app you wish to use without the grey bar at the bottom.
2. Triple-click the side power button to activate “Guided Access“. If you use an iPhone 8 or another older model, triple-click the home button.
3. Click on “Guided Access“, then tap on “Start“.
4. You’ll notice that the grey home bar doesn’t appear on your screen.

To exit an app while using “Guided Access”, do these steps.

1. Triple-click on the side button.
2. Key in your Guided Access Passcode, then click “End“.
3. Double-click the iPhone’s side button if you use Face ID in place of a passcode. Unlock the iPhone, then tap “End”.
4. If you use an iPhone 8 or another older model, double-click the home button or use touch ID to exit “Guided Access”.

If manually enabling and disabling “Guided Access” sessions is inconvenient, you can use Siri instead. Launch the app you want to use without the grey bar to use this enabling process, then ask Siri to “Start Guided Access.”.

Remember, you’ll have to exit and then restart another “Guided Access” session if you want to switch apps without the grey home bar at the bottom.

Summary

As you’ve learned from this article, there’s no setting to permanently remove the grey bar at the bottom of your iPhone screen. The next best alternative is to enable “Guided Access” settings. To enable “Guided Access” on your iPhone, go to Settings > “Accessibility” > “Guided Access”. Next, turn on the “Guided Access” toggle, then set a passcode. Finally, enable the Accessible Shortcut to quickly start and stop “Guided Access” sessions when using different apps.