With iOS 16, Apple is making it possible to remove even more preinstalled apps from your iPhone.
For years, iPhone users were forced to keep Apple’s stock apps even though they had no use for them – a throwback to the original iPhone in the days before the App Store, when it was not even possible to rearrange apps on the home screen.
To make matters worse, there was no App Library at that time, so users had to find other creative ways to keep these apps out of sight – usually by dropping them into an “Unused Apps” folder or relegating them to an unvisited home screen page. .
It wasn’t until iOS 10 arrived that Apple provided the ability to remove any of these proprietary Apple apps. This first release included most, but not all, of Apple’s third-party apps. The exceptions were mostly understandable – the removal of the Settings app would be a really bad idea – but there were a few others like Safari, Cameraand Pictures which Apple simply didn’t want users to get rid of.
Technically speaking, iOS 10 didn’t really leave you wipe off integrated applications; it simply hid them from your home screen. Removing them entirely didn’t happen until iOS 12.
The good news is that iOS 16 expands that list even further, and while there are still a few you’ll be stuck with, iPhone users who want to escape Apple’s proprietary apps and services will be even better off. placed to do so.
Specifically, iOS 16 finally allows the removal of the The clock and find my apps. We understand why these were necessary – The clock controls built-in alarms and timers, and find my is a key part of the entire Find My Network experience. However, Apple has now recognized that some people may have other alternatives for these.
It is also now possible to delete the Health, Aptitudeandlook apps — but only if you’re not using Apple Watch. If you try to remove them while an Apple Watch is paired to your iPhone, you’ll first see a prompt to unpair your Apple Watch.
Beyond that, you can also remove just about any other proprietary app. The list is so long – about 30 apps in total – that it’s probably easier to talk about which ones you still have can not remove.
As previously mentioned, Settings is the most obvious on this list because without it, you would have no way to configure anything on your iPhone. However, here are the others that Apple still insists you keep, listed in order of their default home screen locations:
- Pictures
- Camera
- App store
- Wallet
- Call
- Safari
- posts
While it’s easy to see why some of them are needed, others are a bit of a mystery. For example, despite Apple’s intention to adopt other default browsers in iOS 14, Chrome users will still need to run Safari.
Similarly, Google Photos users should always keep the Pictures app, presumably because it powers the main iOS Photo Library to which everything else links; Apple has not yet provided an API for choosing photos from third-party apps.
Luckily, the App Library introduced in iOS 14 at least lets you move those apps around if you really don’t want to use them. You don’t have to buy them in a random folder anymore — just delete them from your home screen, and they’ll be filed mostly out of sight in the appropriate app library drawer.
Gone but not forgotten
It’s also worth bearing in mind that deleting an app doesn’t necessarily delete its underlying data. For example, Apple’s support document on this clearly states that your contacts will remain on your device if you delete the contacts app because they are still used by the Call application.
Likewise, you’ll still be able to make and receive FaceTime calls even if you remove the stock FaceTime app, as this is a basic functionality available through the app Call application.
