Low battery and stolen data: The side effects of having too many apps

Experts say an app overdose can lead to poor performance, security problems and even a more interrupted lifestyle. — dpa

Smartphone users tend to download more apps than they actually use: Be it the newest version of Candy Crush, a promising meditation app or the latest productivity tool.

Most of the time they don’t delete them from their overcrowded device, thinking "Maybe I’ll need it later." But experts are warning of bad side effects from having too many apps on your phone.

Smartphone users in Germany, for example, use just 35 of the average 95 apps they installed in the past year, says Adithya Venkatraman from digital analysis firm App Annie.

Of course, all these apps will limit your available storage space. But having a lot of apps can also hamper the performance of the phone, depending on the device.

"You have to be conscious of the fact that many apps run background services", explains Alexander Vukcevic from IT security specialist Avira. Weather and news applications for example regularly check for updates to display.

Even programmes which are not open and don’t appear in the task manager are active behind the scenes. If you have a lot of apps, these background services can slow down the phone and drain your battery.

Most users don’t know what the different programmes have access to. Some apps retrieve data that is technically outside their main function, explains Christian Funk from the security firm Kaspersky Labs. "A classical example is the torch app, which wants access to your contacts", he says.

This has implications for data protection. "If third parties get your private data, with a little criminal energy they can use it to harm you," warns Funk. Personal contacts can, for instance, be used to make phishing emails look more authentic and get recipients to click on dubious links.

Permissions to use private data should be considered carefully. "Not everything is humbug. A photo editing app needs access to your picture gallery", says Funk. There is, however, an architectural difference between Android phones and iPhones when it comes to privacy.

On Android, upon installation users consent to a wide range of data the software wants to access, while on the iPhone the use of every single area is authorised separately – be it the camera, microphone or address book.

Most users don’t know that in both systems you can manage the permissions even after installation: on Android phones in the settings under "Apps" and "Permissions", on iPhones in system preferences under "Privacy".

Unfortunately, Android developers sometimes circumvent the permission system. A study by the International Computer Science Institute (ICSI) in California found that many apps collect data despite their access having explicitly been restricted.

"On the Android server there are more possibilities to use the device’s data than on the iPhone", says Vukcevic. Android users should be especially careful which apps they use. In general it is safest to download software only from the official Google store where malware is regularly removed.

According to the experts the solution is a regular inventory. Funk recommends to check once a month which apps you really used and to delete the rest.

"You have to consider: Which apps do you really need on your device?" Vukcevic concurs. Deleting an app is easy: just press on the symbol for a few seconds, if you have an Android phone, drag it up to the bin symbol, on the iPhone press X.

Security issues are not the only reason why you should regularly tidy your home screen. The more programmes you have, the more notifications you get. "There is constantly something blinking or ringing", says life coach Stefanie Adam.

To avoid distraction, she recommends deleting unnecessary apps, deactivating push messages and sorting your programmes in folders. "In this way you’re master of your time again, and decide what can disturb at what time," she argues.

But how to decide which app stays and which goes? "You start with yourself and an awareness of how you actually want to live your life and what you need for that," Adam says. She advises to sort apps according to how you feel and how useful they are, taking your time. “Otherwise the danger of relapse is greater.” The phone should be your toolbox: anything that isn’t useful has to go. – dpa