Do you ever feel like your Apple TV home screen is getting cluttered with too many apps? Do you wish you could remove some of those unused app icons? Well, my friend, you‘ve come to the right place!
Deleting apps on your Apple TV is a super simple process that only takes about 10 seconds. With just 3 quick steps, you can tidy up your Apple TV and remove any apps you no longer need.
In this guide, I‘ll provide a detailed walkthrough of how to delete apps on Apple TV models from the 4th generation forward. We‘ll also discuss some key reasons you may want to remove apps, as well as an overview of the awesome Apple TV App Store catalog.
So read on to finally learn how to take control and customize your Apple TV‘s layout by deleting unwanted apps!
Why Organize Your Apple TV Apps?
Before we dive in to the step-by-step process, let‘s talk about why app organization matters in the first place. The Apple TV interface feels most usable when it‘s clean and clutter-free. Finding the apps you actually use gets harder the more unused icons are littering your home screen.
Additionally, some apps take up precious storage space even if you don‘t open them often. More on that coming up.
First, let‘s learn how we even got to this point of having downloadable third-party apps on Apple TV.
A Brief History: Apple TV App Capabilities Over Time
It‘s only been in recent years that Apple TV owners could customize their device with app downloads and deletions. In fact, the first few generations of the device were quite limited in functionality compared to what we see today.
Here‘s an overview of how Apple TV and app capabilities have evolved over time:
| Generation | Release Year | Operating System | App Store? | # of Apps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2007 | – | No | 0 |
| 2nd | 2010 | – | No | 0 |
| 3rd | 2012 | – | No | 0 |
| 4th | 2015 | tvOS 9 | Yes | Over 2,000 |
| 4K | 2017 | tvOS 11 | Yes | Over 5,000 |
| 4K (2nd) | 2019 | tvOS 13 | Yes | Over 10,000 |
| 4K (3rd) | 2022 | tvOS 16 | Yes | Over 20,000 |
As you can see, everything changed in 2015. The release of tvOS 9 with the 4th generation Apple TV finally brought the Apple TV App Store. This enabled users to browse, download, organize, and even delete third party apps made specifically for the tvOS platform.
Over 20,000 apps across categories like entertainment, lifestyle, education, and more are now available. Downloads require storage space, making the ability to delete apps a useful organizational tool.
Top 3 Reasons To Delete Apple TV Apps
You bought your shiny new Apple TV, downloaded some apps, signed up for a few free trials. Now your home screen looks a bit messy with random icons.
Or maybe you‘re running out of storage room for new apps. Perhaps you deleted an app but it left behind user data taking up space.
Here are the top reasons for deleting Apple TV apps:
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Organize your home screen – Remove unused apps to declutter your home screen for easier access to go-to apps. A clean layout feels less cluttered. You can always redownload later if needed.
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End expired subscriptions – Free trials eventually expire. Deleting such apps ensures you won‘t get charged accidentally if you don‘t intend to subscribe.
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Free up storage space – New app downloads require available storage. Deleting unused apps gives room for new apps and important OS updates.
Cleaning up unused apps makes for nice tidy folders. Image Credit: History-Computer
Ready to finally take control and remove those unused apps from sight? Let‘s get into it!
Step 1: Hover Over the App You Want to Remove
From your Apple TV‘s home screen, use the Siri remote‘s touch surface to navigate to the app you wish you remove. Hover the selection over the app icon, but don‘t click just yet. We don‘t want to actually open the app itself.
Hover over the app you wish to delete without opening it.
Step 2: Hold Down the Select Button
With your selection still hovering over the app, press and hold the Select button in the middle of the Siri remote directional/navigation circular pad.
You‘ll feel a small tactile click. Keep holding…and after about 2 seconds, you‘ll see the app icon start to wiggle. This means deletion mode is activated!
Keep holding the select button while hovering over the app.
Step 3: Choose ‘Delete App‘
Finally, while still holding select with the icon jiggling, click the Play/Pause button on the Siri remote. This will open a context menu with a few options, including the red delete button.
Go ahead and choose "Delete App" to remove the selected app from your Apple TV‘s storage and home screen permanently.
Choose delete, and away it goes!
After confirming, you‘ll then see the app vanish instantly. Just like that – gone! Now you‘ve freed up room for more important apps and updates.
Don‘t worry about removing something permanently. As long as the app is still available in the App Store, you can easily redownload anytime.
For a video walkthrough, check out this excellent tutorial.
Apple TV App Store: Over 20,000 Options
Now let‘s discuss the Apple TV App Store itself and the range of apps available for download.
Since 2015, the Apple TV App Store catalog has grown enormously:
- 2015 – 2,000 apps at launch
- 2017 – 5,000 apps
- 2019 – Over 10,000 apps
- 2022 – Over 20,000 apps and counting!
You‘ll find popular entertainment and streaming video apps like:
- Netflix
- Hulu
- Prime Video
- Disney+
- HBO Max
Plus sports, music streaming, news apps, and much more. Apple Arcade offers a Netflix-style subscription to a catalog of over 100 high quality games.
And education, health & fitness, lifestyle, and kids apps provide additional functionality. Basically everything you get on an iPhone or iPad is available in the Apple TV App Store…and then some!
While not identical to the iOS App Store, you‘ll recognize many iOS app icons translated for the television experience. AirPlay support lets you also beam over iOS-only apps not found natively in the Apple TV App Store.
Customize Your Apple TV Home Screen
One of the best Apple TV features is this ability to customize your experience via app downloads, folders, and deletions when necessary!
I encourage you to browse the Apple TV App Store to find awesome new apps to try. If any become unused over time, now you know how to tidy up with just 3 quick deletion steps.
So here‘s to staying organized! Enjoy tailoring your Apple TV‘s look and app population to perfectly suit your needs. Thanks for reading! Let me know if you have any other questions.
