In recent months, Apple has had to make some big changes to how its ecosystem works, all thanks to the European Union (EU) and its Digital Markets Act (DMA). These changes could significantly affect how people in the EU use and download apps on their iPhones.
One of the biggest changes is that you’ll soon have more options when it comes to choosing which apps you want to use for certain tasks on your iPhone. Currently, if you’re in the EU, you can already change your default apps for things like web browsing, email, contactless payments, and app purchases. But Apple is about to expand this to include even more types of apps.
According to a recent post on the Apple Developer website, EU users will soon be able to set their default apps for things like dialing phone numbers, sending messages, translating text, navigation, managing passwords, keyboards, and call spam filters. This is a big step forward and will give you much more flexibility in customizing your iPhone to fit your preferences.
Starting later this year, when iOS 18 rolls out, you’ll be able to set new default apps for messaging, phone calls, password management, spam call filtering, and keyboards. For the rest of the options, you’ll need to wait until spring 2025.
Another significant update is how you’ll choose your default web browser. In iOS 17.4, if you have Safari as your default browser, a pop-up will appear showing a randomized list of other browsers you can switch to, complete with descriptions for each option. This pop-up will show up on every Apple device you own. More details about this change can be found on Apple’s website.
But the updates don’t stop there. Not only will you be able to change your default apps, but you’ll also soon have the option to delete some of Apple’s core apps that have always been a part of iOS.
For example, Apple will soon allow you to delete the App Store, Messages, Camera, Photos, and Safari apps from your iPhone entirely. Up until now, you could only remove these apps from your Home Screen, not delete them altogether.
The App Store is particularly interesting because deleting it would have previously left you without a way to download new apps or even reinstall the App Store itself. But with the introduction of third-party app stores on iOS, this is no longer a big concern. Apple will also add a safety feature allowing you to redownload the App Store from the Settings app if needed.
