Submitted by Marshall Walker on
Apple has finally made one of the most requested user features a reality. iPhone and iPad users who install iOS 10 will be able to remove most built-in Apple apps on their device. This means you will no longer have to stare at or hide pre-installed apps you never use, such as iBooks and Stocks. You still won't be able to remove the App Store app, Camera app, Activity app, Wallet, Find My iPhone, Health app, Messages and Safari, but you can remove anything else from your Home screen. Apple has also killed off the dreaded Game Center app in its most recent beta. Here's a list of apps you can remove from your Home screen in iOS 10:
- 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
The Apple support forums notes that removing a stock app from your device also removes "any related user data and configuration files." Removing a pre-installed app "can affect things like related system functions or information on your Apple Watch." Removing the Contacts app does not remove your contact info. You will still be able to locate your contacts in the Phone app via the Contacts tab. Removing the Music app will affect its use with CarPlay, and you will need to unpair your Apple Watch from your iPhone before removing the Watch app.
You can remove the listed stock apps the same way you delete any third-party app from your device.
The iOS 10 beta is now available for developers through the Apple developer portal. The public beta will be available sometime this summer. You can learn how to join the public Apple beta program here.
*The News app will be removable in a later version of iOS 10 beta.