I must admit that I bear very little resemblance to Mr Motivator, but I have undertaken the task of encouraging you all to lose the bloat from your IT devices. I also wrote that this month’s target would be all the apps/programmes that somehow stowaway on your devices and remain there undetected while gobbling up precious resources.
Apps are all those little pictures that appear on your home screens.
Have a good look at all those icons that show up in your apps list. Don’t just look at the Home page(s). Try to find the place that displays all the apps on your device. Ask yourself how many of them you have used recently to any good effect. Sure, Google Earth was fun the first time you used it, but does it really get used enough to justify its use of your real estate? Unless you are about to embark on a world tour, maybe not.
I’d reckon a great many apps are used once or twice and then forgotten. You probably have a solid core of apps you use frequently, but all these freeloaders… get rid of them. Don’t keep them just in case they might ‘come in useful’. Be ruthless!
Devices differ, but removing an app usually involves pressing on it until a little menu pops up. Choose ‘uninstall’, not ‘remove from home screen’. If you don’t uninstall, they will just be hiding and still using up storage space.
Will the app be lost forever? In almost all cases, apps can be reloaded from your app store should you suddenly decide you need them again. If you paid for an app, then maybe leave it alone. Chances are, if you paid good money for it, then you intended to use it and, hopefully, are doing so.
Golden rule with apps: if you are not using the darn things, evict them!
Next time, I shall tackle videos (total storage hogs) and photos/pictures. ‘What about my precious memories?’ I hear you cry. Rest easy. I have some cunning plans…
Tony