How to make iOS 9's default apps disappear

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2016
While Apple is still working on an official method of dealing with unwanted default apps in iOS, a glitch in iOS 9 through 9.2 will let people temporarily push them out of sight.




As seen in the video below, users have to move the unwanted apps into a folder, and then drag them as far to the right as possible, beyond any and all of the folder's tabs. With an app still suspended "mid-air," hitting the Home button simultaneously will cause it to vanish.



Apps hidden this way aren't permanently deleted -- instead, they return only once an iOS device is rebooted. Simply putting a device to sleep leaves them invisible.

Another trick will permanently conceal apps by way of invisible folders, but this involves a more complex set of steps, and using gray wallpaper to complete the illusion.

In September, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the company is working on a way of removing some default apps. Other apps may have to remain however, as they're connected to critical iOS functions.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 17
    maxitmaxit Posts: 222member
    The most silly trick ever seen ...  :/
  • Reply 2 of 17
    I don't see why people bother with this stuff.  It's not a real solution.  It's hardly any different from having the " crap" folder on the last page that everyone seems to have.  

    Also, I can't think of a single week (certainly not a month), that I haven't had to reboot my phone at least once.  Add that to the multiple OS updates each year and you will be performing this nonsense at least a couple of dozen times a year.  For what?  One would have to be crazy obsessive to do this, and keep it up.  
    caligregoriusmlarryaredgeminipaargonaut
  • Reply 3 of 17
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,152member
    I am sure they have been working real real hard to have them removable, ever since 2007.

    For a company that prides itself on having no adware in macs, it is surprising they have these in iOS. I couldnt give give a stuff personally, they all live maintenance free in a folder called 'useless' on the last home screen, where I forget they exist.
    edited January 2016 Prof_Peabodyfreshmakercornchipargonaut
  • Reply 4 of 17
    entropys said:
    I am sure they have been working real real hard to have them removable, ever since 2007.

    For a company that prides itself on having no adware in macs, it is surprising they have these in iOS. I couldnt give give a stuff personally, they all live maintenance free in a folder called 'useless' on the last home screen, where I forget they exist.
    Apple has actually recently started putting adverts in OS X as well as iOS.  For instance the store app will always open to the promotions page, even if you call it from a dialogue about an update.  And two of the five tabs in iTunes show promotional material for Apple Music unless you dig into the settings and disable it.  All new installations of iTunes will show a bunch more things about Apple Music and a splash screen unless you disable that as well.  

    It's definitely not as bad as iOS which has even more adverts for Apple services, but they are there in OS X already. 

    There has also been a few times lately when all this stuff is reset with an OS update (against the users wishes), to ensure that everyone sees the adverts at least a couple of times.  It's only a matter of time before we see car adverts too I suppose.  
    edited January 2016 staticx57
  • Reply 5 of 17
    bobschlobbobschlob Posts: 1,074member
    Oh goody. This is definitely top of my pet peeve list.
    I was all ready to go to Android. But now that I can hide these apps, maybe I stick around after all.
    rogifan_old
  • Reply 6 of 17
    mdriftmeyermdriftmeyer Posts: 7,503member
    I've never understood people whining about these small and useful apps.
    SpamSandwichrezwitsnolamacguyapplepieguyargonaut
  • Reply 7 of 17
    EsquireCatsEsquireCats Posts: 1,268member
    You can remove quite a few default apps and unwanted app features just by using the built-in restrictions settings. E.g. It's possible to remove the News app and simplify the new music app drastically.
  • Reply 8 of 17
    entropys said:
    I am sure they have been working real real hard to have them removable, ever since 2007.

    For a company that prides itself on having no adware in macs, it is surprising they have these in iOS. I couldnt give give a stuff personally, they all live maintenance free in a folder called 'useless' on the last home screen, where I forget they exist.
    Apple has actually recently started putting adverts in OS X as well as iOS.  For instance the store app will always open to the promotions page, even if you call it from a dialogue about an update.  And two of the five tabs in iTunes show promotional material for Apple Music unless you dig into the settings and disable it.  All new installations of iTunes will show a bunch more things about Apple Music and a splash screen unless you disable that as well.  

    It's definitely not as bad as iOS which has even more adverts for Apple services, but they are there in OS X already. 

    There has also been a few times lately when all this stuff is reset with an OS update (against the users wishes), to ensure that everyone sees the adverts at least a couple of times.  It's only a matter of time before we see car adverts too I suppose.  
    I don't see any ads in OSX and especially when using iTunes and I have not fiddled with any settings for it for a long, long time. Mind you, I only tend to use iTunes to update my podcast list and have never bought any Music through it so perhaps there is some trigger there?
    The same goes for iOS. Again, I rarely use the app store and usually only to get updates to the apps I have loaded.
    so not everyone is seeing what you are.
    I think YMMV is very appropriate here.
  • Reply 9 of 17
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,335member
    With all due respect to Tim Cook Cook I think that this is more than a technical limitation. Default apps that cannot be removed from the iOS user interface because they are necessary to support system-wide services can be refactored to separate the user interface logic from the service logic. I have a hard time rationalizing why I cannot remove many of the default apps, and especially ones like Game Center, Photo Booth, Tips, Feedback, etc. The down side of separating shared system services from the Apple provided user interface for the service is that the services would now have an API which opens up the possibility of using alternate (non-Apple) user interfaces on top of Apple services. That seems to be the crown jewel layer that Apple is trying to keep very close control over. It's more about IP protection than technical enablement.
  • Reply 10 of 17
    I find this a big yawn. Stick the apps in a folder and you never have to look at them.

