Apple's iPhone and iPad ecosystem has an app hoarding problem, and CEO Tim Cook is now admitting to this first and hardest step.
iOS 9 forces pre-installed apps onto your device that, every day, go unused by many users who cannot uninstall them. This includes Stocks, Tips, iBooks, Podcasts and, of course, Apple Maps.
"We'll figure out a way [for you to remove them]," said Cook, according to a Buzzfeed interview. "So I recognize that some people want to do this, and it's something we're looking at."
After all, what good is that Watch app if you have no intention of buying an Apple Watch? When is the last time you bought music from the iTunes Store via your phone?
Here's why pre-installed apps can't be deleted
Cook said wanting to delete such apps is a "more complex issue than it first appears". The underlying problem seems to be how apps interact with each other.
"There are some apps that are linked to something else on the iPhone. If they were to be removed they might cause issues elsewhere on the phone," said Cook.
He makes a strong point. If you were to ask Siri the forecast without the weather app, where would that data come from? Where would a Mail hyperlink beam you to with no Safari app?
Cook admitted that "there are other apps that aren't like that" and hinted that Apple may find a way to remedy everyone's junk drawer pet peeve.
"It's not that we want to suck up your real estate," said Cook, "We're not motivated to do that. We want you to be happy."
Being "happy" may only happen if I'm able to delete the Videos app, which so far has contained one free video of a TV show pilot I downloaded in 2009 – six years ago.
- Here's our iPhone 6 review, iPhone 6 Plus review and iOS 9 explainer
