Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhone, App Store
Deleting apps from the iPhone
Macenstein posted a strange little tip earlier this week for getting Apple's official apps off of your iPhone (I personally never use the Stocks app, and really don't need it taking up space around the apps I do use). But his method isn't so much a tip as an exploit -- basically, Apple has a secret 10th "page" of Application icons, and Macenstein's method is to put so many apps onto your iPhone that the official ones get squeezed off screen.It works, though installing 144 apps on your phone might be more trouble than it's worth. And the change isn't even permanent -- restarting or syncing the iPhone will bring the apps back on screen (provided you make room on them -- you could just leave 144 apps up if you wanted, and presumably they'd stay out of the picture).
It's too bad that Apple has never really provided a tool to organize the iPhone's app screen quickly -- stacks have long been suggested as a way to get more icons on there, but it'd be nice to even have an iTunes-based tool to get all those icons in the right places. Until then, you can always fill up all your screens and kick any icons you don't want off of there.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
RobJW said 8:07AM on 9-19-2008
Personally, I'd like to see something in Settings.app where you could turn official apps on or off, similar to the way you could customise the main menu on older iPods.
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Techtistic said 11:46AM on 9-19-2008
I agree with you there; it seems like a no-brainer to include an on/off option for each app. I want to offer my current solution for anyone who cares because it works well for me.
I tried using the first page for my most commonly used apps and then categorizing the other pages, kind of like Kevin Buchanan says below. The bad part about that method is that my most used apps change all the time (especially games).
My solution is to leave the defaults setup as it is, with the exception of moving that stray Contacts app to the first page. Then I keep the rest of my apps alphabetized. It may seem sort of unorganized at first, but now my apps stay in relatively the same location and I get used to their locations.
Whenever I install a new app I just go to the last page, remove an app from the dock, put the new app in the dock, go to the right page to alphabetize, move it to the page, and return the original app to the dock.
I do wish there was a feature that allowed you to turn on or off automatic compression of the app icons to as few pages as possible, so when you remove an application the page fills itself.
Jennifer said 12:58PM on 9-19-2008
You can turn off a few apps in the parental controls. I have no intention of buying music over the air, so I turned off the iTunes Store app. I do agree that we should be able to hide all the official apps if we want to, since there's a fair number of them I don't care about. No, I don't want to just shove them onto another page. I just don't want to see them. Ever.
And I don't want to hear about some unofficial app, since I don't feel like messing with jailbreaking. I've done that before and I don't have a use for it anymore. I want a method that works on ANY phone.
matthew said 8:08AM on 9-19-2008
im sorry, but this is stupid.
its not a tip, its not an exploit, its a problem. any one who has all 9 pages full of apps (either by choice or just to use this exploit) must have a slow phone and even slower back ups. i too hate stocks, weather and youtube but i think i will wait for an apple solution rather than an absurd one!
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Brian said 8:16AM on 9-19-2008
I agree. This is a ridiculous hack. But, if you're inclined to do it, rather than installing ~144 apps, couldn't you fill up the screens with website shortcuts? Presumably, they'd take up a fraction of the storage space of an actual app, plus you wouldn't have the pain of backing up all those apps each time you sync.
But... why go to all that bother? Why not just put the built-in apps you don't want on the very screen you use and then forget about it. Why fill up all 9 screens with crap?
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Lee said 8:33AM on 9-19-2008
Actually, I rather like the Stocks app - but only because of the tip I read here some months ago that enables you to use it as a currency exchange rate monitor.
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DistortedLoop said 8:27AM on 9-19-2008
C'mon, this one is just too ridiculous to have even passed along. 144 apps?!? Sheesh.
If you're going to go to that much trouble to get rid of Stocks.app, then why not *really* get rid of it. QuickPwn your phone to jailbreak it (5 mins work and perfectly safe), SSH into it, navigate to /Applications and delete the Stocks.app folder. Done, gone, permanently, never comes back until you upgrade the firmware again.
