Bet you won’t be surprised to learn that social media apps are one of the worst offenders when it comes to privacy issues. Deleting the Facebook app will never help when it comes to protecting your data, but the problem actually goes deeper than Facebook. When you do your due diligence and try to increase the security of your phone, there are social media apps you probably shouldn’t be considering at all. EARTHWEB’s editor-in-chief, Jason Wise, provides details about the social media apps you might be ignoring.
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Social Media “Lite” Apps
“Lite” versions of various social media apps, such as Facebook Lite or Instagram Lite, are often seen as solutions to save your data and battery power. But Wise warns us that’s not always the case.
“These apps take up space because of their large cache sizes,” says Wise. “The cache grows over time as the app stores data like images and videos offline. Additionally, these apps often lack some features found in the regular versions, so they may not provide the full social media experience.’
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To reduce storage consumption and improve performance, Wise says he recommends uninstalling the “Lite” version and using the regular versions or accessing social media platforms through your phone’s browser. .
Here are some other apps that Wise recommends keeping on your radar as they may compromise security.
Phone cleaning and boosting apps
“Phone cleaning and boosting apps claim to optimize your device’s performance, memory, and battery life,” Wise says. “Contrary to their promises, many of these apps misuse resources and hinder overall performance. These applications run in the background, consuming CPU cycles and RAM unnecessarily. To fix this problem, it is advisable to uninstall such apps and rely on your phone’s built-in system optimization tool or other reputable applications recommended by your device manufacturer.
Antivirus Apps (Unverified)
Wise points out that there are many antivirus apps available in the App Store that promise to keep your phone safe from malware and viruses.
“Although legitimate antivirus apps are important for device security, some unverified antivirus apps are inefficient and can degrade performance,” says Wise. “These apps often run resource-intensive background processes that slow down your device, especially during scans. To resolve this issue, I suggest using reputable antivirus solutions from well-known providers and avoiding unknown or unverified apps.