UPDATE October 7, 2016: We’ve discovered a workaround for the issue with the un-launchable system apps in iOS 10 and a fix is now out in Launcher v2.2.3 now. Please note that this is just a workaround, it doesn’t mean that Apple changed their mind on the issue. In fact, it is quite possible that they could release a new version of iOS 10 that breaks this workaround, so beware when upgrading iOS 10 versions. We’ll try to keep everyone up to date if we discover that a new version of iOS 10 breaks the workaround.

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UPDATE September 8, 2016: Apple has released the iOS 10 final candidate and they did not restore this functionality and these system apps are still not launchable. This is disappointing, but it is still possible that Apple could restore this functionality in an update to iOS 10 in the future. If this is something you would like to see, please send them feedback. Details on how to do this are in the original post below.

The only way currently to launch these system apps is to either remain on iOS 9 or downgrade your device back to iOS 9. However, you will only be able to downgrade back to iOS 9 until September 19, 2016 or so. Here are instructions on how to do that.

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As some of you may have heard, Apple has made changes in iOS 10 so that some system apps can no longer be launched from third-party apps like Launcher. Namely, the apps that were previously launchable in iOS 8 and 9 from widgets, but can no longer be launched in iOS 10 are: Settings, Clock, Weather, Contacts, iCloud Drive, Voice Memos, and the Phone app (just launching the app is affected, you can still make phone calls).

Obviously the removal of this functionality is as disappointing to me as it is to you. In particular, Settings launchers are very popular because of the tremendous utility of being able to directly open specific screens within the Settings app without the burden of navigating to them when you want to quickly toggle a setting.

Several users have asked me if this loss of functionality is going to remain in iOS 10 once it is out of beta and only Apple knows the answer to that question. There is a precedent of Apple removing functionality in iOS betas only to add it back before the final version is released. Apple removed the ability to lookup the device’s Wifi SSID in iOS 9 betas only to have the functionality restored once iOS 9 was released.

This is where I need your help. I’m not sure that Apple understands how many users are relying on this functionality, and I hope that if enough users contact them to let them know how useful it is and that they don’t want to see it removed, perhaps Apple will change their mind before iOS 10 is released in September.

If you have the iOS 10 beta installed on your device, you can send them feedback using the installed Feedback app. If you don’t have iOS 10 installed yet, you can send them feedback here. Please remember that calm, well-reasoned justifications will go much farther than yelling and screaming.

The following is a good example of the proper feedback to send. Feel free to use it as a template for forming your own feedback.

Dear Apple,

Since widgets were introduced in iOS 8, certain system apps like Settings were able to be launched via their custom URL schemes from widgets. However, this functionality has been removed in iOS 10 as the “prefs” custom URL scheme no longer works. The ability to have a button to go straight into the Bluetooth screen within the Settings app to quickly and efficiently connect devices is invaluable to me and the loss of this functionality greatly diminishes the utility of my iPhone. Therefore, I would like to ask you to either revert this change or create an alternative way to allow the Settings app to be launched from third party widgets in iOS 10.

Thank you for your consideration.