I found this a fascinating and somewhat humorous read:
Please Don’t Make Me Download Another App
For those who can’t access the Atlantic, here is a short excerpt:
Our app-ocalypse is much too far along already. Every crevice of contemporary life has been colonized. At every branch in your life, and with each new responsibility, apps will keep sprouting from your phone. You can’t escape them. You won’t escape them, not even as you die, because—of course—there’s an app for that too.
It pains me when stories portray phone users as victims at the mercy of others, when in the majority of cases it’s not true. Take ownership of your lives people.
People choose whether to download apps
People choose whether to have notifications on
People have a certain amount of agency when sharing information (This one is more tenuous I admit)
Apps are very useful, but If you don’t want an app, don’t download it, use the website (i use this for plenty of things), vote with your feet.
I’ve always worked to keep my app count relatively low. I want my phone to be fairly clean, the same way I run any of my computers.
I have a significant number of apps, although I’m pretty sure I’m in the median here. For example, I have apps from my two insurance companies (home, car). I for sure don’t know why would I intend to use the app instead of the web. There is also a macular degeneration test app that I haven’t used in ages (it just displays an Amsler Grid, which is cool but hey i have one as a fridge magnet). A couple of airline apps. Three food delivery apps. Most of them i don’t use, and i could happily delete. But the issue is not the numbers per se, and I dn’t event think the apps generate any cruft (not even storage space, as iOS offloads them). The issue is with the mind space they take. I have notifications disabled for all of them (except Messages, Whatsapp, Calendar, and my banks).
I have 70, including Apple’s default apps, on my iPhone. 90 on my iPad.
I occasionally delete apps that I haven’t used in some time. But it’s never been something I worry about.
I use widgets to keep my devices simple. My iPhone has three widgets on the Home Screen, three on the second screen, and two small ones on the third. There are also 10 apps on the third.
I have 12 widgets on my iPad home screen, and 12 apps and one folder in the dock. Everything else is in the app library.
I rarely use a Mac since I retired and rely on apps for many of the services I use, banking, uber, insurance, etc. But most of these stay in the App Library, out of sight, until I need them.
I don’t mind any number of actual apps, but what’s been getting to me lately are all of the little utility app for things in the “real world.”
I’ve bought several brands of smart home products, and each of them requires a separate app to control specific features. I can never free-recall offhand which exact app controls which specific device. It’s vexing.
My hope is that standards and OS conventions will turn this tide back in the coming years. I suspect that articles like the OP are an indication that we are near (or maybe even past) “peak app”. 
I’ve tried a number of smart home device too, and found them all lacking decent controls.
That’s because no one, Amazon, Apple, or Google, etc. thinks it is worth investing in an excellent smart home management system, IMO.
Siri does a fair job of managing eight smart bulbs in my home. I won’t be asking “her” to manage anything else.
and found them all lacking decent controls
Indeed, that has been my experience, not one that worked well as I saw it for sure. I no longer even try them, too much work. Ironically given that they are meant to be ‘labor’ saving. I am however turning into a Luddite. 
As a software developer, I think it’s great! 
But seriously though, it is a net benefit that software can replace so many things that used to require a dedicated device to accomplish. Typewriter, phone, stereo, just to name a few.
That’s part of the reason I got started with Home Assistant. Now I don’t use any of the smart device apps!
And in terms of the number of apps - I’ve recently ordered an EV as my new company car for my new role. However, I’ve downloaded maybe 10-12 charging apps already for the different chargers, which is ridiculous, as I might need to stop at one of their chargers. It seems most chargers won’t provide a receipt which I need for mileage claims unless I use their app! It seems I might be saved as my energy provider, Octopus, has an app and RFID card that links to my bill and is usable on a whole number of different firms chargers.
Just because there are a lot of apps doesn’t mean anyone has to install them all. Hardly anyone buys all the tools in Home Depot or even knows about everything in their full inventory. Similarly, you don’t need to go looking for an app until there’s something you want to do with it.
(For those who live in countries where it doesn’t operate, Home Depot is a major chain of big-box home improvement stores that sell to both contractors and homeowners.)
CHEERS! (plus twenty characters)
Agreed! I have Meross, Aqara, Google Home (for 1 device), etc etc. some of which may resolve with Matter but who knows how long that will take.
I have six apps on my phone to track my two kids’ schoolwork, grades, notifications, and extracurriculars. And they’re in the same school.
I’m not even sure what one of them is supposed to do for me.
Ive been device splitting a lot for various tasks. Except for a chess app and a sudoku app I do not game on any Apple Devices full stop. I have a Switch and an XBox for such things. Except for Facebook Messenger I do not have any social media apps on my phone and if I choose to engage I do so through a browser. Email is reserved for the iPad so that I dont have email on my phone. Outside of that it’s a combination of audio apps (Music, Overcast, Audible, Hoopla and Libby) the Dunkin app for rewards, Reeder for RSS, and a few productivity apps and thats it. I keep it fairly minimal.
Matter (and Apple Home) will give you basic functionality on most devices which are designed for those standards, but there will always be functionality which Manufacturers include which is not supported by the Core standards, wo we’ll always need those Manufacturer’s apps sadly.
The standards won’t be able to keep up.
This, but for audio and photography gear. The website and owner’s manual for every piece of equipment I buy exhorts me to download an app to help me manage it. When I’m trying to set up a shot I do not want to fire up one app to manage my flash trigger and another to manage the flash itself and a third to do something with the camera. They all have LCD screens and buttons on them, for heaven’s sake. If those were well-thought out (and they usually aren’t) there would be no need to resort to an app.
I try to limit the number of apps I use. I will ocassionally download apps for a quick peek, but if it’s not obvious on how they improve on my current workflows, then I quickly delete them. There are some exceptions that require some time to test (e.g., Devonthink 3), but I am pretty guarded on what I keep on my hard drive.