How To: Hide the Annoying Home Bar Indicator on Your iPhone X for Fewer On-Screen Distractions

Hide the Annoying Home Bar Indicator on Your iPhone X for Fewer On-Screen Distractions

The home bar, that tiny sliver of color at the bottom of the screen on Home button-less iPhone models, is helpful when first getting used to an iPhone X or newer's gestures. It helps you learn how to swipe up to unlock, go to the home screen, view the app switcher, and so on. But after a few weeks, it just becomes an annoying eyesore you can't get rid of — unless you have a jailbroken iPhone X.

Hopefully, Apple will give us the option to hide the home bar on Face ID-equipped iPhones once iOS 13 rolls out, but you can do something about it now if you don't feel like waiting for something that may not even happen. That's where the HideBarX tweak comes in, from developer Spark, which lets you remove the home bar for fewer distractions and an overall cleaner appearance.

Step 1: Install Spark's Beta Repository

While HideBarX is free to install, you can't just get the tweak within either Cydia or Sileo outright. You'll first need to install an external repo. If you're not familiar with the process, it basically just entails adding beta.sparkservers.co.uk to your "Sources" list for either app.

https://beta.sparkservers.co.uk

It's worth noting that once you add it to Cydia, it won't automatically show up in Sileo, and vice versa, so you'll need to manually add the repo to both if you use both. Check out the guides below if you'd like to learn more about the process.

In this example, I'm using Cydia to install the new repo for HideBarX.

Step 2: Install & Use HideBarX

With the Spark's beta repo on hand, head over to the "Search" page for either Cydia or Sileo, type in "hidebarx" into the search field, and tap on the tweak once it appears. Now, tap on either "Install" (Cydia) or "Get" (Sileo) within the tweak's "Details" page.

You'll now need to finalize the tweak's installation, so either select "Confirm" (Cydia) or swipe up on the bottom of the "Queue" card and select "Confirm" next to it (Sileo). From there, simply wait a minute or two (usually less) for the tweak to install, then hit "Restart SpringBoard" to respring your iPhone and finish up.

As you can see from the GIF above, HideBarX is instantly enabled as soon as your iPhone resprings. No more gray, black, or white bar at the bottom of the lock screen. No more bar inside apps. It's just gone for a clutter-free appearance. That being said, the tweak has no dedicated settings page for you to access to disable the feature on the fly, which means you'll need to uninstall it if you ever want to have the home bar appear again.

Just updated your iPhone to iOS 18? You'll find a ton of hot new features for some of your most-used Apple apps. Dive in and see for yourself:

Cover image and screenshots by Amboy Manalo/Gadget Hacks

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