For a moment there, it seemed like one of the coolest iOS 10 features was going to be the ability to delete stock Apple apps from the home screen. Apple kept the feature a secret during the keynote, but early adopters quickly discovered the functionality. Apple then explained that you’re not actually deleting much from the phone. Just the app icon, personal data and configurations go away, but the app files remain on the phone.
Apple has also published a support document that explains exactly what happens when you “delete” its default apps.
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In it, Apple reveals that its iOS apps “are designed to be very space efficient, so all of them together use less than 150MB.” That means we’d save more room by deleting music or apps from the iPhone than by removing Apple’s apps.
Of course, we can still appreciate the feature not because it saves us storage space, but because it helps us declutter the home screen.
In addition to listing the apps you can remove from the home screen and the uninstall/reinstall process, Apple also lists the various implications for system functions and Apple Watch functionality.
Here’s what you need to know:
- You can remove the Contacts app from an iPhone only. If you remove Contacts, you won’t lose your contact information. You can still find all of that information in the Phone 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 have an Apple Watch paired with your iPhone, removing an app from your iPhone home screen also removes that app from your Apple Watch home screen.
- If you remove the Podcasts app from your home screen, Podcasts won’t be available with CarPlay.
- If you remove the Stocks or Weather app from your home screen, stocks and weather won’t be available elsewhere. For example, you won’t see stocks and weather information in Notification Center on your iPhone or as Complications or Glances on your Apple Watch.
- If you remove the Calculator app, the calculator won’t appear in Control Center.
