Declutter your Smartphone: Apps and files that you can do without on your mobile device

We use our smartphones to do just about anything. We use it to communicate with people, to search for things we our curious about in the internet; we use it as a calorie counter when we are on a diet or to look for newly discovered dishes and recipes;  we also use it to listen to music and more. As I’ve mentioned, we use it to do just about anything anytime, anywhere.

But then again, what is really the purpose of using our phones? It’s interesting to note that the word “phone” came from the greek word “phōnē”, meaning “voice” and its primary function is to communicate with people.  But over the years, the fast paced growth of technology has found a way to add features to our phones and mobile devices.

What if we just want to simplify things? Here are some of the apps that we can delete or minimize in order to declutter our smartphones and make it simple and convenient to use.

1. GAMES

Mobile app games take up way too much storage space on your phone.  Oftentimes, these apps even clutter your home screen with icons. Even if these games act as a stress reliever during or after work or school, the truth is, you won’t be able to play most of these games.  Surely, a game or two will suffice.  Simplify by removing all games that you seldom use.  That way, you will be able to easily maneuver between apps that you really use.

2. SOCIAL MEDIA APPS

Even if our smartphone already has its own text message feature along with a call function, we still download apps with similar features.  Most of them are the widely used social media apps. Undoubtedly, social media apps are both fun and enjoyable, but if you really want to declutter and simplify things on your phone, it is best that you delete some of these apps and retain only those that you really use for close friends and family.

3. MUSIC

MP3 players have slowly decreased in sales due to the fact that you can already play music through your phone. Yes, these apps are really convenient; but did you know that music files can take up a lot of storage space too? If you don’t want to erase your entire music library, you can just minimize the songs that you have on your phone. Delete songs that you often skip or don’t listen to anymore.

4. E-BOOKS/E-READERS

Reading books on your mobile device is very convenient. With E-books, you don’t have to buy physical copies of novels, poetry collections, and biographies.  Best of all, you don’t have to carry them in your bag. However, some take advantage of this privilege by illegally downloading books on the internet. Still, the best way to support authors and publishers is to buy physical copies of books. It’s a good gesture to preserve the history and popularity of hardbound books and paperbacks.

Although we most likely want to simplify things on our phone for storage or performance reasons, it could also be implicated that this act could also be a good opportunity to take a step back from technology and enjoy life with friends and family inside and outside of our homes.

Sad to say, using smartphones have already consumed most of our time during the day.  For what reason?  So we could just browse through our phones instead of speaking with our loved ones during lunch; so we could talk to our friends through social media rather than meeting them personally, or to just play games on smartphones rather than to play outside? Technology, no matter how positively influential it is, still have some negative side effects to be considered. Not everything is perfect. We should always consider that everything should be used or consumed in moderation. (Christian Abe Garcia)