The iPhone home screen will be unrecognisable in Europe

iPhone and iPad users in the European Union will soon be able to delete a host of core apps that had previously been hardwired into the operating system.

When iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 launches in the bloc next month, device owners will be able to delete the App Store entirely and use one of the alternate marketplaces popping up, following the major Digitial Markets Act legislation coming into effect.

Furthermore, even apps like Messages, Safari, Camera and Photos could be on the chopping block if users decide upon alternatives. Until now some stock apps deemed unessential to the functionality of the device – like Stocks or Books, for instance – have been trashable if the user felt they were surplus to requirements. The aforementioned core apps cannot currently be removed.

In an announcement yesterday, Apple confirmed the changes that’ll be going into effect by the end of this year for users in the EU. Apple fans in the UK, USA or anywhere else outside of the EU won’t be affected.

Furthermore, Apple is making it easier to ditch Safari as the default browser in iOS 18. In the announcement Apple said top features from third-party browsers will now be highighted to all EU users who’ve selected Safari as the default app for scanning the web.

“Developers of browsers offered in the browser choice screen in the EU will have additional information about their browser shown to users who view the choice screen, and will get access to more data about the performance of the choice screen. The updated choice screen will be shown to all EU users who have Safari set as their default browser,” the post on Apple’s developer website says.

Beyond that, Apple is also giving users more options for setting default apps with a new screen offering default settings for dialling phone numbers, sending messages, translating text, navigating, managing passwords, keyboard, and spam filters.

It’s all change for Apple in the EU as a result of the Digital Markets act, which compels the company to stop automatically pushing users to its homegrown apps, while also making sweeping changes to its walled garden app ecosystem. Namely, the EU has put the kibosh on the App Store being the only gig in town. Now third-parties are able to set up shop and individual apps can offer in-app puchases via their own payment protocols.