WWDC brought announcements about all of Apple’s platforms and new features coming to them. Although many things were announced, this was one feature that was not explicitly mentioned during the keynote.
Many of the core iOS apps have made it to the App Store complete with screenshots and detailed descriptions. Why would core apps make it to the App Store? Well, much like Android did a few years ago, Apple thought it’d be easier to update core apps by releasing them to the App Store.
Users that have already downloaded and installed the iOS developer preview are confirming that many of these stock Apps are removable from the iPhone’s home screens. This is the first time since the iPhone’s existence that users have been able to delete any pre-installed apps without any software modifications (i.e. jailbreaking).
With the exception of the really important system apps like camera, phone, and messaging, the following apps can be removed from the iOS10 developer preview:
- Podcasts
- Maps
- Compass
- Tips
- Calculator
- Watch
- Voice Memos
- Contacts
- Stocks
- Weather
- iCloud Drive
- Calendar
- Music
- Reminders
Anyone who’s used an iPhone before knows that there is no way to set a default app, say, for finding addresses and directions. If iOS10 allows you to remove Apple Maps in favor of an alternative (and maybe better) maps application, it could be that Apple might allow users to set alternative apps as default like browser, emailing app, maybe even a calendar app.
This is just speculation, for now, but it would be awesome for Apple to let users choose Google Maps over Apple’s stock Maps app. Or choose Gmail over Mail, or choose Spotify over Apple Music, you get the idea. We’ll see what happens as more and more developer previews are released.
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