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After you finish setting up your new iPhone, you may want to learn how to delete iOS apps. After all, these excellent smartphones come with a wide range of preinstalled apps that you may not want to use. That's not to mention that you may eventually stop using some of the third-party apps you've installed and decide to delete them. Regardless of your reasons, the process to uninstall apps on the iPhone 15 Pro Max and other recent models is the same. All you have to do is pick one of the methods we've included in this guide.

Why you may want to uninstall iPhone apps

There are many reasons why you may want to delete an app from your iPhone. Some of the most popular ones include freeing up space and getting rid of applications you no longer use. By deleting an app, you're claiming back some of the local storage and decluttering your App Library. It's also a solid way to deal with app addiction. Many users choose to visit social media platforms' websites instead of relying on their native apps. This way, they don't receive push notifications, and checking the feed becomes less convenient.

iPhone apps that you can uninstall

The iPhone 15 Pro Max in the hand with the screen on.

Before we break down the different methods to delete iPhone apps, let's first highlight what apps you can actually delete. For starters, any first- or third-party app you personally download from the App Store is deletable. Furthermore, there are some preinstalled iPhone apps that you can uninstall if you choose to.

These apps include Books, Calculator, Calendar, Clock, Compass, Contacts, FaceTime, Files, Find My, Fitness, Freeform, Health, Home, iTunes, Journal, Magnifier, Mail, Maps, Measure, Music, News, Notes, Podcasts, Reminders, Shortcuts, Stocks, Tips, Translate, TV, Voice Memos, Wallet, Watch, and Weather.

Do note, however, that some preinstalled apps require you to meet certain conditions for them to be deletable. So, for example, you can't delete the Watch app if you've paired an Apple Watch to your iPhone. You would first have to unpair the wearable, then proceed with uninstalling the companion app.

How to uninstall iPhone apps using Jiggle Mode

Deleting iPhone apps through Jiggle Mode is the traditional and potentially the most popular way to do so.

  1. Click and hold on an app icon or anywhere on the Home Screen until all apps start jiggling.
  2. Click on the minus (-) button on the app you want to delete.
  3. Tap Delete App.
  4. Confirm the deletion by clicking on Delete.

How to uninstall an app from the Home Screen using Haptic Touch

Instead of going into Jiggle Mode, you can rely on the Haptic Touch menu instead.

  1. Click and hold on an app icon on the Home Screen to bring up the Haptic Touch menu.
  2. Select Remove App.
  3. Tap Delete App.
  4. Confirm the deletion by clicking on Delete.

How to uninstall an app from the App Library

The App Library also supports app deletion. You could either trigger Jiggle Mode in it, or rely on the Haptic Touch menu:

  1. Click and hold on an app icon in the App Library to bring up the Haptic Touch menu.
  2. Tap Delete App.
  3. Confirm the deletion by clicking on Delete.

How to uninstall an app using the Settings

A more complex way to delete an iOS app is through the Settings app.

  1. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone.
  2. Head to General.
  3. Tap on iPhone Storage.
  4. Select the app you want to delete.
  5. Click on Delete App.
  6. Confirm by hitting Delete App again.

How to delete an app using the App Store

The app you want to delete must have recently gotten an update for this method to work.

  1. Launch the App Store on your iPhone.
  2. Tap on your profile photo in the top right corner.
  3. Swipe left on the app you want to delete from the Updated Recently section.
  4. Tap on Delete.
  5. Confirm the deletion by clicking on Delete.

How to offload an app to retain its data

If you want to delete an app but retain its data on your iPhone, you can offload instead of uninstalling it. So, the next time you reinstall the app, your personal data will be restored automatically.

  1. Launch the Settings app.
  2. Go to General.
  3. Tap on iPhone Storage.
  4. Click on the app you would like to offload.
  5. Tap on Offload App.
  6. Confirm your choice by clicking Offload App again.

The choice is yours

As we've shared, there are many different ways to uninstall an app on your iPhone. These methods were all tested and work on the latest iOS 17. If you're running an older OS version, then some of them might not work the same way, if at all. Ultimately, the Jiggle Mode method is the one that is guaranteed to work on all models, as some of the other ways were introduced to iOS at later stages.