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The average user, according to the latest statistics available, has about 80 different apps on his or her device, but uses only nine on a daily basis. — Photo from pexels.com
HOW many apps are you using on a daily basis?
Based on recent headlines seen between 2025 and this year thus far, the trend of having ‘too many apps’ is being driven by app fatigue, storage constraints and security risks.
The average user, according to the latest statistics available, has about 80 different apps on his or her smartphone, tablet or PC, but uses only nine on a daily basis.
In a simplistic world, that means that 90 per cent of all the apps that we have downloaded onto our devices are superfluous or non-essential, which is to say, they are seldom or rarely used at all.
I took a quick count on my own smartphone and found that I had 155 apps icons on it, of which I would only use 15 on a day-to-day basis.
Yes, I could probably do away and delete at least half of those 155, but at 80, that would only bring me to the average Malaysian’s count of the apps that they have on their phones.
The tendency for most of us seems to be that ‘Oh, I need it for this purpose every month, or once a while, to do my bank in, pay my bills or to check on something’, and it will definitely be needed then.
These apps will always be there in the ‘waiting room’, relegated to ‘infrequently used apps’ but ‘it’s there if I ever need it’ status, of which none of us are ready to trash or inactivate.
Be very wary too of online scams, con-jobs and false advertising that usually lead you to downloading or using a fake or falsified app, to lure you in and rob you of your money.
Just last Thursday, in this newspaper a headline had read: “‘Astute’ app investment scam costs Sibu civil servant over RM404,000”
It was reported that ‘a woman, in her 30s, lost RM404,045 after falling victim to a non-existent online investment scheme promoted on social media’.
Apparently she was attracted to an investment advertisement on Facebook in October 2025.
She was asked to join a WhatsApp group and later, through an ‘Astute’ app, had transferred money to three bank accounts for investment purposes.
Many such fake schemes are abound online, especially on WhatsApp groups and other social media platforms.
The public is advised to be very cautious of any investment offers promising high returns, and to also verify the legitimacy of companies and websites with Bank Negara Malaysia and the Securities Commission of Malaysia.
If you have been scammed, you can immediately contact the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) via 997 for immediate assistance.
I would also like to highlight certain shortcomings and failings that I have personally encountered insofar as government transactions are concerned, with regard to services available online and the traditional system of ‘over-the-counter’ and face-to-face transactions.
I recall that there was a time in the past when it took many visits to many different government offices located vast distances apart simply to obtain a professional visit visa for a foreigner working for a short-term; for instance, a film crew on a two-week shoot.
Then, the Sarawak government had proactively set up a one-stop centre, which dealt with it and attended to by one single authority, which at the time was the Sarawak Tourism Board.
However, I have no idea whether this process and procedure have changed since then.
Just recently, I had to attend to a matter requiring me to visit firstly the local police station, then to a lawyer’s office, then to the Land and Survey Registry (S&L) office, then the stamping (tax office) and then, back to the cashier’s at the L&S office, back again to the L& S, and finally got it all done – and still, I had to wait up to six months for a resolution!
If you had counted, those were six different visits to six different locations, some quite far apart, and it took me two days and lots of waiting, frustration and wasted time.
And yes, we did hear it correctly when the Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg had said that he was aggressively driving the state towards 100 per cent digitalisation across all 1,106 government services by 2030 – that’s only four years down the road.
As of late last year, over 59 per cent of services were online (obviously not the ones I mentioned earlier).
Premier Abang Johari has his ‘Vision 2030’ – the goal is to fully digitalise all Sarawak government services, transforming the state into a technology-driven, high-income economy.
He also aims to ensure that the Sarawak civil service would focus on a sense of urgency to make the services faster and more accessible.
The State Cybersecurity Strategy and Roadmap 2030 was also established to protect data as online transactions grow.
The state government also intends to spread wider access to digital education, including to rural areas through smart classrooms and Internet connectivity.
Premier Abang Johari’s quote is that digital transformation is a necessity, not an option, to foster a modern, data-driven civil service.
I certainly look forward to the day when I can process my government application by just seating at my computer at home, clicking on a few keys and logging into a few sites, and I will be able to submit any form, without having to personally drive to six different offices, which took me two days, and having to show my face, just so that I can just do a simple transaction.
For all this, I won’t mind downloading another handful of apps.
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