Apple has added two new keys labeled “isFirstParty” and “isFirstPartyHideableApp” in iTunes metadata. These two new values started showing up a few weeks ago on every app in the App Store. The iTunes metadata is where all the information about an app is stored. It shows things like the date it was released, the App Store category it’s in, its size, etc. The new keys suggest the ability to remove apps such as Stocks, Compass, and Voice Messages is coming very soon.
Hiding is not removing, but at least this will solve part of the fast-growing unremovable crapware problem on iOS.
I have a folder labeled “iCrap” that I put all that nonsense in and dropped it on the last page so I don’t have to see it.
Still, “disabling” first party apps (like on Android) isn’t as good as actually being able to delete them like you can on most Windows Phone devices. I’ll take what I can get, though.
Now the question is, will it remember these choices after an update?
Most people have folders for apps they don’t use… So what? get over it!
You guys really need to lighten up… You bitch about the most trivial shit!
To be fair, when it’s “your” phone, you should be able to do what you damn please…even if it’s trivial. But I see your point and it’s definitely lame that this it what goes for news these days. I wish things like this didn’t make it into the threshold, but whether we like it or not, dumb things like this get attention whenever a company like apple is involved. It’s all people want to talk about.
Software is not yours. Read the licence text and you’ll see that you’re not the owner, you are just licenced to use the software, as is.
fabrica64,
Yes and no, a license can say anything at all but it’s not automatically legal. Fortunately, in recent years congress has approved more exceptions to copyright law to give consumers more rights despite what a license says.
https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-wins-petition-inspect-and-mod…
I concede this arrangement is somewhat tentative and can change with politics, but I’m optimistic at least we’re moving in the right direction and congress shares the view that a license is not absolute and owners have rights that cannot be taken away in a license.
I agree, and hiding them is not removing them. Now, if I could have a more Android-like launcher on iOS… that I’d care about.
fast-growing 🙄
Yeah. Why do I have a Health app, and apple watch app? I don’t use health tracking, and I don’t have nor ever intend to buy an apple watch.
You have a health app cause the phone is collecting health telemetry. That app is used for granting permissions for other apps. It’s really should be folded into settings.
The watch app makes zero sense to have if you don’t have a watch.
Why waste time collecting health data when I don’t intend to use it though?
It automatically reports back to your mother.
Oh, crap. That explains everything!
Oh.. So in the Apple world it is Big Mother who is watching?
Good step in the right direction. Now where’s the notification LED, Apple?
Edited 2016-04-07 02:38 UTC
In Settings->General->Accessibility->HEARING->LED Flash for Alerts.
This option will not let you know if there are missed notifications.
Didn’t google start this with Kit Kat? I have been “disabling” stock apps for some time now.
Actually Windows Phone started it in 2010, except instead of just being permitted to disable the unwanted carrier junk, one could actually completely uninstall it.
And if you really want to get pedantic, carrier apps could be uninstalled on Symbian and Palm devices back in the 2000s. Ditto the Nokia N900 and Maemo pre-installed apps.
When you think about it, Apple truly is late to the party.
The term “fast growing” is a little bit over the top and dramatic. Crapware, or bloatware, take your pick of terms, is WAY more of a problem on Android, with additional apps that duplicate the stock functions of Android being placed on devices and made unremovable by both the device manufacturers and carriers. The “crapware” on iPhones are primary function apps that people don’t want to use in favor of 3rd party apps that they prefer, which is a totally different thing. Let’s be a bit more fair and a little less dramatic here. An article like this is just simple click-bait designed to stir up a fuss and generate page views. And it’s working.
I have 18 crapware apps in my crapware folder.
Eighteen (18).
The problem is made worse because on iOS, they MUST be on your homescreen. You are FORCED to deal with them, at all times. No way around it. On Android, they are stuck in the application drawer – and if you buy Nexus (which you should, because everything else is crap), the number is about similar.
My iPhone 6 came with an app for the Apple Watch. I don’t own an Apple Watch, and I never will, yet I can’t uninstall or even disable/hide that app. The app doesn’t work with my Moto 360 or Martian Notifier (both of which do work very well with the iPhone), so it is 100% useless crap that serves absolutely no primary function for me or any other iPhone user who doesn’t own an Apple Watch.
It’s no different from an Android device that comes with Opera Mobile pre-installed and set as the default browser, and unable to be removed without rooting, which is the situation on my wife’s BLU smartphone. Yes, the app can be disabled and Chrome or Firefox can be installed. At least that’s possible right now on Android.
So hopefully you can understand now why iPhone users would look forward to being able to do the same.