Users of Apple's mobile devices will soon be able to delete most of the stock apps pre-installed onto their smartphones and tablets as part of the iOS mobile operating system.
At the time of writing, these apps cannot be deleted unless users jailbreak their devices, which voids the device's warranty and increases cyber-security risks.
Deleting pre-installed apps in this way can also affect the functionality of the device due to how iOS and the stock apps interlink, admitted Apple CEO Tim Cook in a 2015 interview with Buzzfeed News.
The new freedom to delete these apps - a feature of the upcoming iOS 10 software update - was not publicly announced at Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco, but several stock Apple apps quietly appeared in Apple's App Store during the conference on Monday, sparking speculation.
People who downloaded a developer beta version of iOS 10 available at the conference have confirmed their ability to delete several stock apps.
Taking up space
Apple's extensive array of pre-installed apps has long been lamented for taking up gigabytes' worth of space on users' devices, leaving a significant gap between the devices' actual and advertised amounts of storage space.
A number of these apps are either non-essential to most users, or not used at all by a large number of users, for example Stocks, which allows users to monitor stock exchanges, and Watch, which syncs a user's mobile device with their Apple Watch if they use one.
Many iOS users also prefer to use different apps in place of stock Apple apps - for example Gmail instead of Apple Mail, and Google Maps instead of Apple Maps - resulting in two apps taking up storage space for one app's functionality.
Advantages for everyone
At the time of writing it is unclear whether deleting the default apps for certain functions will allow users to choose their own default app to replace it, although The Verge notes that this is possible.
If so, the software change could prove advantageous for competitors to Apple apps, such as Spotify, which competes with Apple Music.
The Verge also notes that unbundling stock apps from Apple's mobile operating system could facilitate rolling out necessary updates and fixes to apps on a more immediate, app-by-app basis, instead of with each iOS update, as Apple does at present.
What can be deleted?
The apps users of iOS 10 beta can delete, according to Apple, are Calculator, Calendar, Compass, Contacts, FaceTime, Find My Friends, Home, iBooks, iCloud Drive, iTunes Store, Mail, Maps, Music, News, Notes, Podcasts, Reminders, Stocks, Tips, Videos, Voice Memos, Watch, and Weather.
A much smaller selection of apps will remain undeletable, reportedly because they are too strongly tied to iOS' functionality to be unbundled. These include App Store, which allows users to download apps; Messages, which allows users to read SMSes; and Camera and Photos, which allow users to take and view pictures.
iOS 10 is slated for public release in late 2016.
Share
