Bloatware has been a headache all the time for smartphone users and for Android devices, there has been no good solution as device manufacturers have the UI limited in such a way that users cannot delete the apps on their will. This keeps some internal storage wasted as the user doesn’t need those apps.
Apple in its new iOS 10 OS is allowing to delete the pre-installed apps. The feature is already working well for those who are using the iOS 10 Beta 1 version that is released for developers.
There is a good list of apps that can be deleted on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the iPads and you can even install the apps back later by visiting the app store. But Apple warns that removing certain apps can limit the functionality of a few others.
Still, looking at how Apple has always given a limited internal storage and no expansion possibility, this is a logical step to temporarily free up some space whenever there is a software update and the apps are filling up the space so much that there remains no space for the large update file to get downloaded.
Following are the apps that you can remove from the home screen.
- Calculator
- Calendar
- Compass
- Contacts
- FaceTime
- Find My Friends
- Home
- iBooks
- iCloud Drive
- iTunes Store
- Maps
- Music
- News
- Notes
- Podcasts
- Reminders
- Stocks
- Tips
- Videos
- Voice Memos
- Watch app
- Weather
There are, of course, some clauses attached.
- The iPhone has a Phone App and a Contacts App. While you delete the Contacts app, the contacts would still show up on Phone App, which is all fine but you cannot do the same on an iPad because there is no Phone app and so, you cannot delete Contacts app.
- If you remove the Music app, it won’t be available to use with CarPlay.
- The News app will be removable in a later version of iOS 10 beta.
- If you try to remove the Watch app from an iPhone that’s paired with an Apple Watch, an alert asks you to unpair your Apple Watch before you can remove the app.
- If you remove the Podcasts app from your Home screen, Podcasts won’t be available with CarPlay.
- If you remove the Calculator app, the calculator won’t appear in Control Center.
How to remove the apps?
It is just like any app uninstallation. Tap and hold on the app icon until it wobbles and shows up an X sign beside it. Tap on X and you are done, the app gets removed.
