Can you live without smartphone apps?

[Legendary Silke]

The three major smartphone platforms (iOS, Android, Windows Phone) all have an app store for easy purchasing, downloading, and updating of apps. Do you use smartphone apps on your smartphone (any kind)? Do you install everything? Do you install a lot of things but only really use some of them? Or are you perfectly happy with what came with your smartphone?

I have got all the major dedicated social networking apps installed on my Nokia Lumia 900 since the built-in People hub can only do so much. I've also installed a bunch of other apps just in case, and a few games. I try to keep the amount of apps installed as low as possible, since 16 GB is actually small when you start to factor in high-quality music files.

 

[Juno]

I'm a really unorganized person IRL, but I find everything easier to manage digitally, so I use my phone to keep my notes and documents, and I download e-books onto it if it's available. Life is so much easier now. When I used notebooks and paper notes, I could not find anything to save my life.

I love apps like Evernote and Google Drive, where I can view and edit all my stuff anywhere I can access the internet, on any device. And buying books on the Google Play store is the same - makes them available anywhere you can sign in.

I used to go on app downloading sprees and just download a bunch of trending/popular apps, then try them out and delete the ones that aren't so great. I'm really happy with my current phone setup though, so I haven't really downloaded anything new in a while. I do periodically go through my list of apps and purge it of ones I don't use anymore.

 

[MKGirlism]

Let's say, I use a lot of stuff on my Phone.
However, I don't play games on it, it's to hard without having physical buttons.

However, it's disappointing there's no TomTom App for Windows Phone, it's the only thing that holds me from switching from Android to Windows Phone.
Other than that, all I use on Android, is available on iOS and Windows Phone too.

 

[Tsutarja]

It amazes me how many games are out for iOS in comparison to Android/Windows Phone at times..

But for me, I have more apps on my iPod Touch than I do on my Android, though I've tried to get the same apps onto my Nexus 7 tablet if they're available on Android. I do have some local news apps, a sports app, and of course the major social media apps as well.

 

[TY]

Yes i can indeed... Reason: I dont use my phone that often anymore. Now that i am home 24/7 its kinda not needed anymore unless i wanna contact a friend haha.

 

[pokemasta92]

I can live without smartphone apps just like I can live without a smartphone. I have a basic slider phone because I love texting and talking when I have to, but don't need anything else. I waste enough time playing video games and checking out Facebook, YouTube, and various forums. I don't need to be updating my status, watching videos, or gaming when I'm out and about. Not to mention that data is way too expensive. Now when I say expensive I don't necessarily mean it's out of my budget, but that I don't view it as something important to me worth spending money on. I do however have an iPod Touch with plenty of apps on it, but the data comes from my Wi-Fi box that is unlimited. Now that's worth my cash.

 

[Lord Scalgon]

Smartphones are one of the technologies I wouldn't really mind living without. Besides, I don't really use mobile internet anyway, but that's probably me. Calling/texting is all I need.


Technology-wise, I mostly spend my time on a laptop/desktop more than phones.

 

[twocows]

Considering I don't, haven't, and don't plan to own a smartphone, I would say that yes, I can live without smartphone apps.

 

[Hiatus]

The two most common apps I use are Opera Mini and Spotify. I love Opera, as it provides faster browsing and saves you data. Plus, its interface looks amazing. As for Spotify, it allows me to listen to songs without actually downloading them. Spotify is replaceable, as there are plenty of other things like this. If it was taken away, I wouldn't mind. Can't live without Opera, though. If Opera Mini was ever taken down, I'd be quite frustrated. d:

 

[isthatyoudan]

Mine is almost all just silly games, so I'd be OK. I used to have a gazillion games, but I had to delete most of them when an update for my favourite game totalled its storage at over a GB. The game was Cytus. Takes up a lot of space, but it's awesome. Play it.

 

[LilyAnn]

I have absolutely no games on my iphone. It has like 3 apps on it but I never use them. Usually my iPhone just sits somewhere until I need to call/text someone :p

 

[Meganium]

Back in the good-ol' days, when "doing things on your computer" was the easiest and most convenient thing to do of all time, we lived without smartphone apps. We could survive. Now that smartphones have revolutionized our digital world in a whole different way, we can all now access our bank accounts without having to visit the bank or find a computer to bank online. We can now purchase tickets to see a movie, or a sports event, or a concert with just one tap. Even more, (and I find this to be a bit....environmentally friendly?) you can use your smartphone app as actual tickets.

The main answer to the question: can we live without smartphone apps? Yes and no. Yes because many things nowadays can be very convenient and we can purchase things wherever there's mobile broadband or wifi. I've done so many many times and it has saved me a ton of time. I even ordered Pizza before from my phone as well. I can be at school or work and I'll call my mom and be like "HAY IMMA ORDER SOME PIZZA, IT'LL BE THERE WHEN I GET HOME" etc. There's also many games out there like Doodle Jump, and my personal favorite: the Tamagotchi app that literally keep me sane from boredom. So yeah...those waiting times: taken care of.

And then, on the "no" side, there's some things like...paying your utility bills, or shopping apps like Amazon or ebay. I would much prefer waiting till I get on a computer to browse them.

tl:dr it just depends on the smartphone apps out there! :P

 

[Blade_of_darkness]

I don't even have a cellphone, let alone a smartphone, so there's your answer right here.

 

[Cordelia]

No, I couldn't. I couldn't even use my smartphone, since literally everything is an app, including settings. :P

 

[Knor]

Looking at my phone and at the apps I've downloaded, versus the ones I use daily... I think I could make it.

On a daily basis (not including stock apps), I use IGN for news, Instagram/Facebook to keep up with social media, theChive because it's the best site in the world, and YouTube for videos. Most of those things, I can use on my desktop anyways.

The only app I'd be truly missing out on would be textPlus, so I couldn't text my friends who don't have an iPhone (I don't have a plan on my phone, but I have iMessage to text Apple friends).