There have been a few studies of how many apps people keep on their mobile devices and they all point to a growing number of apps on our devices every year. One analyst estimated last year that the average iOS (iPad, iPhone) device has 83 apps on it. The average Android-based device has 53.
How many do we really use with any regularity? Eight? Ten, maybe?
It’s time for a summer purge, the Great App Purge of Summer 2014, in which we’ll tidy things up and delete the excess.
The first step is to figure out what you have installed. You could use computer software attached to your device to do this, or do it on the device itself.
If you don’t already use folders to organize your apps, now would be a good time to start. (Don’t know how? Google “how to create iPhone folders” or “how to create Android folders” based on what you use.) Put all like apps together in categories such as “music” or “games” or “photos” or “social media.” Some apps may defy categorization. That’s fine, leave them be, they are special and will be dealt with later.
Now that you’ve got the apps organized, take a look in those folders. You probably have multiple apps that do the same thing. Last time I did this, I realized that out of several music-streaming apps such as “Pandora,” “AOL Radio,” “Spotify” and “Last.fm,” I was really only using “Spotify.” So I deleted the others.
If you have more than one or two apps that do the same thing, consider consolidating. Got a social network app you rarely use anymore? Ditch it. Want to be more productive? Kill some of those games that waste all your free time.
Having a hard time determining which apps to delete? If you haven’t used an app in more than a month, you probably don’t need it.
Take a look at your phone’s settings, likely under “usage,” to see how much device memory each of your apps is taking. You may be surprised by which apps are hogging the most space. Apps that allow you to download files, such as songs or documents, for offline viewing can sometimes bloat up over time.
Still have loose apps that aren’t in folders? That’s OK, but if you download more apps in the future that are similar, think about pairing them up in new folders.
By this point, you should have a more manageable number of apps. Now it’s time to take a look at where your apps should be placed to make them easiest to access.
If your device has a dock or a place to pin apps on the home screen, put the apps you use most (probably email, contacts, maybe a maps app or your calendar) in these spots.
Then put your folders in order of either of importance or where your hand tends to search for the most important apps. Do you find yourself always seeking out email on the bottom right corner of your home screen? Stick the app icon there. Are you left-handed? Think about putting your most-used apps on that side of the screen.
Unfortunately, this isn’t “Hoarders,” and there isn’t a way to sell or donate apps you are no longer using. They’ll still be dormant in the cloud until you’re ready to use them again. But getting them off your digital devices and making those screens easier to navigate will save you a little bit of time and cause fewer app-searching headaches.
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