Digital Detox: When to clean out your smartphone

End-of-year is a good time for your smartphone to get a 'digital detox'

Houston tech expert Beth Guide, of verticalweb.com, says there's no better time to get rid of stuff you're not using, or don't need.

HOUSTON - While a lot of people think about getting 'in shape' for the new year, your smartphone might be due for the same treatment.

In the relatively short time, they've been around, smartphones have become invaluable tools to keep us connected, millions more times powerful than the computers that sent man to the Moon. It's, also, probably jam-packed with apps and functions that are more trouble than they're worth...

Houston tech expert Beth Guide, of verticalweb.com, says there's no better time to get rid of stuff you're not using, or don't need. "The chances are that you have too much stuff and that you need to dial it back," she says.

Start with those apps that you installed for a one-time purpose, and uninstall them.

Games can be a fun diversion, but they hog a lot of storage, so choose the ones you play and ditch the rest.

Pay particular attention to apps that need to know where you are, to operate. Those location services are constantly running in the background and sucking up battery power. "You don't know they're running," says Guide, "The most important thing you can do is to kill off anything that you're not using, especially when it has tracking running in the background of it."

The same advice goes for apps and services that collect data on what you do and where you go. Amazon, Google, and social media are major offenders, but many others also store valuable information that you have a choice whether to provide. Guide warns, "The more of these things you leave on your phone, the more susceptible you are to having a problem."

Also, think about redundant apps that you can get rid of: How many weather apps do you have? Do you have a QR-reader that the phone's own camera will handle? The trick is to choose judiciously what you keep, and what you don't, so your smartphone can be a productive tool and source of entertainment when you want it.

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