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“In the midst of the winter blues, individuals everywhere are sprucing up, clearing out, and taking a break from the things that are no longer serving them — Android apps included. What better time for an early “spring clean” than a new calendar year?

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With screen time reaching record highs in recent years and the average American spending a whopping 4-6 hours per day on their phone — we wanted to find out which apps are most likely to be headed for the trash can in 2023.

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We looked into the top 30 most popular apps people most want to delete in the United States by delving into regional search volumes for “delete” and “deactivate” apps/accounts by each state.

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We also analyzed the number of active users and downloads for each Android app over the past year using Similarweb. Here’s what we found.

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Instagram tops the leaderboard as the most popular app users want to delete

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Our research found that, amongst all of the 30 apps analyzed, Instagram saw the highest search volume for “deleting” and “deactivating” at 900,120 searches nationwide. ‘Deactivating’ Instagram app had a search volume of 93,270 across America, whereas ‘Delete Instagram Account’ had a search volume of 642,690.

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Disinformation, fake followers, NFTs, and surveillance issues are just a few of the top things users like to complain about when it comes to the photo-sharing app. What’s more, according to POPSCI, Instagram’s latest updates have caused an influx in petitions, demanding the photo-sharing app to ‘make Instagram Instagram again.’

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Deleting data-hungry apps – Is Facebook on its way out?

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Data-hungry Facebook came second to Instagram with 385,410 negative searches for wanting to get rid of the app. According to Forbes, Facebook first started to see its user base decline at the end of 2021 due to a number of factors, with privacy concerns at the forefront.

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Oh, snap – Snapchat sees a rise in ‘delete’ searches

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Self-destructing photo-sharing app ‘Snapchat’ ranks third in our listings with a search volume of 217,400. Snapchat has raised many concerns since its inception, including issues with Snapchat’s privacy and security, invasive location services, and the common misconception that snaps are private and temporary.

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Despite the average American Snapchat user spending around 30 minutes a day on the app, our data found that New Mexico (89 searches per 100,000) and Arizona (88 searches per 100,000) were the states most keen to give Snapchat the cut from their phone screens.

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Bye bye birdy – Could it be the end for Twitter?

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Since Elon Musk was appointed owner, many users are of the opinion that the once-renowned social networking app has been on a downward flight. Our data shows that Twitter has the fourth-highest negative search volume amongst all apps analyzed at 92,490. Could this be due to Twitter’s recent rival ‘Mastodon’?

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Our data found that California, Maryland, Nevada, and Washington were the states most keen to deactivate or delete Twitter.

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Telegram ranks fifth for the app Americans most want to delete

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Telegram has raised a few too many eyebrows since its inception. Firstly, the online messaging service’s Telegram chats aren’t encrypted by default. Secondly, according to Wired, Telegram has a serious doxing problem and is a haven for politically motivated vitriol.

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Since it became popular, Telegram has willingly moderated harmful content and messages on its platform, and now it ranks fifth with a negative search volume of 24,810. New Jersey ranked for the highest negative search volume per capita among all analyzed states.

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#Spotifydeleted

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At the start of 2022, the music streaming app Spotify faced a lot of controversies after #ByeByeSpotify and #SpotifyDeleted blew up on social media amid the Joe Rogan uproar. This could explain why Spotify currently sits a firm sixth in our listings with a search volume of 14,560. That said, the search volume is marginal when compared to social giants such as Facebook and Instagram.

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‘Delete Spotify’ reigned supreme in Vermont, yet had minimal search volume in states such as Louisiana and Alabama.

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The rise and fall of TikTok

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When compared to Instagram, TikTok — also known as the app that pioneered a new age of instant attention — has a marginal delete search volume of 14,120. Of those searches, 6,320 were for “delete TikTok account.”

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In November 2022, TikTok caused huge controversy by announcing an update to its privacy policy which would allow employees in both China and other countries access to its European users’ data.

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That said, research has shown that US TikTok users spend around 45.8 minutes a day on the app. Despite the government’s attempts to remove the app, it seems the US just can’t get enough. Even so, our study shows that the app ranks seventh most likely to be deleted.

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Is Linkedin losing links?

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There are many reasons why people may decide to delete the business and employment-focused social media platform LinkedIn. They might be tired of unhealthy competition, constant spam messages, or lack of privacy, for example.

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It seems an increasing number of US residents are edging towards throwing LinkedIn in the trash can, as it takes eighth place on our list with a combined search volume of 8,540: 2,780 searches for “delete app” and 5,760 for “delete account.”

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Tinder sees a decline in its dating game

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Our research suggests that residents in the US are prioritizing more of an IRL (in real life) attitude to the sport. Tinder ranks ninth in our listings, with a combined search volume of 7,980 — including 4,810 searches for “delete Tinder account”. This could be due to the number of privacy risks of using Tinder, or they’ve simply found their match.

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With 890 searches for both “delete app” and “delete account” combined in California, 470 in Florida, 350 in New York and 690 in Texas, it seems there are a number of US residents looking to move the dating app into the trash bin.

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