A report by Kaspersky Lab, “Digital Clutter and Its Dangers” reveals the scale of the digital clutter problem among global Internet users.

Around 28% of users update apps on their devices only when they are forced to

The study found users typically install 12 Android apps every month but delete only 10, in effect adding two apps to their device on a monthly basis. With more apps installed on devices, managing apps is important in preventing digital clutter, it says.

The study is based on insight gained from an online survey across 17 countries, which assessed the attitudes of 16 250 Android users aged over 16 years. The data was weighted to be globally representative and consistent, and split equally between men and women, according to Kaspersky.

“In only half (55%) of cases, users regularly refresh and revise the contents of their device and delete unused docs and apps. In a quarter of cases (28%), users only update apps on their devices when they are forced to, and in 10% of cases they try not to do it at all. The build-up of digital clutter means app cleansing and updating are now more important than ever in order to combat malware that use apps’ vulnerabilities to penetrate devices,” notes the research.

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