I like my iPhone. I really do. What I don’t like are all those useless apps that Apple sticks on the phone and won’t let me remove.
I’m talking about apps like “Tips” or “Find My Friends,” which I’ve never used and, frankly, don’t even know what they do. In other cases, I know exactly what they do—hey there, Apple Maps—and wish I could be rid of them.
But, well, Apple has the upper hand. For years, these apps have sat there like weird blotches on my iPhone screen. One day, I stuffed them all into a folder named “Crapple” (I copied the name from a friend), which looks like this:
The folder reduces the clutter, but it’s still annoying to have it sitting there in the first place. Meanwhile, the zombie apps take up valuable memory space that I could use for videos or games or any darn thing besides crummy stock apps.
But just as I’d grown resigned to being stuck with the apps forever, Apple CEO Tim Cook surprised us all on Monday with a magnanimous gesture at the company’s annual developer conference.
“You are no longer children. You are free from the stupid apps,” he roared during the keynote. “You may delete them all!”
Sign up for Data Sheet, Coins2Day’s technology newsletter
Well, not really. But according to The Verge, a preview of the iPhone operating system, iOS 10, reveals that it will be possible for users to delete most of the stock apps, and reinstall them later if they so choose. The report also included screenshots that depict the little “x” delete icons attached to app icons, which until now, have been harder to dislodge than a stubborn case of bedbugs.
The public launch of iOS10 is reportedly on track for public launch later this year. So iPhone owners rejoice, you’ll soon have more memory and space on your screen.
And lest you think I’m being harsh on Apple, I should add the company announced a lot of cool-sounding stuff today, including payment options, a spiffy music redesign, and new lock screen and message features.