Marking a significant milestone, iOS 18.2 users in the European Union will be allowed to delete the Apple App Store Camera app, Photos, among other core apps that users were previously unable to opt out of. The ‘Remove App’ option was already there. However, you would only be allowed to remove their shortcuts from the home screen.
it is important to note that this feature is currently in the beta stage, which means that it could be removed before iOS 18.2 is officially released. This feature is currently being tested in iOS 18.2 beta by developers and anyone else who opted into iOS beta testing.
If testing is successfully completed without any glitches affecting the ability to remove the App Store, then the option should be available in the final release of iOS 18.2.
The ability to remove the Apple App Store and to use alternate app stores in the European Union is due to the Digital Markets Act — a law that was recently passed to reign in anti-competitive behavior from large technology companies.
Apple has had total control over which apps users can install on their own iPhones, and this is possible because users were only allowed to use Apple’s own app store. This iron grip over app distribution has emboldened governments to demand that Apple remove various apps from their app store so that users can’t access them. This has eroded user privacy and prevented access to outside information.
Here are a few examples:
- China ordered Apple to remove Telegram, Signal, Threads, and WhatsApp from the app store (for users in China) after their users criticized the country’s president. Apple complied because they had to in order to avoid legal penalties.
- Apple removed VPN apps from the Chinese version of the app store.
- Apple removed VPN apps from the Russian app store at the Russian government’s request.
