technology
Quick Takes: Apps I Deleted in January (And Why)
January 25, 2026
I uninstalled six apps this month. Not the usual suspects — the ones that looked useful but were actually just noise with a home screen icon.
I uninstalled six apps this month. Not the usual suspects — the ones that looked useful but were actually just noise with a home screen icon.
The pattern was always the same: something would grab my attention (a thoughtful design, a clever feature, a recommendation from someone I respect), I’d download it immediately, and then I’d use it maybe twice. After that, it just sat there accumulating negligible guilt. “I might need this someday,” I’d think. Spoiler alert: I never did.
The honest part is that I didn’t delete them because they were bad. Most of them were solid apps. I deleted them because they were solving problems I don’t actually have, or solving problems in ways that felt clunky compared to tools already in my arsenal. A time-tracking app that made me think about time too much. A habit tracker that required too much ceremony. A note-taker that was shinier than what I actually use. A weather widget that was one feature too many.
It’s the opposite of hoarding the bookmarks I used to accumulate. Back then, I saved everything because I was afraid of losing something good. Now I’m deleting things because I realize that having access to good isn’t the same as needing it. The cost isn’t just screen space — it’s decision fatigue every time I swipe through my home screen.
I’ve written before about how apps can replace five other apps when they’re built right. The corollary is that most apps should probably never be downloaded in the first place. The ones worth keeping are the ones you reach for without thinking.
The January purge wasn’t about being minimal for minimalism’s sake. It was about being honest: if I haven’t opened it in six weeks, it’s not a tool. It’s a reminder that I fell for the pitch.
This connects to the bigger digital cleanup I’ve been doing all year — part of a bigger push toward digital minimalism that actually sticks. And if you’re someone who saves everything “just in case,” you might relate to why I deleted 2,847 bookmarks and felt lighter afterwards.