Do We Really Need An App For That?
Today, there's an app for almost everything. If you've got a smart phone or tablet, you have millions of apps to choose from (approximately 2.57 million for android users and 1.83 million for apple devices). You can turn your phone into a remote control, stream movies, deposit checks, play games, check social media pages, shop, track your sleep ... this list could go on forever.
Some apps are free, some cost money. Some seem useful, some are obscure and ridiculous. Two of the weirdest apps I've seen recently are: Nothing - an app that opens up a blank screen and does absolutely nothing and SMTH - an app that measures how high you can throw your phone in the air.
How do we know which apps are worth our time and which are wasting it? The value of any given app isn't always obvious. So, here are three good questions to ask when deciding whether to get, or keep, an app:
Do I need it on my phone or tablet?
How is it improving my life?
What am I replacing and why?
LET'S LOOK AT THIS MORE CLOSELY.
Do I need it on my phone or tablet? If it's something you can easily do (or is better to do) on your computer or through your TV, you might want to reconsider it... Have you ever tried to edit a document on your phone? SO much harder than on your computer, right? Step 1: Be clear about the purpose and primary functions for each device. Step 2: Align and limit your app use to support that purpose or those functions.
How is it improving my life? This is a net value question. Meaning it's important to look at the value the app brings to your life while also factoring in the distraction or challenges it causes... I had a sleep tracking app on my phone that required me to place my phone near me on the bed when I slept. I LOVED the data it gave me and was fascinated to see my sleep cycles, length and quality of sleep. When I took a step back though, I didn't feel great about sleeping with my phone and I hated that the last thing I did before bed and first thing I did when I got up was look at an app on my phone.
What am I replacing and why? Sometimes an app comes along to replace something that doesn't really need replacing. In fact, sometimes it makes things more difficult! ... I play in a flag football league that recently launched an app that's use for league registration and for game management. The refs use the app for the game clock, sack timer, and to track stats in real time. Sure, it's a cool app, but it's caused major delays in the game due to glitches and the ref's attention gets split between the app and actually reffing the game! A good old fashion timer and post-game stats worked just fine - AND - I'd rather have fully present refs and a more fluid game.
Do An Initial Sweep: Start simple. First, go through your phone (or tablet) and delete any apps you're immediately ready to get rid of. If you don't recognize it when you see it, delete it. If you haven't used it in the last 6 months, delete it. If you have two very similar apps, keep your preferred one and delete the other.
Individual Critique: Then, go back through your apps one by one and ask yourself the three questions I mentioned earlier to decide if you want to keep it or delete it:
Do I need it on my phone or tablet?
How is it improving my life?
What am I replacing and why?
