The “Tips” app is a native, pre-installed iOS utility designed to introduce users to new operating system features, provide tutorials, and push notifications regarding device capabilities. While helpful for onboarding general consumers, the Tips app represents an unnecessary background process and a source of workflow disruption in strict enterprise, military, or zero-trust deployment environments. On devices provisioned strictly as single-purpose logistics scanners, secure corporate communication terminals, or stationary kiosks, pushing unsolicited tutorials to the user wastes battery, consumes cellular bandwidth for content updates, and violates the principle of least privilege.
This guide explains how to completely disable the ‘Tips’ app system-wide on an iPhone, ensuring the application is cryptographically neutralized and its UI presence is entirely removed from the device.
Disable the Tips App via Screen Time Content Restrictions
While standard users can delete the Tips app from the home screen, this does not prevent a user from redownloading the utility from the App Store, nor does it guarantee the cessation of related OS-level feature discovery daemons. To enforce a strict, irreversible block at the OS kernel level, we must utilize Screen Time’s cryptographic Content & Privacy Restrictions.
- Unlock the iPhone and open the main Settings app.
- Tap on Screen Time. (If this is not yet configured, tap “Turn On Screen Time” and define a secure, alphanumeric passcode known only to the IT administrator).
- Tap on Content & Privacy Restrictions.
- Toggle the main Content & Privacy Restrictions switch at the very top to the On (green) position.
- Tap on Allowed Apps. You will be prompted to authenticate with your secure Screen Time passcode.
- In the list of native Apple applications, locate the toggle for Tips. (Note: Depending on the specific iOS version and MDM profile, the Tips app may need to be blocked via an MDM Application Blocklist if it does not natively appear in this simplified Allowed Apps menu).
- Switch the toggle to the Off (grey) position. (By explicitly disabling this toggle, you instruct the iOS kernel to instantly terminate the app’s execution, sever its background fetch capabilities, and completely purge the app icon and associated notifications from the UI).
Verify the Configuration Lockdown
Because Screen Time operates at the kernel level, this restriction is applied instantaneously.
To verify the lockdown is active, return to the iPhone’s Home Screen. The Tips app icon (a yellow lightbulb) will be entirely missing. Swipe down to access Spotlight Search and query “Tips”—the OS will refuse to launch or suggest the application. Furthermore, the device will no longer generate “Discover new features” push notifications. If a user navigates to the App Store and searches for the native Apple Tips app, the “Get” or “Cloud Download” button will be greyed out or fail to execute. The iPhone is now operating under a strict zero-trust configuration regarding tutorial utilities, ensuring compliance with secure facility protocols.