Where did I get all the apps?

Those are all Apple apps that come pre-installed. If you don’t use them you can delete them→Delete built-in Apple apps on your iOS 12, iOS 13, or iPadOS device or Apple Watch - Apple Support. I find most of them useful, but YMMV.

If you want to delete any, and if you are using Screen Time, go to Settings/Screen Time/Content & Privacy Restrictions/iTunes & App Store Purchases - Change Deleting Apps to Allow. This setting defaults to Not Allow.

Here is what they do:

• Pages - Apple’s word processor
• Apple Store - For shopping on Apple.com
• iMovie - Video editor
• GarageBand - Audio editor
• iTunes U - for taking Apple courses
• Clips - Sort of a basic cartooning tool and MEMOJI editor
• Keynote - Presentation editor (like, and compatible with, PowerPoint)
• Numbers - Spreadsheet (Like Excel, but simpler and mostly compatible)

OffGrid9 wrote:

I am a careless user of technology. I use my iPhone daily, for many reasons -- phone, weather, texting, magnifying glass, flashlight, measuring distance, map, compass, and others. But although I obviously SEE the phone each time I use it, I don't really look at all the #%&@ that is on it. Today I realized that I had three pages of apps - I thought to myself, "where did all these apps come from? I didn't consciously load (or download) most of them."

So I opened the App Store, and saw the small avatar representing me with the number 21. I learned that this meant that I had 21 apps that were in need of updates. I checked the list of "purchased" apps, and learned that I had a whole slew of crap that I never consciously ordered, or wanted. I found that eight of them (Pages, Apple Store, iMovie, GarageBand, iTunes U, Clips, Keynote, Numbers) all had the same date, Nov 7 2020. I have never, repeat NEVER, used any of them. So how do I have these eight "purchased" apps, and how much (if anything) did I pay for them, and how did I pay without seeing any charges on my cards?

If by now you have discerned that I am a feckless, hopeless troglodyte, you may congratulate yourself on your perspicacity. That pretty much nails me.

Still, even a dunce can be curious. Can anyone clue me in on this?

Those app that you mentioned comes pre-installed with the phone.

If you don’t know, we don’t know. Inherently. Indubitably. And we don’t know what happened to your iPhone on November 7th, 2020.

Pages, iMovie, GarageBand, Keynote, iTunes U, Apple Store, Clips, and Numbers are pre-installed on iPhone SE (first generation), and are all free.

iPhone SE - Technical Specifications

iPhone SE (2nd generation) - Technical Specifications

To automate the installation of iOS and app updates, see:

Settings > General > Software Update > Automatic Updates > On

Settings > App Store > App Updates

To see the apps you’ve previously acquired (and Apple lumps purchased/paid and free and pre-installed apps together):

App Store > click the round icon in the upper right > Purchased

For more info on applying iOS and app updates, see > How to manually update apps on your Apple device - Apple Support