How to delete apps on iPhones
You may delete many of the Apple apps that came with your iPhone as well as any third-party app you no longer want or need.Here’s how to delete almost any app on your iPhone:
- Long-press any icon, and then choose Edit Home Screen to start the icons jiggling.
- Tap the little – (minus sign) in the upper-left corner of the app you want to delete. A dialog appears, informing you that deleting this app also deletes all its data.
- To remove the app from this device, tap Delete App. If you instead tap Move to App Library, the app will be removed from the home screen and only appear in the App Library.
You can download any app you’ve purchased again, for free, from the App Store. So deleting it means only that it's gone from your device. You can always get it back by downloading it again unless, as previously stated, the app is no longer available in the App Store.
Just remember that deleting an app from your iPhone this way doesn’t get rid of it permanently. Even then, it’s not really gone forever because you can download purchased apps again for free. And, of course, you can download free apps again for free because, well, they’re free.
If you see a warning that deleting the app also deletes any associated data, you may want to save the data before deleting the app. Different apps have different schemes for importing and exporting data; the important thing is that if you create documents with an app (notes, images, videos, and such), deleting the app will delete any files you’ve created with that app unless they’re saved to iCloud or elsewhere. Forewarned is forearmed.
If you delete an app and later change your mind and want it back on your iPhone, just tap your-face-in-a-circle in the App Store app and then tap Purchased. Then just tap the little cloud icon to reinstall the app on your iPhone.How to organize apps on iPhones
You can have up to 19 Home screens (or pages) of apps. And if you’re like many iPhone users, you’ll soon have a substantial collection of apps on your iPhone. So let’s look at a few ways to organize those apps for easy access.To rearrange apps or create folders on your iPhone, long-press any app or folder and choose Edit Home Screen, which makes the app and folder icons jiggle and dance and little “delete me” minus signs appear on the apps.
A folder icon is the same as an app icon when it comes to rearranging icons on-screen. Also, the app or folder you press and hold down to start the jiggling doesn’t have to be the one you want to move — any app or folder will do.
To move an app or folder after the jiggling starts, press it, drag it to its new location (other apps on the screen will politely move out of its way to make space for it), and release it.If you move an icon onto another icon and pause for a second, a folder will be created. If you move an icon onto a folder and pause for a second, the folder will open so you can place the icon wherever you like in the folder.
Like Home screens, folders can have more than one page; if you see two or more little white dots at the bottom of the folder — one for each additional screen — swipe left to see the next screen or swipe right to see the previous one.
To move an app to a different Home screen after the jiggling starts, press the app and drag it all the way to the left or right edge of the screen. The preceding Home screen or next Home screen, respectively, will appear. Keep dragging the app to the left or right edge of each successive Home screen until you reach the screen you want. Then drop the app in its new location on that screen. If the screen already holds 20 apps, the last icon on the page will be pushed to the next Home screen. Be persistent — sometimes it takes a few tries to make the screens switch.All these techniques work with apps on the dock (Phone, Safari, Messages, and Music by default), as well as with apps on Home screens and folders.
iOS 14 introduced the ability to add widgets to any Home screen. To do so, long-press an app or folder and choose Edit Home Screen, then tap the + in the upper-left corner of the screen to see the Widget gallery overlay. Tap an item for more info; tap the +Add Widget button to add the widget to the current Home screen. To move the widget to a different Home screen, long-press an app or folder and choose Edit Home Screen and then press and drag the widget left or right to move it to the previous or next Home screen.A few more facts about Home screens. We mention this elsewhere, but in case you missed it: The little dots above the four apps on the dock indicate how many Home screens you have. The black dot denotes the current Home screen; the gray dots represent other Home screens.
And last but not least, we’d be remiss if we didn’t at least provide the following reminders. After you have a few screens full of apps and folders, remembering where you put a particular app can be difficult. When that happens, Search can quickly find and launch apps no matter which Home screen they’re on or folder they’re in. Or ask Siri to open the app by name.
Finally, take advantage of multitasking by double-tapping the Home button (Touch ID) or swiping upward (Face ID) to quickly switch between recently used apps.
There you have it — you now know everything you need to know to find, install, delete, and organize iPhone apps!App Clips
App Clips are, according to Apple:A small part of an app experience designed to be discovered the moment it is needed. App Clips are associated with a particular product or business, and load within seconds to complete a specific task, such as renting a scooter, purchasing a coffee, or filling a parking meter. They can be easily discovered and accessed by scanning a new Apple-designed App Clip code, or through NFC tags and QR codes, or shared in Messages or from Safari, all with the security and privacy expected from apps.
App Clips, which require an active internet connection, are invoked by pointing your iPhone camera at a QR code, tapping an NFC tag with your iPhone, or tapping a link to an App Clip in Mail, Messages, or Safari. A banner appears describing the App Clip and what it does. Tap the banner and an overlay lets you choose to either use the App Clip immediately or visit the App Store to download the full version of the app.
If you choose to use the App Clip right away, it opens and behaves like any other app, allowing you to complete the task without visiting the App Store or downloading an app to your iPhone. When you’re done, exit the App Clip as you exit any app (by pressing the Home button or swiping upward). Note that the App Clip will remain in your multitasking app switcher for a while unless you specifically close it by swiping it upward.
App Clips are a convenient way to perform a task that would otherwise require a visit to the App Store. So, keep an eye out for App Clip NFC tags, QR codes, and links — they can save you time and bandwidth.