Need to make more room? How to delete unnecessary iPhone apps
Though it may be February, spring is around the corner which means spring cleaning. While you’re decluttering your physical space, it’s also a good idea to access the apps on your phone and declutter your digital space.
Even phones with large amounts of storage can benefit from an app purge. First go through and delete any apps you don’t use. Then go through your old photos & videos and delete any that you don’t want to keep. You may think you’re done, but here’s a guide to what other apps to delete.
QR scanner apps
If you have an iPhone running iOS 11 (or newer) or an android running Andriod 8 or later, QR scanner apps are obsolete. If you need to access a paperless menu at a restaurant or for some other reason, just take out your phone, go to camera, and focus it over the code. A notification should come up to take you to the desired website.
Flashlight apps
Unless you are living in the dark ages of flip phones, your electronic device most likely has a flashlight already on it. Even though plenty of them are still on app stores, ready for download, the best bet is to delete them. They just want your data, they are redundant, or just sitting there unused, taking up space.
Time-wasting games
We all have them. Whether it’s Candy Crush, Solitaire, Merge Dragons, or Clockmater, these apps eat up your storage and your time. Wiping them from your phone or going into your settings and deleting their data from memory is a good way to save space. Yes, deleting your memory will restart your progress but that might be a good thing. You’ll be more inclined to delete it.
There are so many reasons to delete Facebook. The company has come under fire for numerous privacy, news, and ethicacy questions. The app eats up space on your phone and is more trouble than it’s worth. The best action to take might be to delete Facebook, though it can tether you to long distance friends & family.
Protect yourself on Facebook
If you do find value in the Facebook app and don’t want to delete it, you should at least turn off their online activity tracker. Since February 2020, the social media app has been tracking your internet habits to bring you better targeted ads and collect your data. This process is inconvenient but still important if you want the app to be more secure.
To do that go into the app and click on the three-lined icon on your menu. Depending on the version of the app you have, it should be at the top or bottom of your screen. It will be next to the notifications icon. Scroll down to “settings and privacy” and click on the settings button. Once there you will once again scroll until you hit the “your Facebook information” section.
Click on Off-Facebook Activity, which is the third one down. Once there you will see all the apps Facebook has been tracking your data through. If your own disgust & shame isn’t enough to make you delete it at this point, select “Manage Your Off-Facebook Activity” next to the gear icon.
Facebook may ask you to put in your password. Once you do so, click clear history. Then click the back arrow at the top, which will bring you back to the “Off-Facebook Activity” screen. Click “More Options” and then select “Manage Future Activity.” A screen will pop up talking about how Facebook uses your activity. Ignore that and click “manage future activity”. Press for “Future Off-Facebook Activity” to turn this feature off.
The color should switch from blue to gray.
