Appetizers. That’s what I call those little images strewn across the screen of my tablet computer. Each has its own flavor, and oh, there are so many that I don’t even know what most of them are designed to do. They beckon in vibrant colors and intriguing graphics — more cookbook art than working images— so I keep them, thinking someday I will click to see if this one or that one might be applicable to the task at hand. But usually I am online with my browser, so I just use that.
Every website I visit wants me to download its app. Sometimes I do it inadvertently, which I don’t appreciate. If I used an app for everything I wanted to do — shopping, banking, exercising, stargazing, checking the weather, whatever — I would be drowning in the little things and spending time jumping from one to another. As it is, I often cannot find the one I’m looking for. Or if two have similar colors, I click on the wrong one. As of now there are legions of the mini icons residing on my tablet, only twelve of which I use regularly: for news, for music, for finding my way, for refreshing my French. The unused ones — well, I don’t know what they do, because most of them remain mysteries. I am unsure as to how they ended up on my screen. I must have downloaded them at some point, but I don’t remember doing it. So, they sit there.
Why do websites so vigorously promote use of their apps? It makes me suspicious of some ulterior motive, subsequently confirmed by AI. Downloading apps helps a business in numerous ways: Keeping you engaged and encouraging you to return often. Promoting purchases. Collecting data about you. Building customer loyalty. All this makes me apprehensive. I don’t want an app collecting data about me. Enough of that happens simply by using my browser. Why encourage more of it?
AI informs me that the app extravaganza began in 2008 when Apple launched its App Store with about five hundred apps; since then about ten to twenty million apps have been created worldwide. At present, ones available from major stores such as Apple or Google number only around two to three million. Two to three million. It boggles the brain to try to imagine how that many things can be done with a click. I suppose duplicates are legion, which would make it difficult to figure out which ones are best to download. I picture these little icons popping in and out of existence like virtual particles in the quantum world.
An online search relates that, globally, the most frequently downloaded app is ChatGPT, which has been around for almost four years. I confess that I use this one myself, since it is so simple to pose a question and have the answer in seconds (as I just did). Rounding out the top three are TikTok and Instagram, neither of which I use. I place limits on plunging down the internet rabbit hole.
For anyone really invested in the app universe, there are subscription services and even apps for managing those little icons. They can suggest layouts for the apps on your screen, target which ones to remove if they aren’t being used, and control which ones should start automatically. Apps are promoted as making the online experience simpler, but do they really? They can be intrusive and even compromise safety, as they can be vulnerable to hacking if they don’t include sufficient security. And I remain unsure as to how to assess that.
It appears that the app world offers a cornucopia of choices for reaping the harvests of the internet. Perhaps too many choices, at least for me. I prefer a simpler diet.