For nine years iOS has looked the same. Yes in 2013
The eagle eyes at AppAdvice have delved deeply into metadata in the latest version of iTunes and found Apple looks set to fulfill one of its longest running user requests: the ability to hide native apps.
Yes, for the first time iPhone, iPad and iPod touch owners would be able to remove any of the (count them) 32 pre-installed apps that now come with these devices from their home screens. Temporary hacks have existed but this would be an official way to get Stocks, Compass, Find Friends, Watch, Game Center, Tips or whatever is your personal pet hate out of sight for good. It would also spell the end for the necessary evil of ‘Apple Trash’ folders.
'Apple Trash' folders could soon be a thing of the past on iOS. On my home screen that would mean... [+]
So how compelling is AppAdvice’s evidence? Very.
Buried deep within the iTunes metadata are new keys labeled ‘isFirstParty’ and ‘isFirstPartyHideableApp’ and they have now been tied to every native and third party app. The option exists to toggle these settings between ‘false’ (disable it) and ‘true’ (enable it).
For now Apple has set everything to false, but the option now exists should it be needed at a later date. Yes, we’re all looking at you iOS 10.
Why would Apple simply offer the ability to hide apps, not remove them? As AppAdvice notes, Tim Cook actually addressed this speaking to Buzzfeed in September: “There are some apps that are linked to something else on the iPhone. If they were to be removed they might cause issues elsewhere on the phone.”
Hiding them from view would circumvent that issue. Also providing further weight is the fact Apple Configurator (the company’s mass deployment software for business and education customers) already added the ability to hide native apps earlier this year. Now it just seems ready for prime time.
Of course an equally significant question to ask at this point is: How would Apple implement this in a customer friendly way? One route would be add another option into settings or Apple could be more adventurous and add an app drawer akin to Android.
The latter choice in particular would be intriguing and somewhat amusing, given several Android handset makers (including LG and Huawei) have started to remove the app drawer by default to make their phones behave more like iPhones.
Regardless of how it is done, change is coming and iPhone, iPad and iPod touch home screens will look far cleaner than ever have before.
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