iOS apps

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{| class="ios-ib" style="width: 100%; border: 2px solid #333; text-align: center;" darkstyle="border-color: #48484a;"
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<div style="font: bold 2em/1.2 -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'SF Pro Display', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: var(--wiki-color);">iOS apps</div>
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! class="ios-lab" | Developer
| class="ios-val" | [[Apple]] (built-in) · third parties (via the [[App Store]])
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! class="ios-lab" | Platform
| class="ios-val" | [[iOS]] / [[iPadOS]]
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! class="ios-lab" | Distribution
| class="ios-val" | Preinstalled · [[App Store]] · EU alternative marketplaces
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{{Apple Navbox}}

The [[iPhone]]'s apps come in two populations: the several dozen Apple builds into [[iOS]], and the millions distributed through the [[App Store]]. The built-ins — Messages, Safari, Mail, Camera, Photos, Maps, Wallet, Phone itself — define the default iPhone experience and are the most-used software on Earth by many measures.

= The built-in set =

Apple's bundled apps set the platform's baseline: iMessage and FaceTime carry the social lock-in, Safari holds the WebKit line, Wallet anchors [[Apple Pay]], and apps like Notes, Reminders, and Freeform have grown from utilities into credible category competitors. Most became deletable in iOS 10, and default-app choice (browser, mail, and more) has widened steadily — fastest in the EU, where the Digital Markets Act forced alternative marketplaces and default screens.

= Position =

The line between bundled app and platform is the iPhone's oldest antitrust question: every Apple app improvement is also a market Apple entered. For users the result is a phone that works completely out of the box; for developers, a storefront of extraordinary reach whose rules — commissions, review, defaults — are the industry's most litigated.

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