App Fatigue? Clean Up and Speed Up

We’re all about productivity, especially during Get Organized Month! Sure, it’s a good idea to have a Dumpster Day to Make your Law Office a Less Cluttered – And Happier – Place to Work! How about a Dumpster Day for Apps?

Removed unused apps

Too many apps slow down your mobile device, affect battery life and can even compromise security. For most of the apps that I write about in our App of the Week series, I’m either a user or I download the app for a test drive. This can get unwieldy in a hurry, so once a month, usually on the first or last day, I schedule a dumpster day and get rid of all the apps I’m not using, including that ‘can’t miss’ app that’s been sitting there unused for over a year. I’ve done this with apps that I’ve paid for. Just because I paid for it doesn’t make it useful.

Keep existing apps updated

Optimize your smartphone’s performance by keeping your apps updated. Developers frequently put out updates with bug fixes, features and user interface changes that keep the integrity and structure of the app intact and often increase speed and performance.

Group like apps together

So you’ve deleted and updated, but still have a ton of apps, most of which you use enough to warrant keeping. Instead of flipping through 15 screens to find the app you need, group similar apps together. The iPhone allows you to group apps into folders. Simply drag an app on top of another similar app and a group folder is created — like News, Productivity, Games, etc. This is a huge time saver.

While you’re at it, hop online and clean up your app permissions – you know, the ones where you gave the app access to your personal accounts like Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, LinkedIn, Dropbox, Instagram and Flickr.

Apps are ubiquitous and increasingly useful, so by all means download and enjoy, but remember to clean up for an optimized experience.