Refresh Your Mobile Device With an App Checkup

Women touching mobile device screen apps

Our mobile devices are full of apps these days. Apps are convenient and with a simple touch can help us make a dinner reservation or check today’s weather. With over 4+ million apps available in the Apple and Google Play stores it is no wonder why we love downloading new ones to decorate our screens and make our lives more productive. It is common for us to curate new apps suggested by friends or reviewed in articles to give them a try. Today’s retail stores also offer rewards through their apps making them even more inviting to download for the next time we make a purchase. But did you know that apps take up storage space and can slow down your device?

The average smartphone user downloads 80 apps a year and uses up to 9 daily.

Statista.com

If you find yourself swiping through multiple screens of apps it may be time for some spring cleaning. Removing unwanted apps helps your device run more efficiently and makes navigation much easier. A quick app checkup is all you need to get started.

How To Do An App Checkup

Start by doing a quick scan of all the apps on your phone. iPhone users can do this by swiping to the left on their screens or Android users can visit the App Drawer. Were there any apps you did not recognize? Did you pass any you remember downloading but never used? Did you discover some apps you could never seem to find but knew you had? Answering yes to any of these questions means it is time for an app clean up. Let’s get started!

Launch your Settings app and tap General > iPhone Storage or Settings > Apps (Android). A list of all your apps populates along with their status (size and use).

Tap the app you want to consider deleting. Review the app‘s info screen, then choose to offload, uninstall or delete it. Note that there are some dedicated apps on your device that cannot be deleted, for example, Photos.

When you Offload an app it is being deleted from your device but its data remains there until you reinstall it. When you Clear an app, you reset it and remove any saved content.

How To Remove Unwanted Apps

iPhone users can delete apps right from the screen by gently pressing down on an app icon and pressing the X in the upper, left corner of the screen. Choose Done. Android users can visit the Apps option in Settings and choose Uninstall.

Screenshot delete app iphone

Once you have removed unwanted apps, take the time to organize those that were lucky enough to make it through the cleaning process. For iPhone users lightly hold down any app icon on your screen until all of them wiggle. Next, hold your finger down gently on the app you want to move and drag it to a new location (which also means across screens). Android users can take advantage of the Favorites Tray to add apps to for easy access.

Spring is a good time to make room for more joy in your life. Embracing the simplicity of an uncluttered phone may be a step in that direction.

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