How to remove the first character of string in PHP?

Question

$str=\':this is a applepie :) \';

How to use PHP, Remove the first character :

Answer 1

The accepted answer:

$str = ltrim($str, ':');

works but will remove multiple : when there are more than one at the start.

$str = substr($str, 1);

will remove any character from the start.

However,

if ($str[0] === ':')
    $str = substr($str, 1);

works perfectly.