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The longer we own our smartphones, the more apps we see come and go. And the wiser many of us become when it comes to selectively choosing apps and discarding others — especially those apps that deplete battery power and take up precious data.
If you’re trying to take back control over your iPhone, here are four social media apps no one should be using anymore in 2020, according to experts.
Facebook Messenger
Facebook Messenger does not have end-to-end encryption by default. What does that mean? Very simply: your messages are not necessarily secure and you have to take an extra step to make sure they are private. If you are not interested in deleting the app and would rather change the setting to make message private: “On an iPhone, hit the speech bubble, then the pencil, then hit "secret," then chose the person, then the timer icon,” reports Mashable.
The Facebook app tracks your location and racks up a ton of your data. It even follows your online activity — all in an effort to sell that info to advertisers. And on top of it all: Facebook is a battery killer, one that is constantly searching for updates and autoplays videos.
We love Instagram — it’s an amazing distraction and one that provides a front row seat to everything your friends and celebs you’ll never meet are doing — from the fun places they visit to the gorgeous clothing and inspiring makeup they’re sporting. But there are two reasons to be cautious with IG. For one thing, the app saves your photos and can be a data hog. But, more importantly, studies have revealed that Instagram is ranked the worst social app for young people when it comes to causing depression — not least of all because it gives false impressions happiness and causes major FOMO.
Snapchat
Snapchat is such a major battery drain. According to iMore: “Like Facebook, Snapchat seems to hang around and burn even more battery in the background than it does on screen.”
One way to save battery is by launching Settings, tapping on General, tapping on Background App Refresh, and switching Background App Refresh for Snapchat to Off.