????這是一個各類移動應用井噴的世界。面向蘋果和安卓(Android)設備的應用已經達到100多萬個，包括食譜、健身、辦公和購物等各個門類。許多應用聲稱可以讓你的生活變得更簡單，并且可以節省你人生最寶貴的財富——時間。

????但它們是否真的能做到這一點？

????居住在溫哥華的個人效率顧問埃莉?戴維斯指出：“很多人過于忙碌，不堪重負。我們都在尋找一些自身之外的東西來減輕自己的負擔。”戴維斯專門向客戶提供時間管理輔導，但她從來不向客戶推薦任何一款效率應用，甚至經常建議他們不要使用這些應用。理由如下：

????首先，市面上的效率應用數量太多，很多應用關注的是非常細分的領域。TECHnalysis Research公司創始人兼首席分析師鮑伯?奧唐奈爾表示：“這個行業沒有進入門檻。”為了在已經十分擁擠的應用生態系統中打造一個能夠立足的產品，開發者們“往往想要開發一個獨特且醒目的東西，所以它往往會關注一個特定問題。”

????鑒于這些細分市場非常小眾，哪怕是一些非常流行的應用所試圖解決的問題，也未必能夠消耗普通人大量時間。比如，如果你在一個新城市住酒店，能知道附近哪兒有一家好吃的匹薩店，固然是挺不錯的；但酒店的迎賓同樣也能告訴你。在手機上看一份共享的購物清單，可能確實比打電話給老婆問她需要買什么東西方便一點點，但在大多數人的生活中，節約兩分鐘的意義并不大。何況你節省下來的這兩分鐘還要花在查看收件箱上。你甚至可能把你的人生都浪費在收件箱上。給你老婆打個電話難道不是更加愉悅的體驗嗎？

????不可否認，很多人的確很依賴移動應用。如果你到了一個陌生的城市，谷歌地圖(Google Maps)會很有用。酒店的迎賓會告訴你大致方向，但沒法坐在你的車里給你導航。通過銀行應用，你只需要給你的支票照張相就可以存錢，而不用開車到網點辦理。如果你在一家商店里想購買一款商品，一個能派發優惠券的應用能讓你省些錢。從長期來看，這也相當于節省了時間。

????雖然很多應用開發者瞄準的都是小眾市場，但也有些開發者意識到，做一個包羅萬象的應用對人的幫助更大。比如Journl是一款來自英國的效率應用，它綜合了清單、日歷、筆記等功能，旨在讓人們擺脫混雜的系統：日歷在一個地方，便簽擺放在桌子上，清單在另一個應用中。Journl公司營銷總監里娜?漢森表示：“我們用一點清晰和條理取代了這種混亂。”

????這種通過減少應用總數來節省時間的方法其實是很重要的。因為即便某個應用的確具有某種好處，很多復雜的應用混雜在一起，也會產生一個時間成本。奧唐奈爾指出：“這么多的應用，你怎么可能做到一切盡在掌握呢？”安裝一款應用需要時間，讓你的生活適應這些應用也需要時間。“如果你發現這種情況符合你的實際情況，那當然好，但那很難。”

????The universe has exploded with apps. There are over 1 million available for Apple AAPL 0.37% products and for Android devices: recipe apps, fitness apps, productivity apps, shopping apps. Many claim they will streamline your life and save that most precious commodity: time.

????But will they? Can they?

????“So many people are over-busy and overwhelmed. We’re looking for things outside of ourselves to ease our burden,” says Ali Davies, a Vancouver-based personal effectiveness coach who works with clients on time management issues. She almost never recommends a productivity app to a client. In fact, she often recommends the opposite, for several reasons.

????First, because there are so many of them, many apps focus on something very specific. “There are no barriers to entry,” says Bob O’Donnell, who studies the technology marketplace as founder and chief analyst of TECHnalysis Research. To make a viable product in a crowded eco-system, a developer “wants to have something unique, that sticks out, that focuses on a very specific issue.”

????Since these niches are, well, small, problems that even popular apps attempt to solve may not be huge issues that devour people’s time. For instance, if you’re in a hotel in a new city, it’s nice to know there’s a good pizza place nearby. But your hotel concierge can tell you that too. A waiter can tell you what entrees other diners have enjoyed. It may be marginally more efficient to look at a shared grocery list compared with calling your spouse to ask if she needs anything, but in most people’s lives, saving two minutes doesn’t help much. You’ll spend those additional two minutes in your inbox. You could spend your life in your inbox. How much more pleasant to call your spouse instead?

????To be sure, plenty of people do swear by their apps. If you’re in an unfamiliar city, Google Maps is helpful; the hotel concierge can give you directions but isn’t going to tag along in your car. Banking apps that let you take pictures of checks to deposit them save a drive to the branch. If you’re in a store and want to purchase an item, an app that generates coupons can save you money. In the long run, that amounts to saving time as well.

????While many app-makers aim for niches, others have realized that being all-inclusive is likely more helpful. Journl, a productivity app that originated in the UK, combines list making, calendars, notes, etc., with the goal of getting people out of hybrid systems: a calendar one place, random post-it notes on a desk, lists in a separate app, and so forth. “We’re replacing all that chaos with a bit of clarity and calm,” says Lina Hansson, Journl’s chief marketing officer.

????This goal of minimizing the total number of apps you use is important for saving time, because even if any one app has benefit, volume produces a cost in clutter and complication. “There are so many of them, how can you possibly keep track of them?” O’Donnell asks. Setting up an app takes time, as does adjusting your life to the app’s process. “If you find one that works for your style, great,” he says, “but that’s tough.”