iOS apps
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iOS apps
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| Developer | Apple (built-in) · third parties (via the App Store) |
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| Platform | iOS / iPadOS |
| Distribution | Preinstalled · App Store · EU alternative marketplaces |
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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.
1 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.
2 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.