Let’s say you deleted the App Store. Seriously, you can now. While testing with iOS 18.2, I accidentally deleted Safari. I really didn’t want to delete it but this way I was able to verify that Apple has strictly complied with the European DMA mandate, which requires users to be able to uninstall any application they want, whether from Apple or not.
So far, only three of them have been eliminated.”Calculator’, ‘Calendar’ and ‘Apple’ Musicbut others like Safari could never be removed from iPhone. With this update you will be able to remove applications such as the App Store itself from the system. To most iPhone users, this will seem like an unnecessary splurge.
Of course, two applications will remain indelible: “Phone” and “Settings” and that’s because they are essential to the operation and maintenance of the iPhone. The first to be able to communicate and the second to carry out all the configuration of the system, including its updates, backups and much more.
How to remove the App Store and other Apple apps
To delete an original Apple application, you only have to follow three steps:
- Hold your finger on one of the apps you want to delete
- A context menu will open. The last option is the one that interests us, that of ‘Delete the app‘. Choose this one.
- You can now delete the application. In the case of the App Store, a warning message will appear, indicating that the application will be saved in your application library.
- You will always see another alert message confirming that you have downloaded your applications from the App Store and that without this you will not be able to keep them up to date. Press ‘ againDelete the app‘ and the store will be deleted.
This system works with all Apple applications. That is, you can remove the Safari browser or Apple Music, or Messages, or the new Photos app, which we don’t like although we can always improve it. Because if iOS 18 brings anything, it’s the customization and configuration options. In the case of Apple Music, the procedure is a little shorter, but its deletion and recovery follow the same pattern.
How to Recover Deleted Apps
Suppose you were too brave or you deleted the App Store by mistakethat you didn’t understand the main point but you really didn’t want to delete anything. This failure is so common that Apple has also thought about it.
The procedure is as follows:
- Enter the ‘Settings” of the system.
- Now go down to the section ‘Installing apps‘.
- There you can see which apps you deleted, like the App Store, and you can recover them.
- You will also now be able to choose which App store you use by default, since you can use alternatives such as SetApp – which includes a small paid subscription – or AltStore.
And that’s it, you don’t have to do anything else. Once you choose to recover the app, it will be downloaded to your system again and you can place it wherever you prefer on your home screen or keep it hidden in the app vault.
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