Apple has filed for a patent (number 20210390087) for “application suggestion features.” It suggests that future iPhones and iPads may point out installed apps that you never use.
About the patent filing
In the patent filing, Apple notes that, given the vast number of applications available for a user to download, the user could potentially fill a device with an almost limitless number of applications depending on the storage capacity of the device. However, beyond the inclination of the user to download and install apps, an iPhone doesn’t assist the user in managing the app stored on the device.
Over time, if a user is not actively uninstalling or otherwise arranging any unused applications on the device, the user may be left digging through a plethora of applications to find an app he or she wants to open at a given time, leading to disorganization.
Summary of the patent filing
Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent filing: “This application relates to features for a mobile device that allow the mobile device to assign utility values to applications and thereafter suggest applications for a user to execute. The suggested application can be derived from a list of applications that have been assigned a utility by software in the mobile device.
“The utility assignment of the individual applications from the list of applications can be performed based on the occurrence of an event, an environmental change, or a period of frequent application usage. A feedback mechanism is provided in some embodiments for more accurately assigning a utility to particular applications. The feedback mechanism can track what a user does during a period of suggestion for certain applications and thereafter modify the utility of applications based on what applications a user selects during the period of suggestion.”
