Little by little, Apple has been lessening the restrictions it previously put on iPhone customizations. For example, you can now change all of your homescreen icons to the same color and stick widgets on the lockscreen.
Until recently, though, you didn’t have a lot of choice when it came to default apps. Every operating system has its set of default apps: apps that automatically take over a task such as opening a file or making a phone call. A good example is the default web browser, which will launch whenever you follow a link in an email or instant message.
It was a privileged position to be in. If, for example, you tapped on an email link, Apple Mail would always launch. If you wanted to use Gmail, you would then have to copy the link, cancel the email draft in Mail, switch to Gmail, and start again.
However, Apple’s more relaxed approach now extends to default apps on iOS as well — you don’t have to use Apple’s own apps if you don’t want to. While it was originally thought that this feature would be exclusive to the EU — where Apple is under more pressure to be friendlier to third-party apps — it’s actually been made available worldwide with iOS 18.2.
If you want to change your default apps on the iPhone, here’s how to go about it. These instructions were written using an iPhone 15 Pro Max and iOS 18.2.1.
Set default apps on an iPhone
Currently, you can set default apps on iOS in eight different categories: email, messaging, calling, call filtering, browser, passwords and codes, contactless payment, and keyboards. All will default to the built-in Apple apps (so Safari will be your web browser, for example) unless you make changes.
As you might expect, any available options will depend on which apps you’ve got installed. In general, to set your default apps:
- Head to Settings then tap Apps > Default Apps.
- Pick a category from the list, like Email or Calling.
- Choose a new default app from the list.
Your new default app will be set immediately — you can try testing it out by opening up an email link, web link, or whatever’s needed to bring up the default app.
Some of the submenus vary slightly. In the case of Passwords & Codes, you can select more than one default app, so whenever you need to save or retrieve a password, you can choose between multiple options.
On the Keyboards menu, you get an Edit button in the top-right corner. This lets you change the order of your keyboards (via the handles on the right) or delete them from iOS (via the red buttons on the left).
You can bring up a full list of keyboards when you’re typing in any app by pressing and holding the globe icon (bottom right). If you haven’t added any third-party keyboards, the globe icon will be an emoji icon.
There’s also an Add New Keyboard option on the same screen that lets you add new languages or new third-party keyboards installed on your iPhone. It’s effectively the same set of options you get by choosing General > Keyboard > Keyboards from Settings.
