Amongst all the iOS 14 announcements that happened on Monday, there was one that Apple made surprisingly little fanfare about – users are going to be able to set default browsers and email applications. This means they can use preferred third party options, instead of Apple’s defaults.
Set Default Email And Browser Apps on Your iPhone With iOS 14
The change was hidden in the end slides about iOS and iPadOS 14. The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern was amongst the eagled-eyed who noticed:
[WWDC 2020: 8 Awesome iOS 14 Features Coming This Year]
At the moment, the only way (that I’ve discovered!) to not use Mail as your default email app on iPhone or iPad is by deleting it and replacing it with something like Spark. Tapping on a URL when outside a browser still automatically prompts Safari to open, even if you have Chrome or an alternative browser installed. The detail was revealed at the end of the discussion of iPadOS 14 during the WWDC 2020 keynote. However, it clearly applies to both platforms. At the point “set default email and browser apps” appeared onscreen, Apple VP Craig Federighi was discussing features that would be available on both iPhone and iPad.