How to Remove a Pesky App

Chris Page July 5, 2013 in iPhone - 2 Minutes

It seems like there are so many great apps on the market. Social media, games, instructional apps, weight loss apps: everything from the very practical to the immensely absurd is floating around out there somewhere. Given this proliferation of applications for smart phones, there are two things that are almost statistical certainties. One: some of those apps are bound to be pretty terrible. Two: iPhone or iPad users are bound to install at least one of them in the life of their product. Removing iPhone apps is actually quite a breeze, and can come in handy if you run into an app that is crash-prone or slows your phone down.

The first step in removing iPhone apps is to make sure you are connected to your iTunes. Plug your phone into your computer via the iPhone-to-USB cable that comes with your phone. As soon as you do this, iTunes will open and will start to sync. When syncing is done, you can then make adjustments to which pieces of software you want on your phone. In order to start removing iPhone apps all you have to do is find the list of applications that you have downloaded from the internet. (Hint: it says “apps” and it’s on the menu at the top left under Music and Podcasts and Books) Simply pull up this list, and there will be checkmarks next to every app that is currently installed on your phone. Remove checkmarks from the apps you wish to uninstall.

At this point you can either close iTunes, which will prompt a sync, eject your device, or manually tell iTunes to sync. The easiest way is just to eject your device. On the same menu on the left hand side of iTunes will be a list of attached devices. Next to your phone’s name is a symbol for eject. Click that, which will prompt a sync between your phone and iTunes, and when the process is done you can unplug and move on. The one thing you want to avoid doing is simply unplugging without ejecting. iTunes tends to get angry about that, and it can cause some syncing problems in the future. Removing iPhone apps that have given you some trouble or are simply past their prime is an important piece of maintenance to keep your phone in excellent condition.