Apple introduced App Clips at WWDC 2020 with iOS 14. They are basically like small parts of an application that can be used without installing the application itself. This is a very useful feature for apps to include and allows more people to experience the app and use it really quickly. Now that App Clips are available for developers and also for users with iOS 14.3, you may want to try them on your devices. Here’s how to use and remove App Clips on iPhone and iPad.
How to Use App Clips on iPhone and iPad
App Clips come in many forms. There are codes you can scan, NFC tags you can tap, and simple links that can be opened. Obviously, codes and NFC tags will be found in the real world. However, links are something you can find online and try for yourself.
In this article, I will review the entire lifecycle of App Clips. We’ll start with how to find and use them, how to see which App Clips you’re using, and even how to remove them if you want. There’s also a handy list of apps that currently support App Clips, so you can try them out for yourself. You can use the table of contents below to jump to the relevant sections.
What are App Clips?
As I mentioned above, App Clips can be found in multiple formats. Here are all the ways developers can apply and share App Clips online and in the real world.
- App Clip Codes/ QR codes
- Application Clip Codes integrated with NFC
- As a link in Safari/Messages
- Supported locations in Apple Maps
NFC-integrated App Clip Codes and regular App Clip Codes are pretty similar. Both can be scanned with your iPhone camera or QR code scanner. For NFC-integrated codes, you can tap your iPhone to the code to launch the App Clip if you want.
Now these App Clips specifically target real world use cases. Things like bike sharing would really benefit from App Clips. This is because new users can quickly use the service simply by scanning the code, rather than downloading the entire app.
On the other hand, App Clips in Safari and Messages are simple links that can launch part of an app. These are useful for apps or even games that want to give demos to users. These are the App Clips that we will use as examples in this article.
Now that we have an idea of App Clips, let’s take a look at using and removing them.
How to Use App Clips
Using App Clips in Safari is really simple. Here’s what you need to do.
- Open Safari on your iPhone or iPad and go to a web page with an App Clip. For this example, I’m going to Firi Games’ webpage for the title “Phoenix 2” (website).
- On this website you will see a ribbon with a “Play” button. Tap on it.
- Now you will see the App Clip dialog pop up, tap on “Play” again.
- A playable demo of the game will start and you can play the game as if it was installed on your iPhone or iPad. You will also receive a button to load the full game if you wish.
Frankly, Phoenix 2 isn’t the only website to support App Clips. In fact, App Clips for non-game apps don’t even say ‘Play’. Instead the button will say ‘Open’.
How to View Recently Used App Clips
If you use App Clips like me, you may be interested in keeping track of App Clips you have used recently. Here’s how to do this on iPhone and iPad.
on iPhone
- Go to the Application Library and open the ‘Recently Added’ folder.
- You will see the App Clips you have used. You can recognize App Clips by the dotted lines around their icons.
on iPad
Unfortunately, iPadOS 14 does not bring the App Library to the iPad. If so, here is how to view recently used App Clips on iPad.
On your iPad go to Settings -> App Clips. Here you will see all the App Clips you have used.
Note: This method also works on iPhone.
How to Remove App Clips from iPhone and iPad
Honestly, App Clips are pretty useful. Also, they don’t take up much space on your iPhone for no reason. Also, your iPhone and iPad automatically delete App Clips after 30 days of using them.
However, if 30 days seems like a long time and you only want to remove App Clips you use on your devices, here’s how to do it.
- Go to Settings on your iPhone or iPad. Tap on ‘App Clips’.
- You can now tap on any App Clip and then ‘Remove App Clip’ to remove that particular clip from your device.
- Or if you want to bulk delete them all at once, you can tap ‘Remove All App Clips’.
List of Apps and Websites Supporting App Clips (Constantly Updated)
- CardSigns
- QuitAnger: Anger Management
- water grinder
- unwind
- ChibiStudio
- phoenix 2
- Contact Cam
- discrimination
- SmartGym
- SignEasy
- Parcel
- Pocket Lists
- Top Dollar
Use App Clips to Control Apps Without Installing
App Clips are very similar to Quick Apps on Android. You don’t need to install them on your iPhone to check them out. While there aren’t many apps that support App Clips yet, the number is definitely growing steadily. This is great because App Clips have the ability to make it really easy for users to try an app without waiting for it to install and then if they like it they can get the full app from the App Store.
It looks like a win-win for developers and users alike. So, have you used any App Clips yet? And you know the App Clips we didn’t include in this article? Let us know in the comments below.
