Signing in with Google or Apple is the small convenience we all reach for: one tap and you are in, with no new password to remember. What almost nobody thinks about is that every tap leaves a permission behind, and that permission does not live on your phone. It sits inside your Google or Apple account. That is exactly why deleting the app does nothing to remove it, and why it is worth stopping for a clear-out every so often.

Why the access survives after you delete the app

When you sign into a service with your Google or Apple profile, you are not simply logging in: you are granting an access that stays live until you revoke it by hand in your account settings. Uninstalling the app frees up space on your phone, but the link between that service and your account remains completely intact.

It is how, years later, your list of authorised apps ends up full of sites you tried once and never opened again. Dragging the icon to the bin does nothing: the permission has to be removed where it was created, inside the account.

What that button actually grants

Two very different things hide behind two near-identical buttons. The first only identifies you; the second hands over real access to your data. With Google the gap matters: an app may take basic profile details, or go as far as being able to read, change, create and delete the data in services such as Gmail, Drive, Calendar, Photos and Contacts, which are the ones most often requested.

Apple keeps a much tighter perimeter. On first connection an app can usually ask for only your name and email address, with no later access to your files or messages. Knowing which of the two you are looking at changes the order you tackle things in when you clear up.

Where to see and remove access, account by account

The two routes do not line up: what Google calls 'remove access' becomes 'delete' on Apple, and some options exist on one side only. This table lines up the equivalent steps.

The same steps on Google and on Apple
What you want to do Google Apple
See the list Third-party connections page Settings › your name › Sign in with Apple
Disconnect the app Details › Stop using Sign in with Google Select the app › Delete
Revoke access to data Details › Remove access Not needed: it only has name and email
Disconnect the relay address Not available Settings › iCloud › Hide My Email

On the phone, here are the actual steps. Google first:

  1. Open the connections page at myaccount.google.com/connections, or go to your Google Account, choose Security and find 'Your connections to third-party apps and services'.
  2. Select an app you no longer use and check what it can reach.
  3. Tap 'Remove access' to close the link for good.

Then Apple, just as quick:

  1. On your iPhone, open Settings, tap your name at the top, then 'Sign in with Apple' (in a browser: account.apple.com under 'Sign-In and Security').
  2. Choose the app or developer you want to disconnect.
  3. Tap 'Stop using Sign in with Apple' and confirm.

What to remove first, and the side effect to know

There is no need to empty the whole list. Start instead with the links that carry the most weight, and leave the ones you rely on every day well alone.

  • Remove developers you do not recognise: if the name means nothing to you, the access has no reason to stay.
  • Remove services you tried once and never reopened: those are the ones padding out the list for no reason.
  • Remove apps that ask for too much: messages or files for a trivial feature is a permission out of all proportion.
  • Do not disconnect the app you sign in with constantly before you have set an alternative password, or you will lock yourself out.
  • Do not assume your data disappears: revoking closes the access, it does not erase anything already shared.

Good to know: removing access stops any future sign-in, but the data you have already shared stays with the service. To have it actually deleted, you need to ask the app directly, using your right to erasure.

'Hide My Email', the special case on Apple

If you chose to hide your address when you signed up, Apple created a random address on the privaterelay.appleid.com domain that forwards messages to your real inbox. It is a useful shield, but switch it off with care.

Careful: if that relay address handles your password resets or billing, turning it off abruptly cuts those messages, including the emails you would need to get back into the account. You manage it under Settings › your name › iCloud › Hide My Email.

The other access to check in the same sitting

While you are in there, widen the sweep: ten minutes is enough, and the list gets shorter with every pass.

  • Linked devices and sessions still open: an old phone you sold years ago may still be sitting in the list.
  • The permissions your apps hold on the phone such as location, microphone and contacts, managed in the Android or iPhone privacy settings, separately from account connections.
  • Your password manager and two-factor authentication, the safeguard that really matters if a password ever falls into the wrong hands.
  • Forgotten subscriptions and cloud storage (iCloud or Google) worth tidying up.

If you want to keep a closer eye on what your apps get up to, our guide to managing screen time and app activity is a useful start, and the one on what your browser reveals about you is a quick eye-opener. Make it a yearly habit: ten minutes now is worth a great deal of worry later.