How do I turn my i-pad back into an i-pad and not a junior i-phone in O/S 26.2

There is no phone app on iPad, and no cellular phone or SMS capabilities are present on iPad.

There is FaceTime app, which can be used with Continuity services to dial an iPhone associated with the same Apple Account.

There are many other messaging and voice chat apps available, too.

Use Continuity to work across Apple devices - Apple Support

As for the app that concerns you, please post a screenshot of the concerning app icon:

Take a screenshot on iPad - Apple Support

udubec wrote:

The latest i pad update 26.2 has an ap that essentially makes my i pad a sort of an i-phone. I do not want my I-pad to be any iteration of my i-phone. I want to remove the phone app completely from my i-pad, but my i-pad will not allow me to remove it. If I wanted my i-pad to be a phone, I would have bought one capable of being used as a phone. The data from the phone is clogging up my i-pad. How can I remove the app?

iPad has always been able to make Calls using an associated iPhone - using Apple's Continuity service - although the ability to make cellular calls has been less than obvious. Prior to release of iPadOS 26, cellular calls were initiated and answered using the iPad's FaceTime App. iPadOS 26 made making and receiving of calls with iPad much simpler - now providing a dedicated App.

You should be able to remove the new Phone App icon without difficulty. Simply touch-and-hold any empty area of a Home screen until the icons "wobble". Apps that can be removed will have a corresponding "-" badge; simply tap the "-" badge of the App that you wish to delete.

Remove or delete apps from iPad - Apple Support

Some Apps are integral to iPadOS and cannot be fully deleted. These Apps can be deleted from the iPad's Home Screens, Dock and App folders - but will remain available from the iPad's App Library.

The new Calling App is described within the often overlooked iPad User Guide:

Make a call on iPad - Apple Support

Information about Continuity and the associated Cellular services can be found here:

Continuity

Use Continuity to connect your Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple Watch – Apple Support

SMS/MMS Messaging

How to forward SMS/MMS text messages from your iPhone to your iPad, iPod touch or Mac - Apple Support

WiFi Calling

Make a call with Wi-Fi Calling – Apple Support

udubec wrote:

I was able, after much work and a failed AI (artificial Intelligence) interaction with Apple to disable the phone app by accessing and blunting Face Time, a path that I found as intuitive as interpreting hieroglyphics. Now I am afraid to update my Mac Pro with 26.2, because I do not want that phone app to make my Mac Pro as useful as a $4100 paperweight.

I'm not clear how the mere existence of the Phone app can be so distressing. Certainly, you can turn off FaceTime, you can (assuming you have an iPhone) disable "Calls on other devices." Then, remove it from the Home screen, and you never have to think about it again. But the Phone app will not make your iPad a paperweight.

Or is there something deeper you haven't explained? It seems as if there must be more going on here. What do you mean by "the data from the phone is clogging up my iPad?"

Even if you cannot remove the Phone app entirely, you should be able to remove it from your hoe screens and relegate it to the App Library.

For myself, I do get a bit of use out of the Phone app on my 26.x Macs and iPad for using WiFi Calling.

unless you set it up to receive calls when one calls the phone number of your iphone,

then it will have no functionality, and even if you could delete it then it does not really take up much room to speak of

if it bothers you put in some folder with other apps you don't use.

udubec wrote:

I was able, after much work and a failed AI (artificial Intelligence) interaction with Apple to disable the phone app by accessing and blunting Face Time, a path that I found as intuitive as interpreting hieroglyphics. Now I am afraid to update my Mac Pro with 26.2, because I do not want that phone app to make my Mac Pro as useful as a $4100 paperweight.

You will want to consider starting a migration to Linux or one of the BSD operating systems here too, as those are best positioned to allow the sorts of extensive customizations you prefer. This if features including Continuity and particularly calls and text messages are not to your liking, then your path forward is not likely an Apple or Microsoft platform.

MrHoffman wrote:

There is no phone app on iPad, and no cellular phone or SMS capabilities are present on iPad.

There is FaceTime app, which can be used with Continuity services to dial an iPhone associated with the same Apple Account.

There are many other messaging and voice chat apps available, too.

Use Continuity to work across Apple devices - Apple Support

As for the app that concerns you, please post a screenshot of the concerning app icon:

Take a screenshot on iPad - Apple Support

Indeed there is a Phone App.

iPadOS 26 brings a native Phone app to the iPad, allowing users to make and receive cellular calls routed through their paired iPhone, featuring familiar functions like Contacts, Recents, Keypad, Voicemail, plus new tools like Call Screening, Hold Assist, and Live Translation for richer communication on the big screen.

The new Phone App still uses the iPhone's connection for calls, but provides a full calling interface on the iPad, supporting Contact Posters and audio through the iPad's speakers or headphones.  Where the FaceTime App was previously used by iPad for phone-call integration with iPhone, iPadOS 26 brings dedicated App for the task.

Details for using the new Phone App are detailed within the iPad User Guide for iPadOS 26.

udubec wrote:

Now I am afraid to update my Mac Pro with 26.2, because I do not want that phone app to make my Mac Pro as useful as a $4100 paperweight.

That is like saying the Chess app on your Mac Pro turns it into a paperweight. Really?

P.S. you cannot delete the Chess app on your current MacOS either.

If there is some other context that is missing, please explain.

You’ll need to provide ⇢ Product Feedback.

That would be the best method to ensure that your concern is reviewed by Apple.

Good luck! 👋🏼😉

Please let Apple know using the feedback link Smilin-Brian provided. Apple won't see your dissatisfaction in this community setting. Posting here does not make change happen.