I Deleted Every Single App On My Phone

Every app on my phone I have ever had is gone. And I think I am happy about it.

I and everyone around me knows I have too many apps on my phone. Years of testing apps from various startups and services combined with the never leave an app behind again “iCloud Backup” meant that unless I deleted an app manually, it never went away. Then something happened. Apparently somewhere hidden in my iCloud backup was a glitch according the Genius’s at Apple. I was told the only way to not have it affect my phone anymore was to erase my phone and start from scratch. So that is what I did.

I have been thinking about doing this for years after reading a few blog posts from others before me. I was attracted to how freeing I heard it could be. Also, I clean my home all the time and it felt about time I did the same for my digital world too.

So currently, I am only re-downloading the apps that matter to me. In the process I will be saying goodbye to several apps. Those of note worthy in both categories I will mention here. I thought it would be interesting to share which apps are worth keeping in 2016. So without further ado:

Apps I Am Keeping:

• Dark Sky — Best weather app there is.
• Apple Podcasts — Can’t delete, but wouldn’t anyway. It is back on the home screen so Ambition Today is always close!
• Audible — I listen to a lot of books.
• Slack — Immediate access for those close to me and on my teams who know my email inbox can get a bit backed up.
• Todoist — the life saver of to-do list apps.
• Google Maps — Obviously this is back. I tried Apple maps recently in NYC and it took me to the wrong place by about 20 blocks. I was late for that meeting…
• Google Inbox — My lifeline. My go to e-mail app. If you know a better one you swear by then let me know in the comments.
• Google App — I look up a lot of things. I’m curious, what can I say.
• Google Drive — Are you seeing a theme here?
• Twitter — The best social network there is currently.
• Snapchat — The best up and coming social network. If you need further proof of that, my Mom joined recently.
• Instagram — Just because.
• Nuzzel — I love Nuzzel! It has become the first news app I click each day.
• Yahoo News Digest — When I want to know whats happening in the world outside my immediate industry and networks.
• Fitbit — because health.
• Bitmoji — because fun with friends.
• Giphy — because hilarious with friends.
• Esper — Great platform to track my time and work.
• Robinhood — Why is anyone still paying Scottrade $7 to buy and another $7 to sell?
• Youtube — Loving the content on Youtube recently.
• The Herd Report — You have to have your own app. Plus the Sabres have Eichel now.
• Ward eSports — Best new eSports app for fans there is.
• Timehop — Who doesn’t love some personal nostalgia from time to time.
• Buffer — Best app for sharing content across multiple channels. Works with Nuzzel to easily share articles I like.
• Venmo — Use it constantly with friends and family.
• Acorns — I didn’t want to re-download but it is mobile only so I kind of had to.
• Uber- I live in New York City. Enough said on this one.

Apps I Am Saying Goodbye To:

• Facebook — I turned off badge and push notifications a few weeks ago. I got sick of Facebook making up things to notify me about. Not even going to put it back on my phone this time. I will check in on my laptop when I feel like it.
• Google Chrome — It’s just not “that” much better then safari. Don’t need it and will give Safari one more chance.
• LinkedIn — Very, very little value comes out of this app that isn’t more easily found other places.
• Reddit — Nuzzel has replaced it.
• Periscope — I broadcast from time to time, but I haven’t consumed anything of note recently.
• Medium — The best medium posts surface inside Nuzzel. And Medium has been sending way to many push notifications recently.
• Vine — I recently went viral on vine, but still do not think enough people are using it day to day. I never open it to consume content.
• Skype — Will probably have to re-download but don’t really want to.
• Whatsapp — I talk to these friends on iMessage or Facebook Messenger now.
• Facebook Messenger — Will probably have to re-download but don’t want to.
• Many, many more — I didn’t even re-download any apps from screen 3 or 4 of my phone.

These are the apps I have downloaded while setting my phone back up and the ones that I didn’t bring back. I am sure I will have to re-download more apps as I realize I need them and I will do that when the time comes. In the meantime though I feel freed. Most importantly I am excited to see how my phones battery life improves.

Visit here to see what my iPhone screen looked like before and after I deleted every app on my phone!