Apple continues to work on changes to iOS to bring it into line with European Union guidelines. The latest change would have been unthinkable in the past. Apple will make the App Store on iPhones and iPads in the EU a deleteable app, along with a number of other apps that are normally considered core iOS apps and cannot be deleted.
“The App Store, Messages, Photos, Camera, and Safari apps can now be deleted by users in the EU,” Apple wrote in a news update on its developer website, confirming which apps will be available in the near future. Currently, the App Store and some other pre-installed Apple apps can be removed from the Home screen in iOS, but are only moved to the App Library with no option to delete the app entirely.
Why would anyone want to delete the App Store? This follows Apple allowing the installation of third-party app stores on iOS earlier this year, but only for iPhone and iPad owners in the EU under the Digital Markets Act. Apple warns of the problems that can arise if the App Store is not used, such as the possibility of repeated subscription payments, and also says that support for apps downloaded and installed from stores other than the App Store will be “limited”.
The change is expected to arrive later this year with iOS 18 and iPad OS 18, and will also bring other EU-enforced changes. A new screen that lets iPhone owners choose which browser they want to use – already an EU directive that Apple had to adopt during setup – will provide more information about the options, and developers will get additional details about their browser’s performance on this screen.
Additionally, when the phone or tablet is updated to iOS 18 or iPad OS 18, anyone who already has Safari set as their default browser will see the browser selection screen the first time they open Safari afterward. This is to ensure that everyone understands that they can choose a different browser as their default. Another unusual change is that if you choose a different browser and Safari is set in the Dock, the new browser will automatically replace Safari in that spot.
Apple iPhone owners in the US cannot delete the App Store. Apple is expected to release the public version of iOS 18 in September, coinciding with the release of the iPhone 16 series.
