Transitioning from Android to iOS can be tricky, but this guide will help you remove the app store cloud icon from your iPhone. Installing and uninstalling apps are common actions, and you may have noticed uninstalled apps still appearing in the “purchased” section with a cloud icon. This article will provide you with the steps to address this issue.
What Does the Cloud Icon Mean in the App Store?
Whenever you delete an app from your iPhone, your device will never forget the app you once purchased. For this reason, whenever you visit your app store, you will always notice the cloud icon with a downwards arrow next to it.
The “Get” labels are only displayed on applications that you’ve never downloaded before. In other words, the “Get” label will display only on applications that a particular Apple ID hasn’t downloaded before.
Let’s use an illustration for a clearer understanding. Say, Penelope, for whatever reason, has two Apple IDs and one iPhone 13. She signs into ID no.1 and downloads the Facebook app. If she ever uninstalls this app, she will see a cloud icon with a downwards arrow beside it on her app store. Then again, if she signs into ID no.2, which she has never used in downloading Facebook, if Penelope revisits her app store, she will see the “Get” label beside it.
This app store cloud symbol means that the application is on your iCloud. So, your app store will never forget it, presuming there is a need for it in the future. This is really to your advantage as highly sophisticated devices such as an iOS device have everything planned out.
How is it an advantage? Let us enlighten you.
Supposing the app was a paid application, it got deleted by mistake, or you found a use for it again down the line. In this case, you do not need to repurchase the app; instead, all you have to do is re-download the application. This is because when you install an application, it is registered to your iCloud.
How to Remove the Cloud Icon on the App Store?
Getting rid of this app store cloud icon is not entirely possible. By default or factory setting, your Apple ID will remember any app you purchase. But, if you don’t want to see the deleted applications anymore in your app store, here is the way out. That is to hide the applications from the “purchased” section.
2 Steps on How to Hide Purchases With Cloud Icon in the App Store
It’s important not to confuse yourself. Purchases are not only the apps you pay for but free apps as well. When you download a free app, you’re essentially ‘purchasing’ it for $0.
Step 1. Hiding the Cloud Icon Apps Through App Store
- Go to the app store icon on your home screen, open your app store by tapping on it.
- Tap on the account icon or your photo that’s on the top right-hand corner of your screen.
- Beneath your Apple ID is the “Purchased” tab. If you’re using family sharing, yours will be “My Purchases.” Tap on it to view the purchased application.
- Long press on the deleted app from the lists to create a small dialog box, then click on the “hide” option. Swipe the app to the left for a shortcut and then click on “hide.”
Step 2. Removing the Cloud Icon Apps on App Store
Another way to go about it if you do not want to see this cloud icon is to sign out of your app store.
- Just the same way as step 1, tap on your app store.
- Tap on the account button.
- Scroll down to the “sign out” tab, and click on it.
Now, you have successfully signed out from your app store alone. This will remove the cloud icon. Apple wouldn’t know if your ID ever purchased an app or not. The only downside to this is that you’ll have to log in each time you wish to download any app.
Whatever step you decide to follow, you’ll notice at the end that your deleted apps will no longer have the cloud icon on them. Instead, it will have the “Get” label. More so, once you decide to unhide your application or sign in to your app store, the deleted application will reverse back to having the cloud icon with an arrow pointing downwards.
How to Unhide Apps on My iPhone or Other iOS Devices
These are the following steps on how to unhide your applications:
- Tap on the app store icon on your home screen to open it.
- Tap on the account button or your photo that is on the right-hand corner of your screen.
- Next, tap on your Apple ID profile, and sometimes you will be asked to sign in again.
- Tap on “Hidden purchases.”
- Depending on how many applications you have hidden, scroll through the list to find the particular application you wish to unhide.
- Beside it will be an “Unhide” button. Tap on it to unhide the application.
How Can I Sign Out of iCloud on My iPhone?
Signing out of your iCloud means signing out your Apple ID from your iOS device. Most iOS apps and services require an Apple ID to operate. Hence, we can say that an iPhone is almost useless without an Apple ID account since you won’t have access to FaceTime, App Store, iMessage, Apple Music, amongst others.
However, there are other reasons why one will decide to sign out of their iCloud from their iPhone. Maybe you got a new device and decided to sell the old one, or you wish to use another ID on your phone.
Singing out from your iPhone will not make you lose all your data. The iPhone will always present you with two options, either keeping or deleting all your files/data on the device.
Below are the steps you have to take to sign out of your iCloud.
- Go to your settings icon on your home screen on your iPhone and tap to open it.
- Tap on your Apple ID profile.
- Then tap on “Sign out.”
- If your “Find My iPhone” feature is ON, the first pop-up will require an Apple ID password to turn OFF the “Find My iPhone.”
- Once your “Find My iPhone” feature is turned OFF, turn ON the buttons on the data you wish to keep a copy on the device on the next pop-up page. The data whose buttons are still OFF will delete from the device but still available on your iCloud. Whenever you sign in to your iCloud again, they will become available on that device.
- Confirm sign out by tapping on it again. You have successfully signed out your iCloud account.
Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs
How do I sign out of iCloud on all my iOS devices?
It’s possible to sign out from your Mac, iPhone, iPod, etc., at once, but it will require you to change your password. Here are the steps to take.
- Launch any web browser on your phone or PC, enter iCloud.com
- Sign in with your Apple ID
- Tap on “Account settings.”
- Under the “My Devices” section, a list of all the devices that are currently signed in with your iCloud account will display here. Tap on anyone.
- From the new pop-up page, tap on the “X” symbol on each device.
- Confirm sign out. This will log out the devices from your iCloud account temporarily.
- Under Apple ID at the top of your page, you’ll notice the “Manage” button, tap on it. Log in again, if required.
- Tap on the security section, then tap on “Change Password.”
After the password is changed, you’ve permanently logged out of all your devices. You can remedy this if you log back in with your new password into those devices again.
Can I sign out my Apple ID and sign back in?
Yes, you can sign out and sign back in whenever you please. The only thing is that once you are signed out, your new data will not sync and store to your iCloud online. More so, this doesn’t mean you’ll lose your new data. Once you sign back in, you can back them up to your iCloud.
What is the consequence of logging out of my iCloud?
The only thing that happens is that iCloud services will no longer be available. Like we said earlier, syncing will no longer be possible. “Find My” application will not be available, too, with a host of other iCloud services. Anyway, once you log back in, you’ll have access to them again.
How do I delete apps from my iPhone?
To delete an app from your iPhone, long press on the offender app until you see a small dialog box appear. Then tap on “Remove App.” Your device will present you with two options. To remove from the home screen or delete the app, you can tap on the “Delete app.”
Conclusion
If you read through this article carefully, we’re sure your problems have been solved, and you’ve gotten answers to questions relating to this topic. To wrap up, we’d like to say that the cloud icon beside your deleted application doesn’t cause any harm.
It’s only a way of signifying that somebody once purchased the application with your Apple ID. Even after hiding this purchase using any one of the two steps, you can always find it on “purchased history.” The only thing hiding does is to remove the app store cloud icon.
When you sign out of your iCloud, remember that you won’t have access to most of Apple’s services. By default, all iCloud data will be deleted from your device. That said, you’ll only need to remain on your iCloud if you would like to keep a copy of the data on your device.
Furthermore, any new activity you carry out on your device will not sync or save online since Apple ID is linked with iCloud. New photos, documents, or contacts will not back up to your iCloud unless you sign back into either an existing or new Apple ID. Lastly, be aware that your data is protected and is safe on the cloud.
