Anyaa writes: Well, I screwed up and inadvertently installed iOS 8 on my iPhone and iPad. The annoying thing is that whenever I want to switch apps there is a row of “Recents”—names of people I recently called and/or texted—at the top of the screen. I absolutely don’t want to see this however briefly. Can I get rid of it?

Hi Anyaa! Yep, that row of “recents” and phone favorites along the top of the app-switching screen (which appears whenever you double-click the Home key) is a new feature in iOS 8. Whether it’s a change for the better is, of course, a matter of opinion.

Don’t like seeing the smiling (or not) faces of your recently called or messaged contacts whenever you switch between apps?

iOS 8 Show in App Switcher settings

Flip the switches to hide either “Recents” or “Phone Favorites” from the app-switching screen.

Luckily, they’re easy to hide.

  • Tap Settings, then “Mail, Contacts, Calendars.”
  • Scroll down to the Contacts section and tap “Show in App Switcher.”
  • You’ll two options for the row of contacts that appears on the app-switching screen: “Phone Favorites” (the favorites you’ve added in the Phone app) and Recents. Flip the switches to hide one or both categories.

Now, double-click the Home key. Recents and Favorites begone!

Got more iOS 8 questions? Let me know!

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