There’s a hidden app on your iPhone – one that won’t show up on your home screen or app library “iOS & iPhone :: Gadget Hacks



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Every once in a while an iOS secret comes up that makes me wonder, “How do I learn this?” I remember the first time I found out how to delete numbers in the Calculator app, and when I found out that you can move apps in bulk to the home screen. Now there’s one more tip to add to the list: a hidden iOS app that you literally can’t find the icon for unless you know where to look.

You won’t find this app on your home screen, nor in the app library. It doesn’t make much sense at first since the app library is Assumed to present all the applications on your iPhone. After all, it even houses the bookmarks you create in Safari and shortcuts. So how could there be an app that isn’t on the Home screen and App Library that you can still open and use like any other?

In iOS 14, if you swipe down on your home screen (or use a shortcut) to open search, type in “Code Scanner” (just “Code” or “Scanner” works fine too). There, you will see an app icon for Code Scanner that appears in just one other location on your iPhone, a place that you may not have looked at before.

Apple professionals may already be familiar with Code Scanner from its Control Center opt-in tile. It doesn’t appear in Control Center by default, so you have to add it manually if you want to quickly access its code analysis capabilities.

However, many people don’t even use Code Scanner in Control Center, and that’s because its main code scanning functionality is already built into the Camera app. While they work the same effectively, there are some differences, mainly in that the codes you scan in Code Scanner open in an in-app browser rather than Safari.

Things get even more confusing when you realize that Apple called the Code Scanner app by a different name in previous iOS versions. On iOS 13 it was “QR Code Reader” and on iOS 12 it was “Scan QR Code”. Apple has probably avoided having “QR” in the name because it can also scan app clip codes, which can launch miniature versions of apps called “App clips.”

Interestingly, if you dive into an iOS restore image on your computer, you won’t find “Code Scanner” listed in the iOS apps list. Instead, you will see “BarcodeScanner”. Apple is full of surprises.

Whatever its name, once you close Close Scanner, you lose access to all scanned pages because the app has no way to remember or save your history. So it’s best to use the app when you don’t need to refer to the code again later.

Code Scanner is currently the only app on iOS that we know of like this one. There are other “apps” in iOS that don’t have a place on the home screen or the default app library, and once that app is Magnifier. It can be added to your home screen and app library, but only after unlocking the feature (prior to iOS 14, there was no Magnifier app icon).

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