How to clean up the iPhone apps you don’t use

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

As we use our phones year after year or transfer everything over to a new device, a lot of us have accumulated a catalog of apps that we downloaded at one point but haven't actually used in months. Whether it's a failed social network, the companion app for the smart device you threw in the trash or just shaming you for giving up on learning Spanish, all these apps can take up valuable space on our phone's storage.

In this article, I will show you how to get rid of apps you no longer use and how to make apps that you don't use a lot more efficient.

The images in this article were taken using the newest version of Apple's mobile operating system. The screens on the previous versions of the OS may look different, but the instructions will work for the new versions.

Use the Offload Unused Apps features

You can use the offload unused apps feature to free up some space. Apple doesn't give details on how long you have to ignore an app before it is off loaded, but it will uninstall the apps that you don't use. When you uninstall an app from your phone, it will stay on your home screen or in your app library, but with a cloud icon. You can pick up more or less where you left off if you tap on an off loaded app.

If you want your phone to automatically uninstall unused apps, you have to go to the app store's settings. The feature can be turned off here as well.

If you want to see how much space the feature can save you, you should go to the general section of the app. There is a section where you can find out how much space the feature can save you. Information on how much space your phone has left and how much space each app takes up can be found on the storage screen. It can be a good indicator of how big an app is when you manually uninstall it.

There are some drawbacks to using the offload unused apps feature.

If an off loaded app is removed from the App Store, you won't be able to re- download it. You might not want to turn on automatic offloading if you are keeping depreciated apps.

If there is an app that only works in areas with spotty or non-existent coverage, it can bite you. It wouldn't be a lot of fun if you discovered that your phone had stopped working when you went to the trail.

Offload apps manually

I wasn't able to find a way to prevent specific apps from being off loaded by the automatic system, but I can find a way to uninstall apps manually. If you want to get rid of an app from the list, you have to go to the settings page. You can load the app by tapping the button.

Permanently delete apps

There are a few ways to get rid of unused applications.

One of my favorite things to do is to go to the App Store and tap my profile picture in the top right of the screen to see the updated apps. I can access a deletion button if I notice one that I don't use much. It's a good idea to check on this once a month.

The app library makes it easy to remove all the apps you don't use at once. When you scroll to the right, you'll see all your apps on one page. Pressing and holding on the icons of the apps you no longer need will allow you to remove them from the list.

The categories may have more apps than you can see from the main app library screen, so if you tap on the bottom right corner of a category you will be able to see all the apps.

The last option is through the storage screen in the general settings. If you tap on the apps in the list that are ordered by how much space they take up on your phone, you will be able to uninstall them. You could end up with a lot of free space if you uninstall every app you don't use.