There may be an app for everything these days, but not all apps are created equal. Some apps will add value to your life, making you more productive or helping you improve in some meaningful way. Other apps, well, they'll have the opposite effect.

We have compiled a list of 15 popular apps guaranteed to waste your time. We're not saying whether they're good, bad, or even indifferent, but they're likely to suck away your spare time to such a degree you may regret ever having installed them in the first place.

Time-Wasting Mobile Apps

2048

http://youtu.be/00Qu1kgsGpM

2048 is a rather addictive single-player puzzle game which sees you sliding numbered tiles across a board in an effort to reach the fabled 2048. The different versions of 2048 are fun, but the original will suck your life away without mercy.

Reddit Sync

You can’t? ???? “@joenerssessian: I wish I could just endlessly scour @reddit for my dissertation…”

— reddit (@reddit) February 24, 2015

Reddit Sync is just one of the various ways of browsing Reddit on your smartphone. You're likely to either love or hate Reddit, but once you have been sucked into its weird and wonderful vortex it's almost impossible to escape.

Imgur

The ultimate act of desperation. http://t.co/6MgLAPP8GU pic.twitter.com/e6ZTCdbZx2

— Imgur (@imgur) February 24, 2015

Imgur is an online hosting service for images, hence the name. It's where you'll find more viral images and memes than your little brain can handle, which is why it might just be advisable to steer clear altogether lest you lose hours of your life.

Instagram

http://youtu.be/sXpno7-qbHk

Instagram is the social networking app built around photos and videos. Now owned by Facebook, which paid $1 billion for the privilege, Instagram is almost as addictive as the tech giant which owns it. But more on that later.

WhatsApp

Oh you have whatsapp... Then why are you writing on each others walls on facebook?

— Yaaseen Barnes (@Ya_a_seen_Him) February 24, 2015

If you want to message people these days you'll probably do so using WhatsApp, which allows smartphone users to message each other without the need to use SMS. The problem is you're unlikely to talk about anything remotely useful.

9GAG

taking a nap is always so risky like when will I wake up? in thirty minutes? in 2 hours? in 7 years?? no one can be sure

— 9GAG (@9GAG) February 24, 2015

Funny images, videos, GIFs, comic strips, and memes are the order of the day on 9GAG, and the mobile app is just as compelling as the website which spawned it. Open it just before bed at your peril, as you'll still be there several hours later.

Trivia Crack

http://youtu.be/5GhrmfLGakQ

Trivia Crack is essentially a cartoonish mobile version of Trivial Pursuit. Although I'm sure the Trivia Crack legal team would like us to point out there are some significant differences between the two. There are, but Trivia Crack is no less addictive.

Flightradar24

It's an odd senation tracking your partner's transatlantic flight on flightradar

— Sarah M (@petit_morsel) February 24, 2015

Whether or not you travel by air often, seeing just how many planes are swilling around in the skies above our heads will surprise you. And seeing them flying into and out of your local airports via Flightradar24 will likely enthrall you for hours on end.

StumbleUpon

Terrible at remembering names? Blame it on the music, not the memory:

— StumbleUpon (@StumbleUpon) February 16, 2015

StumbleUpon features endless amounts of interesting Web content curated for your pleasure. Not all of it will be to your liking, but stumbling through to the next random website or article is a rather thrilling experience. Pointless, but thrilling.

Angry Birds

http://youtu.be/PWvSkLycN4g

There isn't much left to be said about Angry Birds, a game which I myself was addicted to for several months. But I got over the compulsion to fling stupid birds at even more stupid pigs, and so can you. The first step is admitting you have a problem.

Flow Free

I solved Regular Pack, 5x5 level 20 in Flow Free perfectly! Can you? #flowfree pic.twitter.com/JLXH1FQsSB

— Lesa M. Chisenga (@LeleMonica) February 24, 2015

What could be easier than connecting pipes of different colors together, without crossing the streams? Nothing, they said, knowingly. But I knew different, as I had played Flow Free and given myself a headache trying to figure it all out.

Yik Yak

http://youtu.be/PCbJw905Rps

Yik Yak is a rather compelling anonymous social networking app which groups you in with other users based on your location. You can then Yak about anything and everything to your heart's content without fear of having your words come back to haunt you.

Words With Friends

I need to delete Words With Friends, my phone keeps buzzing from it and it's giving me delusions that people do occasionally message me :')

— Hannah (@Hannah_Marie_39) February 24, 2015

Despite being several years old and having been superseded by other apps, Words With Friends continues to be popular. It's kinda like Scrabble on crack, except that because you're playing on your mobile it saps more of your precious time away than the age-old board game.

Plurk

Wait, Plurk still exists?

— David E. Wheeler (@theory) February 16, 2015

Plurk is Twitter for those who think Twitter is somehow too user-friendly and attractive. OK, that may be a little cruel, but the comparisons between the two are obvious, and both are also capable of sucking time away like they're twin babies drinking milk.

Facebook

http://youtu.be/8UouP8cRYZ8

I'm sure I don't really need to tell you about Facebook. The chances are you're one of the 1.3 billion people currently using the social network. But is using Facebook really doing you any good? I doubt it very much. Delete your account, delete the app, and claw back that lost time to do something more interesting and/or worthwhile.

Continue the Conversation

We think that's a strong list of mobile apps that, if you value your spare time, you would do well to avoid using. It's not that they're bad apps in any way, but they are virtually guaranteed to suck your life away, leaving you little to show for the time you have devoted to them. Of course you should install them at your discretion, but do yourself a favor and keep an eye on the time you waste on these suckers.

Please continue the conversation in the comments section below. While a good number of our readers and authors took part in the original discussion, there is always room for more opinions. Do you agree with the mobile apps selected for the list? If not, then please add your own suggestions to the conversation happening below. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers here, just opinions.

A Debt of Gratitude

In order to compile this list of mobile apps guaranteed to waste significant chunks of your life, we received help from the MakeUseOf community. As always, our readers proved to be an invaluable part of the site you’re reading right now.

The readers we need to thank took the time to answer the question, What Mobile Apps Do You Waste the Most Time Using?, and their responses helped us compile this article. Noteworthy comments include those from Suleiman, Kwacka, and our own Taylor Bolduc.

Image Credit: John Goode via Flickr