Apple TV is easily one of the best streaming devices available today. It allows you to access all of the most popular streaming services, lets you game, listen to music, and even connects to the Apple Smart Home ecosystem.
While Apple TV has plenty to offer, it may mean you end up downloading apps that you don't want to keep using. While clutter on the home screen isn't anyone's favorite, it is easy to deal with and delete apps from Apple TV.
Certain apps, like Apple’s own native apps such as Podcasts, Fitness, or Apple Music, can't be deleted at all, but can be moved into folders to organize things better or keep them out of sight. This is especially handy if you haven't got any Apple products other than your Apple TV and don't want to see the apps you aren't able to use.
How do I delete an app on Apple TV?
Once you've decided to cull some of the unused apps on your Apple TV, it's an easy process. Just remember that while deleted apps can be reinstalled later, when you delete the app, your data is also removed and may not be recoverable.
Step 1: From your Apple TV's Home Screen, scroll over or down to find the app that you want to uninstall, and hover over it with your remote cursor.
Step 2: Press and hold down the remote's Select button for a couple of seconds until the app icon begins to wiggle. On newer Siri remotes, that button is the center of the clickpad at the top of the remote. On older Siri remotes, you’ll want to press down on the middle of the touch surface without moving.
Step 3: Press the play/pause button on your Siri remote to open the options menu.
Step 4: Select Delete to delete the app.
If you just want it out of sight you can also choose New Folder to get it out of sight on the Home Screen.
Step 5: Select Delete again to finish deleting the app.
You can also choose Offload. This option will keep the icon and data on your device, but otherwise remove the app.
Additionally, if you are using multiple Apple TVs on different screens, you’ll want to go to the Users and Accounts section in Settings, choose your profile, and enable the option One Home Screen. This will sync up any changes that you make to apps and your Home Screen on one device to all your other tvOS devices, so you don’t have to repeat the steps.
One final note — you can switch between light and dark modes on Apple TV using the Appearance option in the General section of Settings. This may make navigation easier, or could help you find the apps you are looking for more quickly. You can also use automatic mode, which switches to dark mode at night.
