Cleaning Our Phones (Once In A While)

We download a host of apps constantly, and most of them use a host of permissions like camera, microphone, location, storage, etc. In the phone that I had earlier, I used to discover how I have apps that I almost never used. They were just sitting there, occupying the space and accessing all permissions, even when I had no use for them. Since that day, I have made it a point to check now and then what I really use, and try to keep just them on my phone! This brings more space, and also saves a lot of battery, apart from ensuring that your settings are safe. So, here's a checklist for you, too!

1. Check what apps you have, and filter out the ones that you need.

2. Go to your phone settings once in a while to just check and learn which apps have access to what permissions. If something looks unnecessary, you can turn it off or uninstall.

3.  I have found that a lot of apps that I used sometimes had a default setting for running in the background irrespective of whether I used it or not. So, you can change these settings and turn it off for apps that you don't require to keep running. This definitely saves on your battery, especially if your phone is a couple of years old.

4. I am a person who likes only the most necessary, basic notifications on my phone. So, most of the apps have the notifications turned off, so I can see them only when I go into the app. If you get distracted constantly by the notification of any particular app, maybe going through the list of apps in your settings can push you to turn it off!

5. Clean caches, unwanted/spam messages- not everyday, but at least once in a while, maybe?

6. Use google photos, and backup all your device photos. I have found some people having ten thousand or more all on just their phones. I think apart from taking up all that space, your phone crashing can leave you with losing all of it! Just turn on auto backup! Google photos app also has a cool "free up space" option that can delete the photos on your device after safely backing it up on cloud. 

How you have your phone is definitely your choice, but these can help you be better ready in case your phone crashes, or you have important data on your phone. So, this is more from the perspective of the safety of you and your data!

Why don't you pick up your phone and look through it? Weed out those unnecessary apps!