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(Continued from page 11) It’s time to delete most of your apps

old saying that you get what you pay for, but for me per- Unused apps on your phone co do more harm
sonally, my standing desk at the lower end of the price
spectrum is perfectly satisfactory; and most important, it than simply taking up space.
is making a significant difference on the way my body
feels during my time spent at the computer. And that, as
those as say, is Priceless.

Keith Connes
Member, The Computer Club, FL

www.scccomputerclub.org/

“This is a catastrophe,” my wife said—slightly horri-
fied—as she swiped through page after page of apps
on my phone. “Why do you even have most of
these?” It’s a good question.

It’s hard to believe that just 13 years ago, the App
Store icon showed up on the iPhone. It debuted with
just 500 apps total, but that number has grown to
roughly 2 million. It’s an embarrassment of riches
when it comes to applications, but some of them are,
frankly, kind of embarrassing. Unless you’re meticu-
lous about your phone maintenance practices,
there’s a good chance you’re toting around more
apps than you need—and it could be harming your
overall smartphone experience.

This is a perfect opportunity to head into your
smartphone (this goes for Android users, too) and
clean out some of those ill-advised downloads from
the past decade. Yes, this means parting ways with
that fart sounds app.

How did we get here?
A 2018 report found that the average person launch-
es roughly nine apps per day and interacts with
roughly 30 apps over the course of a month. That
agrees with a 2015 study by Nielsen, which found
that typical smartphone users used roughly 27 apps
over the course of a month. That means the average
person needs little more than a single page of apps
for normal usage. But deleting them can be hard.

He is a hobbyist boat fitter. Nothing else to do with his
retirement except spend his time in this shed and repair The concept of “digital hoarding” is still mostly a col-
boats for friends and family.
(Continued on page 13)

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