Do you keep your total number of apps lean and mean?

[FrankXS]

Just wondering how many folks remove seldom used apps. I guess it's like hoarding. I find it hard to remove them (I might want to use them one day ). Anyway, occasionally I'll go on a tirade and remove a few apps that I've never or seldom used. But probably not often enough.

Also, some apps that fall into this category are news apps. I mean, so many news sites now have mobile websites designed so well they are often better than the dedicated app. I guess I should remove those dedicated apps.

I suppose this whole subject has to do with, is there any benefit to the OS in keeping your apps lean and mean? Maybe not?

-Frank

 

[gutsploder]

I guess it depends on how often they update, how much space they take up, etc.just like a computer, I would assume the more fluff that is stored on it, the more it fills up, the slower it gets.... Just a theory, don't quote me on that

 

[gutsploder]

On a side note, with my old eris, I HAD to. That phone was so laggy that any extraneous fluff, bogged it so badly it wouldn't make calls, I was constantly ditching stuff to keep it useable.

 

[MojaveHigh]

It's very much like hoarding, haha.

I tend to save apps because I haven't settled on one for a certain job yet. For instance, I have 5 separate QR/barcode scanner apps because I can't decide on my favorite yet. Same thing with Shazam and SoundHound, and Google Music and Amazon MP3, etc.

 

[titanoman]

When I had my Optimus if I got over about 50 apps (storage available
say 30mb) everything was affected, slowed down, locking-up, crashing, etc.
On this big toy I have probably 200 or so and it's absolutely lightening fast with very few crashes or lagging.
I think as long as you still have mega-memory left the amount of apps doesn't seem to matter too much, even taking into consideration more apps always means more apps running in the background.



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[anon(394005)]

I use the same philosophy with my smartphone as I do with my computers, which is to highly limit what software is installed in order to keep the system lean and mean, reduce the attack surface, and to minimizing software patching. I always weigh the pros and cons of the software and whether the features are worth any possible risk to the system either security or performance wise. I hate installing/uninstalling stuff to keep from gumming up the system (things typically get left behind after uninstall). For the smartphone, I always review the app permissions. If there is the slightest bit of concern about any permissions, I quickly move on and look for another app that doesn't have the issue or will even just go without the app all together. It's interesting that in following this, both my computers and smartphone have about the same number of installed applications; about a dozen (not counting bloatware apps on the smartphone that would be deleted in a heartbeat if root were not required to do so, rooting is NOT for me).

 

[cadzilla74]

I'm picky about my apps and diligent about ditching bad ones or ones that overlap/duplicate the functions of others. Currently I have 124 apps installed. All are used periodically, some much more than others. I always have at least 50% RAM available, 1.9 GB internal and over 24GB SDCard still free. I move apps to SD when they can be moved and I feel they won't suffer from load-lag. Some are movable but I have left them on the internal memory for that reason. I will dig around occasionally with Astro Manager and get rid of accumulated detritus but that's more my own desire to take out the trash than a discovery of anything having a noticeable negative impact on the phone itself. Maybe after another 6 months I may have to "thin out the herd" but so far the Thunderbolt seems quite happy to shoulder the burden without any ill effects.

 

[dragonsamus]

Before the Amazon app store was released I barely had apps but now I'm downloading the free apps everyday. I haven't noticed a difference with my phone. There is no lag so I download all the apps I want but I always move apps to my SD card.

 

[MojaveHigh]

I used to get the free apps from the Amazon app store until I read that horror story from the guys who created the PocketCasts app.

 

[sherri]

I download, install, move to sd card,backup, then uninstall. There if I need/want it. No space/memory used.

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[qbngator]

Also, some apps that fall into this category are news apps. I mean, so many news sites now have mobile websites designed so well they are often better than the dedicated app. I guess I should remove those dedicated apps.

For my news, I'm extremely happy with "U.S. Newspapers". One app has just about every newspaper I care to read, including my local paper...and it's free.