Modern iPhones give users the luxury of much more space than in the smartphone era’s early days. Back in 2007, the first iPhone held a mere 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB, with that last storage option remaining the low-end standby for years. While recent generations upped the minimum storage option to 32GB and later 64GB — which is considered barely satisfactory these data-heavy days — some users are still miraculously surviving with 16GB on their older handsets.
When you have such low storage, you have to manage your data, files, and apps vigilantly. Regardless of whether you have the bare minimum of 16GB storage or an extravagant 512GB, we’ll show you the basics of app control so that you never have to see an alert that you’re running out of space at the most inconvenient time. You are never saddled with apps that you don’t want or need.
If you’re the type who loves to cycle through apps to see what’s out there, here are 100 of the best apps for iPhone, so you can find some good alternatives to replace the ones you’re about to trash.
Note that deleting an app does not delete any subscriptions associated with it. You will need to cancel subscriptions separately and in addition to removing the app from your screen. Depending on which app you use, there will be various unique actions about it.
If you’re having problems deleting apps, it may be because that function has been inadvertently restricted. The iPhone Restrictions feature in iOS 14.4 lets you block or limit specific apps and features or restricts some settings for app purchases and removal, downloads, and privacy. Access the Restrictions feature via the Screen Time app. The iTunes & App Store Purchases feature lets you control functionality around installing, deleting, and making purchases with apps. To make sure you are free to delete apps, do the following.
If you want to delete apps from your phone super quick, you can get an accurate survey of what you currently have, how much space it’s occupying, and an option to offload or trash the offending apps. It’s not exactly a nuclear option, but it’s close.
Some iOS apps — Contacts, Mail, and FaceTime, among others — are built into the operating system and included on your phone by default because they hook into the iPhone’s core services. While you cannot permanently delete those apps, you can now hide most of them from a cluttered home screen.
Long-press the app icon until the Quick Action menu appears, then tap Edit Home Screen. When your app icons start to wiggle, tap the “-“ at the upper-left of the icons you want to hide. This action removes the app from the home screen, but its data and capabilities remain on your iPhone. You can always redownload these apps via the App Store at a later time if needed.
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.
Samsung’s scandal over its Game Optimizing Service, or GOS, has returned with a bill attached. South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has tentatively fined the company 20.1 billion won, or about $15.1 million, over gaming claims made for the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S22, and Tab S8.
The regulator says Samsung promoted the devices as gaming powerhouses without disclosing that GOS placed preset CPU and GPU limits on certain demanding games. Samsung disputes that conclusion, calling GOS a legitimate way to manage heat.