How to Customize Your iPhone Dock in iOS 15

* This article is from our Tip of the Day newsletter. . *

The iPhone Dock lets you access your most frequently used apps from any of your Home screens. The default iPhone Dock apps are the Phone, Safari, Messages, and Music apps. I’ll teach you how to change, rearrange, and organize apps into folders. 

What’s in This Article?

What Is the Dock on iPhone?

The iPhone Dock is located at the bottom of the iPhone. It is sometimes referred to as the menu bar, iPhone home Dock, or the Home screen bottom bar. It is important not to confuse the Dock with the iPhone Home bar at the bottom of the screen. This bar can be used to navigate between Home screens. People often ask how to remove the iPhone bottom bar from their phone. Unfortunately, this isn't possible.

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How to Move Apps In & Out of the iPhone Dock

If you already have four apps on your iPhone Dock, you'll have to remove an app before you can add a new app icon to the Dock. If you'd like more apps in your Dock, there's a workaround we'll go over below. I will use Safari as my example because people often ask, “how do I add Safari to my dock?”

  1. Tap and hold any app icon in the iPhone Dock. When the Action Menu opens, select Edit Home Screen.

    Select Edit Home Screen.
  2. Now, your Dock and Home screen will enter jiggle mode.

    Now, your Dock and Home screen will enter jiggle mode. dock bar iphone
  3. If you already have four items in your Dock, drag and drop one of the app icons from the Dock to the Home screen.

    Drag and drop - iphone icons on bottom of screen
  4. Next, drag the app icon you want to move into the Dock from the Home screen and position it wherever you want it on the Dock.

    How to move apps to bottom of iphone
  5. Repeat this with any other app icons you wish to move. Tap Done in the upper-right corner of your screen to exit jiggle mode and save your changes.

    Tap Done - iphone bottom bar

Now you know how to add and remove apps! To add even more apps, you can create folders within your Dock.

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How to Use Folders to Add Apps to the iPhone Dock

Unfortunately, there's not a great way to add more than four apps to the iPhone Dock without using a workaround. You can, however, add apps to the Dock using folders. This will allow you to add an entire folder of apps to your Dock.

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How to Remove Dock on iPhone

A lot of people wonder if it's possible to remove their iPhone Dock. Apparently, there are ways to do it that involve jailbreaking your iPhone, but this is complicated and risky. Even those who succeed at it may not be able to use the Dock space for other apps, so there really isn't much reason to try it. If you only put your most-used apps here, the iOS Dock is a valuable tool that can save you time.

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If you like this article, check out how to use the App Library to help you organize and find the apps you need. If you have other Apple devices, you might be interested in learning how to customize the Dock on a Mac. To get tips like these directly in your inbox, don’t forget to sign up for our free Tip of the Day newsletter.

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Author Details

Erin MacPherson's picture

Author Details

Erin MacPherson

Erin is a Web Editor for iPhone Life and has been a writer, editor, and researcher for many years. She has a degree in communication with an emphasis on psychology and communication, and has spent many of her professional years as a coach in various business and specialty fields. Erin officially joined the ranks of iPhone and Apple users everywhere around nine years ago, and has since enjoyed the unique and customized feel of Apple technology and its many gadgets. When she’s not working, Erin and her son enjoy outdoor adventures, camping, and spending time with their eclectic collection of pets.