Turns out iOS 10 lets you hide - not delete - built-in apps

iPhone and gold MacBook

One of the most exciting announcements from Apple's WWDC conference was that iOS 10 would finally let you delete apps that come preinstalled on your iPhone or iPad. However, Apple senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi clarified on the Daring Fireball podcast that you'll be able to hide the apps, but not delete them.

You'll be able to "delete" preinstalled apps the same way you delete other apps (hold down an app icon until it jiggles and tap the "X") but the apps will remain on the phone. Apple's preinstalled apps only take up 150MB of space on the phone, but that's quite a lot for iPhone users who only have 16GB of space.

While you can hide the pre-installed apps, you should be aware than uninstalling some may break some features. For example, if you delete the Calendar app, Siri won't be able to add an event to the Calendar since it's been hidden. However, iOS 10 will warn you that the app is uninstalled and gives you the option to restore it.

However, in the same podcast Federighi confirmed that there won't be updates to Apple's default apps via the App Store. They will be updated with the system updates as usual.

[Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that Apple's own apps would be updated via the App Store. That is actually not the case, and the story has been updated to reflect this.]

Lewis Leong
Lewis Leong is a freelance writer for TechRadar. He has an unhealthy obsession with headphones and can identify cars simply by listening to their exhaust notes.