It is no secret that I have a fondness for iOS. Although I have recently switched over to Android, there are some things I still miss about iOS. With that in mind, the platform is far from perfect. There are certain things about it that I wish would change, one of which may be on the horizon for iOS users according to rumors and leaks.
While I consider iOS to be one of the least problematic operating systems when it comes to bloatware (I'm looking at you, Android devices that come preloaded with tons of non-removable carrier-specific nonsense) there is still a decent amount of stock Apple apps that come preloaded in the phone – many of which are non-essential for the use of the iPhone. When I turn on my iPhone, I have a whole folder dedicated to apps that I have to open even once: Compass, Tips, Voice Memos, Find Friends, Watch, Podcasts, iBooks, Stocks, Videos, and Reminders. And, I’ll be honest, it doesn’t really bother me that they’re tucked away in a folder. But if we want to get into the ways that my iOS experience could be better, being able to delete them off of my phone completely would be ideal.
I especially feel this way as somebody who usually springs for the 16GB model. Memory is a precious resource, and 16GB is already widely considered “not enough” anymore – and we’re quickly approaching a time when 32GB will be viewed in the same light. Either way, the more memory we have available to us, the better. As it stands, 16GB iPhone users are only allowed to use 11.9GB of their data. While those 10 applications may not free up a ton of space, I would still feel a little better if they weren’t taking up any amount of space at all, considering I will never use them.
While the idea of being able to delete stock apps on Apple devices was once an idea that Tim Cook entertained, it would seem that perhaps the quickest solution would be to just allow users to hide the apps completely. While not the most ideal solution, it seems like an acceptable alternative – after all, I really don’t think that being able to delete the 10 apps off of my phone would have really done much for additional storage at the end of the day. And while I’ve gotten to the point where I completely ignore the folder of things that I don’t use, the less clutter I have on my iProduct, the better.
Being able to completely remove apps seems like the best solution for the end user in theory, but the ability isn’t as easy to implement as it seems.
When discussing the possibility of being able to remove stock Apple apps altogether, Tim Cook made mention that many of Apple’s stock apps work deeply within the iOS ecosystem, and many apps are intertwined with each other. If Apple were to allow users to simply remove the apps, in its current setup, other apps in the phone could experience issues. Whatever the case may be, the lesser of two evils here would be to provide the means to make the apps “out of sight, out of mind”. Perhaps at some point in the future, Apple will make an iOS version where the apps are not so intertwined with each other. For now, I believe simply being able to hide the apps will tide users over.