Okay, you don't want to jailbreak? Forget about the secret 10th apps page, just drag all the apps you don't want to see to whatever your last page is PLUS one. I have all the apps I rarely use (iTunes and Apps Store, Installer.app, Cydia, YouTube, etc) on the last page. I never see them unless I flip to that page, and yet they're there if I ever decide I want or need them.
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LuminousNerd said 12:44PM on 9-19-2008
It wouldn't really be a lot of trouble for some of us. I already have 9 pages of apps, though most screens are 3 or 4 icons short of being full. It wouldn't take much for me to do it.
The real question is why would you want to? Unless you need the space, just put them on the last page and then if you ever DO need them, you're not SOL.
Khris said 8:29AM on 9-19-2008
Jailbroken iPhones/iPods have a nice little program called "Poof" available which allows you to selectively hide the icons you don't want to see.
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Jeremy said 8:34AM on 9-19-2008
For jailbroken phones, there's no need to delete anything. Just run Poof! to enable/disable display of app icons. I run it via BossPrefs, but it's available separately via Cydia.
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Hawkman said 8:43AM on 9-19-2008
YouTube and iTunes Store can be turned off using Restrictions in iPhone settings, of course. I think Poof extends the same system to other apps.
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Mike said 8:57AM on 9-19-2008
You actually don't need to use 144 apps. They say it can be done with as few as 25 or so (1 per page for the first 7 pages)
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DanielM said 9:29AM on 9-19-2008
Am I missing something.
To remove apps from my iPhone, I simply uncheck "Selected applications" in iTunes and then re-Sync.
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DistortedLoop said 9:38AM on 9-19-2008
They're talking about the Apple apps that come on a virgin iPhone that can't be removed by any Apple supported method; apps like Stocks, Weather, Calendar, YouTube.
You'll see the ones they mean if you do the re-arrange the screen thing by pressing and holding an app icon on your iPhone. Once the apps start squiggling, some will have a circled-x in the left corner, some won't. The ones that don't have the x in the corner cannot be deleted without one of the methods mentioned in prior comments.
DanielM said 10:29AM on 9-19-2008
To DistortedLoop
You are right. I did miss something.
My vote. Just move the least used to the last page.
Raul said 9:10AM on 9-19-2008
I think the recently launched Quickgold which is an amazing keyboard based launcher like spotlight or quicksilver for mac begins to address this problem.
Its an invisible app, that comes 'alive' when you press the home button and gives you a search menu, start typing and it starts delivering results from your apps and address book. Select an app and it launches the app, select a contact and it dials the number. You can also type in a url and it will open it in safari or dial a number to dial out.
This is a minimal but highly functional app with fantastic potential. With the number of apps increasing fast this is the sort of functionality Apple should provide.
"Note that this is implemented as a mobile substrate plugin which means it becomes part of springboard. There is no extra daemon running that drains your battery or uses your CPU. Outstanding!"
Homepage - http://code.google.com/p/zataangstuff/wiki/QuickGold
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dg said 9:22AM on 9-19-2008
Actually I did this the other day by accident. Assuming that there are some gaps in earlier pages, anything that "fell off the page" will return to the first available gaps when you reboot the iphone.
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Raphael Salgado said 9:30AM on 9-19-2008
What's wrong with just putting one app on each page? That will get you to 9 pages fast.
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Eric said 10:16AM on 9-19-2008
I moved the apps I don't use (App Store, Stocks, etc.) to the last page... I didn't force it to the "tenth" page, just to the end of my list.
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Kevin Buchanan said 10:51AM on 9-19-2008
It's really not necessary to go to all that trouble just to get them off the screen. For example, on my iPod touch, I've got five "pages" - the first is a bunch of commonly-used things, completely full. The second is some more fairly commonly-used apps, but with six spaces empty. The third is games, with a few spaces empty. The fourth is web shortcuts, just five of them with the rest empty. The fifth page is Stocks and Weather, which I don't use. They just stay on that fifth page and I never have to worry about them.
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