Setup guide

Blank Spaces replaces your iPhone home screen with a minimalist, distraction-free launcher. This 5-minute guide walks you through the complete setup.

How to set up Blank Spaces

Add the Blank Spaces launcher widgets to your iPhone home screen in under a minute. Step-by-step guide for iOS 18 and iOS 26.

How to add the Blank Spaces widgets

Hide the dock and remove glass widget borders on iOS 26 with Blank Spaces. Step-by-step for light and dark mode.

How to hide the dock and widget borders (iOS 26)

Hide the dock on iOS 18 with Blank Spaces.

How to hide the dock (iOS 18)

Keep only your Blank Spaces page visible by hiding unused home screen pages.

How to hide extra home screen pages

Getting started

Add and edit apps

Add your essential apps to Blank Spaces and customize their names.

How to add and edit apps in Blank Spaces

We built a plugin called “Auto Launch” to find missing apps. It takes a few steps to set up, but supports every single app.

How to add missing apps

Add apps that aren't in the default list to Blank Spaces using Apple Shortcuts or URL scheme deep links.

How to add a custom shortcut or deep link

Widget customization

Match your Blank Spaces widgets to your home screen wallpaper for a seamless, clean look.

How to set a custom wallpaper

Set up a Smart Stack on your home screen to smoothly scroll through the widgets.

How to make the Blank widgets scrollable

Setting a focus mode allows you to switch the Blank setup on and off when a focus mode is turned on (such as “Do Not Disturb”).

How to set up a focus mode

Show your Blank Spaces widget on the iPhone lock screen with a single menu toggle.

How to show Blank Spaces on your iPhone lock screen

Lock distractions

Block distracting apps on your iPhone by setting up app locks in Blank Spaces. Schedule locks and choose from multiple unlock methods.

How to lock apps

Troubleshooting

App launching

Fix Blank Spaces apps opening on your CarPlay display instead of your iPhone by setting up two quick automations in Apple Shortcuts.

How to fix apps not opening properly with CarPlay

Fix the black screen that appears when launching apps on Blank Spaces.

How to fix the black screen when launching apps

Fix the Shortcuts popup that appears when launching apps from Blank Spaces.

How to stop the shortcuts app from showing before my app opens

The "Blank wants to open [app]?" prompt is a one-time iOS system dialog, not something from Blank Spaces.

Why is there a "want to open" popup before each app?

Issues with the phone app are fixable by importing the Phone shortcut.  See below.

Phone app not opening from your Blank Spaces widget?

Widgets + homescreen

Remove the "Blank" text label under your widgets by switching to large icon mode. Only takes a few seconds.

How to hide the "Blank" name on the home screen widgets


On iOS 26, Apple introduced a translucent "glass" effect around widgets. In dark mode, these borders can remain visible even after setting up Blank Spaces. This is usually caused by a missing setting - run through the checklist below to fix it.

How to fix the glass borders in iOS26 in dark mode

On iOS 26, Apple introduced a translucent "glass" effect around widgets. In light mode, you can fully hide this effect using the steps below.

How to fix the glass borders in iOS26 in light mode

Remove the iOS search button at the bottom of your home screen for a cleaner Blank Spaces layout.

How to hide the home screen search button

Remove the suggested apps that appear when you open Spotlight search for a distraction-free experience.

How to turn off app suggestions in iPhone search

There's no way to fully hide the App Library - Apple doesn't allow it. But you can make it much harder to access by adding empty Blank Spaces widgets to the pages between your home screen and the App Library. This stops the mindless swipe-to-browse habit.

How to hide the App Library

Make your iPhone screen black and white to reduce the visual pull of colorful apps and notifications.

How to turn on grayscale mode

Remove apps from your Blank Spaces layout or remove the Blank Spaces widget from your home screen entirely.

How to delete apps from Blank Spaces

Fix incorrect weather data in Blank Spaces by updating your location in the weather widget settings.

Why isn't the weather widget updating correctly?

If your iPhone looks identical to before after configuring Blank Spaces, the cause is one of two things: the widget isn't placed yet, or your other home screen pages aren't hidden. Here's how to tell them apart and fix each.

Why does my phone still look the same after setting up Blank Spaces?

If your Blank widgets aren't the same color as your wallpaper, import your wallpaper as a Custom Wallpaper inside Blank Spaces. That makes the widget background match exactly, regardless of which wallpaper you're using.

Why doesn't my widget match my wallpaper?

Apps get cut off when there are too many apps for the current font size. Reduce the size in the paintbrush menu, or remove apps from the widget.

Why are some of my apps cut off in the widget?

Other

Please follow the steps below to troubleshoot common issues with unlocking apps.

Issues with app unlocking

Track your daily consistency and earn badges by using the Blank Spaces launcher every day.

How do Blank streaks work?

Blank Spaces is currently iOS only - here's what Android users can try instead.

Does Blank Spaces Work on Android?

Account & subscription

Your subscription is linked to your Apple ID.  Restore your subscription by tapping the restore button on the bottom of the paywall.

How to restore my subscription

We're sorry that Blank Spaces did not work out for you, but we want to make sure it's easy for you to leave!

How to cancel my subscription and/or get a refund

We created Blank to help you take back control of your attention, and that mission extends to how we handle your data.