How to Hide Channels, Apps, & Icons on Apple TV
Apple TV makes rearranging the app icons easy enough, but you can also hide channels, services, icons, and apps that you don’t want visible on the screen at all. This is useful as a way of tidying up the Apple TV home screen of apps or services you never use or aren’t interested in watching (like ESPN, HBO, Hulu, whatever), and it’s also a great way to limit access to specific media providers and shows that you don’t want someone else to see.
Much like on the mobile side of iOS with the iPad and iPhone, hiding apps on the Apple TV is handled through Parental Controls.
Hiding Channels & Icons from Apple TV Screen
Here’s how you can quickly hide a channel or icon from the homescreens:
- Open the Settings app on the Apple TV and choose “Parental Controls”
- Choose “Turn On Parental Controls” and set a passcode for accessing the control panel (this is only necessary if you haven’t used parental controls yet)
- Go through the list of apps/icons on the Apple TV home screen and flip them so they are shown as “Hide” to remove the app icon from the screen, or “Show” to make it visible”
There’s also a third “Ask” option, which requires the parental control passcode to be entered in order to use the app. That option is mostly useless for the intention of hiding apps or icons, but it is excellent for the original intention of parental controls, which is to control access to apps or services that may have media or programming that you do not wish children or other individuals to see or access from the Apple TV.
