Dear Aunt TUAW: How do I make iTunes forget my apps?

Dear Aunt TUAW,

The “Purchased” area added to the iPhone “App Store” will show you every app you have ever bought, including the accidental purchase you’ve made.

I love that I can re-download anything I have bought in the past, but there are a few apps I want to permanently remove (throw-away) from my “purchased” area.

I just feel as though I am no longer in control of what I own.

Do you see Apple ever giving consumers the option to completely remove apps?

Best wishes,

Sean

Dear Sean

I really don’t see this happening as it would introduce a whole new category of customer requests on the iTunes customer service staff, and require the infrastructure to support those requests. If it did happen, Auntie imagines that it could work like this.

Imagine right-clicking an app in iTunes. In addition to the “Get Info” and “Show in Finder” options, iTunes could offer to “Remove from purchase history.” Once selected, iTunes would ask for confirmation: “Are you sure you want to do this? We will send you a link so that you can re-enable this feature later.” iTunes would remove any errant purchases from your history, like the copy of “iFartz: Supreme Flatulence” that Auntie downloaded while on a late-night liniment binge.

Or, even easier, Apple could add more controls to the iCloud side of things, offering an iCloud config that lets you choose what apps to offer and what apps to forget. And it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if you could keep violent games and other apps meant for adults out of your kids’ iPods.

“iFartz: Supreme Flatulence” is probably going to follow Auntie around forever.

Warmly,

Auntie T.

Dear Aunt TUAW: How do I make iTunes forget my apps? originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 15 Jun 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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