Does clicking the "X" on the wiggly icon uninstall an app in full (and in turn free its space for other use), or does it just remove the shortcut and still keeps the app somewhere, "hidden" in case you decide to reinstall it in the future? I'm asking because the whole process is done in an instant, whereas the Cydia uninstall process does take a few seconds.

The memory space is unallocated, and free for new apps and data. You can check this in Settings/Usage.

When an app is deleted, it must be downloaded again, and any associated data will be gone. This is useful to bear in mind for those apps which continue to cache data, such as BBC News.

Settings/Usage shows just how storage hungry certain apps can be when you compare the size of the original download to the space it is using on the iPad.

A good question, and thanks for asking it.

True, the removed apps weren't shown in Usage anymore. I was at first suspicious because of the speed of the uninstall process (I guess the majority is done in the background), but also because Store's Genius Recommendations were referring to apps I deleted a day or two ago (well, those seem to be gone by now).

I suspect that what is going on is a similar process to the old Commodore diskette system, which I guess you will be familiar with.

When deleting a file from a diskette, the file was not physically deleted, but the "pointers" to it were set to zero, instead of pointed to the track and block where the data resided.

Those of us who had the right software could undelete files if necessary, although they could be corrupted if overwritten by new files.

Unlike a PC, where a program can consist of hundreds of file, registry entries etc. the apps on an iPad seem to consist of one file plus an icon, so there is not much to delete. Zap the icon, and reset the pointers and the space is free.

Much of this is speculation, but it seems logical to me.

Sent from my iPhone using iPF

Originally Posted by Commodore

but also because Store's Genius Recommendations were referring to apps I deleted a day or two ago (well, those seem to be gone by now).

The App Store keeps a record of all apps you've purchased, so that you can download them again for free. The recommendations are generated by the App Store based on that list, not on the apps currently on your iPad.

Whether it takes into account whether those apps are currently installed or not? No idea. But even if it does it may take a bit to update the recommendations.

You can update all apps in your PC whether you currently have them installed on an iDevices or not. That way, the current version is immediately available should you decide to reinstall it.

Sent from my iPhone using iPF

On the other hand, sometimes having the old version on the computer (at least one behind) comes in handy; just in case you get caught by the update gremlins.

At least that is my excuse for not constantly updating them on the computer. I do it about once a month, or whenever I remember (and all my apps are working).

Couldn't conveniently do this before iCloud. Now it's more of an accidental bonus than intentional.

So if I uninstalled several apps on my iPad, and haven't connected to iTunes on my desktop in a while... what happens on my next sync? Will the desktop force the apps that have been uninstalled on the iPad to be automagically re-installed again, or will they get unchecked/hidden/whatever on the desktop iTunes?

Originally Posted by Commodore

So if I uninstalled several apps on my iPad, and haven't connected to iTunes on my desktop in a while... what happens on my next sync? Will the desktop force the apps that have been uninstalled on the iPad to be automagically re-installed again, or will they get unchecked/hidden/whatever on the desktop iTunes?

When you connect your iPad to iTunes (and you see it appear in the left column) - right click on the iPad line and then select "transfer purchases." This will update iTunes by transferring the new apps to it. In addition, it will remove the check marks in the iTunes apps column for the deleted apps as well (so that your iTunes now will mirror your iPad). Do this BEFORE the sync, otherwise iTunes will put the old apps back on. Oh, and you might want to consider turning off the option for automatic syncing. That way, you can control what iTunes does when you first connect the iPad to it.

To stop auto-syncing: In iTunes, go to Edit > Preferences > Devices. In the Preference/Devices pop-up, there should be a line that says something like "make sure iDevices don't auto-sync." Ensure the box next to it has a check mark. I've found this step makes my interactions with iTunes much calmer - YMMV.

Hope some of this helps.

Marilyn

Originally Posted by KevinJS

The memory space is unallocated, and free for new apps and data. You can check this in Settings/Usage.

When an app is deleted, it must be downloaded again, and any associated data will be gone. This is useful to bear in mind for those apps which continue to cache data, such as BBC News. .

I tried to uninstall this one game My neice downloaded and then reinstall to restart it, but my progress was never reset. Even with different game centre accounts. I emailed the company and they said it was impossible to reset the game unless you used a new device, whiched sounded like they are tracking a hard address on my machine.

Do you know if that is possible? And if so, a regular practice? I found it kind of disturbing.