I’m a hoarder when it comes to apps. For months (ok, years), I’ve downloaded new apps with alarming frequency. My motives are pure: I’m constantly interested in ways to bring new content, shortcuts, time-saving methods, and all around fun to my smart phones. What could be wrong with that?

Well, all that app love resulted in smart-phone hell. With so many choices, I couldn’t find—much less use—half of what I had. Some apps would literally go out of business before I had time to try them. And the apps I used the most were lost in the sea of apps I barely ever opened.

When I could no longer find my phone’s camera among all the camera apps I had downloaded, I knew it was time for a purge. I took stock. My Facebook app had mysteriously ended up in a folder with a London tube app. And the Starbucks app that was supposed to make my morning drive-through so easy? It had found its way into a folder with AP news alerts.

I approached the purge with the same steely-eyed method I used a few months ago on my shoes. I pulled them all out of my crowded closet and assigned every single pair to one of three piles. The same with my apps—each one got a virtual number. #1 was for the essentials, the apps I used at least a few times a week, just like the shoes that get the same wear. The app that organizes my favorite podcasts (I use Downcast). My tweet schedulers (Buffer and Hootsuite). The photo tools I really use (Snapseed and Fuzel). The shoe equivalent? Favorite ballet flats, that pair of boots I wear all year long, and my comfiest platform sandals. #2 was the category designated for just-for-fun apps. Not daily necessities, but the ones that distract—in a good way. An app from the Poetry Foundation that’s a lovely complement to relentless news alerts, or Style.com’s app to peruse runway eye-candy photos. Just like my green velvet sling-backs and the navy suede ankle boots with the perfect wedge, more decorative than useful. Category #3 went to the virtually never-used apps. Interesting, intriguing, but impulsively downloaded—or bought. Like those four-inch heels covered with gold glitter that I can’t walk in. And the app that shows webcams around the globe or the entire collection of the Louvre Museum.

In every category, with both apps and shoes, some ruthlessness was required. It was painful, but the ache was short-lived. Post-purge, I feel so much better. I probably still have too many apps. And  shoes. But at least, I can remember what I have and find what I want. Apps I love to use, and shoes I love to wear. And now, if I download a new app or get tempted by a new pair of shoes every now and then, I allow myself to give in.

A semi-technical note: All this purging meant deleting. Really deleting. In my case (and yours, if you use an iPhone), it meant a long session in iTunes, filling the “trashcans” so those apps are gone for good (or until I download them again). Otherwise, I’d have tangled myself up in syncing nightmares between devices and the cloud.

By Cindy Wall 

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