    Now getting full screen ads when you launch the App Store? That's BS and really concerning that the executive team didn't think it was a bad idea.
  • Reply 11 of 17
    bobschlob said:
    Oh goody. This is definitely top of my pet peeve list.
    I was all ready to go to Android. But now that I can hide these apps, maybe I stick around after all.
    HAHAHAHAHA! Android is really bloated with CRAPware, especially cell carrier bloat, that can NOT be removed without rooting. Jump if you want, but you'll land in a sinking ship. 
    applepieguyargonaut
  • Reply 12 of 17
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    I find this a big yawn. Stick the apps in a folder and you never have to look at them.

    Now getting full screen ads when you launch the App Store? That's BS and really concerning that the executive team didn't think it was a bad idea.
    Which App Store? OS X or iOS?
  • Reply 13 of 17
    Apple has actually recently started putting adverts in OS X as well as iOS.  For instance the store app will always open to the promotions page, even if you call it from a dialogue about an update.  And two of the five tabs in iTunes show promotional material for Apple Music unless you dig into the settings and disable it.  All new installations of iTunes will show a bunch more things about Apple Music and a splash screen unless you disable that as well.  

    It's definitely not as bad as iOS which has even more adverts for Apple services, but they are there in OS X already. 

    There has also been a few times lately when all this stuff is reset with an OS update (against the users wishes), to ensure that everyone sees the adverts at least a couple of times.  It's only a matter of time before we see car adverts too I suppose.  
    I don't see any ads in OSX and especially when using iTunes and I have not fiddled with any settings for it for a long, long time. Mind you, I only tend to use iTunes to update my podcast list and have never bought any Music through it so perhaps there is some trigger there?
    The same goes for iOS. Again, I rarely use the app store and usually only to get updates to the apps I have loaded.
    so not everyone is seeing what you are.
    I think YMMV is very appropriate here.
    The ads are there just the same, despite your failure to recognise them or see them.  The most egregious one is possibly the one in iOS where if you force press the Music App you get the selection to "listen to Beats 1" even if you have already disabled Apple Music system wide and declined the many offers to join Apple Music.  

    Every update to iOS since the Beats acquisition also resets the Music App so that it asks you if you want to join Apple Music one more time when you open it, just as every update to iTunes presents the user with a brief advert/choice to yet again enable Apple Music.  Also as I said, 2 out of five (40%) of the tabs in iTunes deal with Apple Music, even if you have expressly disabled it.  You have to dig into the settings to turn those tabs off after you decline the Apple Music advert.  

    Additionally, the Spotlight Search page in iOS is essentially ALL advertisements ("Spotlight Suggestions").  The entire purpose of that page is to show you adverts for Apps and Services.  If you go by a known Starbucks location for instance the Starbucks App will pop up there etc.  It also surfaces recently used Apps with the suggestion that you might want to use them again etc.  The premise there is that it's merely location/context aware information, but that's really a bit of a dodge to anyone who actually thinks about it for a second or two.  These are adverts.     

    These are all clear advertisements for Apple's and Apple's partners own services, right in the OSs'.  There is simply no denying it.  

    Basically everything in Microsoft's bag of tricks from 1995, is now in Apple's OS's.  The verbosity, the trickery, and the promotion of their own products and services to the detriment (and sometimes exclusion) of others, etc.   We have just collectively changed our minds about these things being nefarious and "bad" and now we say we like them (supposedly).  It's all very 21st century don't you know. 
    edited January 2016
  • Reply 14 of 17
    Ye
    I've never understood people whining about these small and useful apps.
    Maybe you did not listen carefully.
  • Reply 15 of 17
    bobschlob said:
    Oh goody. This is definitely top of my pet peeve list.
    I was all ready to go to Android. But now that I can hide these apps, maybe I stick around after all.
    HAHAHAHAHA! Android is really bloated with CRAPware, especially cell carrier bloat, that can NOT be removed without rooting. Jump if you want, but you'll land in a sinking ship. 
    It is like Nexus phones don't even exist.
  • Reply 16 of 17
    Apple has actually recently started putting adverts in OS X as well as iOS.
    This stuff is a lot less intrusive than on other platforms. I get several popups on the actual screen a day while working on my Windows 10 machine. At least these only appear once, for the most part, when you open an app or navigate to a particular point in an app. I'd like to see none of this, but in this day and age that's unrealistic unless I'm willing to move to Linux or something. As much as I like Linux, I'm not doing work that I'd want to deal with that on a daily basis.
    edited January 2016
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