Finally: A Way to Rid Your iPhone of Those Pesky Default Apps

I have a folder on the last home screen of my iPhone named “Crapple,” where I’ve squirreled away 15 annoying Apple default apps that I never use nor plan on using in the future.

iPhones come with 32 preloaded apps – such as iBooks, a watch/timer, stock prices, messages, settings, health tracker, app store and game center – and while many of them are annoying, there are at least as many that are essential and used on a regular basis.

But if you’re an iPhone user and you’re tired of those pesky default apps that you don’t use clogging up your home screen, there may finally be a way to get them off your screen.

The beta version of Apple’s latest mobile operating system, iOS 9.3, allows you to hide unwanted preloaded Apple apps, CNN Money reports. Although the apps will still be on your device and take up memory, you will no longer be forced to house them on your home screen.

Reddit user “bfodder” explains the process here. There’s a catch, of course. Only people who are signed up as Apple Developers can do it. A developer account costs $99 a year. CNN Money explains the somewhat complicated process:

Back up your phone and upgrade to iOS 9.3. Install Apple Configurator 2.2 beta on a computer using a developer account. Connect to the iOS device running 9.3. Then follow bfodder’s directions for hiding the individual apps you really don’t want to see. (It’s unclear if this option will be available for non-developers when 9.3 goes live.)

If you’re not comfortable poking around in your phone’s operating system and doing a complete reset of your phone, you may want to skip it. Instead, you could try a simple hiding method described by BGR and based on this video post by YouTube user “videosdebarraquito.”

Here’s what you do:

• Move the default Apple apps you don’t want into a folder.
• Tap one of the app icons in the folder until they all start to jiggle.
• Grab an app and drag it to the right, past the folder’s last tab, so the app is hanging partway out of the folder.
• Continue to hold the app icon and press your phone’s “home” button to make the app fly off the screen and vanish.

Voila! No more pesky apps or “Crapple” folders on your phone’s home screen, at least until you reboot your phone. Then the hidden apps will reappear.

Of course, if all of this sounds like too much work, drag your “Crapple” folder, filled with all your unwanted default Apple apps, and place it on the last page of your home screen. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

What do you do with the default apps Apple preloads on your devices? Share your comments below or on our Facebook page.