Since getting my smartphone, an iPhone 4S, back in November, I’ve quickly moved into the 2010s with everyone else. I can now receive email through my phone (no more waiting for an hour on dialup to load email!), text more often because it’s easier, and most importantly, make use of great apps.
But great apps for any smartphone aren’t just the social networking apps or the games, as I’ve found out. Below are the apps I’ve used to literally revolutionize my life–all of them are free, and most of them have both iPhone and Android versions!
Alarmed
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This little app has transformed the way I complete tasks and keep up with obligations. I have used it so far to keep up with household chores, pet flea treatments, meetings, reminders to do small tasks, and tons of other stuff. Now my house stays cleaner, things get done on time, and Mr. Kitty stays flea-free! I find that it’s a much more organized reminder app than the onboard Reminders app for iPhone–you can see your reminders organized by day instead of the haphazard way you entered them into the app, which for me is a big bonus.
Recently there’s been a big fuss about Alarmed dropping its “alarm clock” feature, but I find that the app is great even without the alarm clocks; plus, there’s a separate alarm clock app by the same developer, so you can download that as well. All in all, a wonderful free app. |
Flashlight
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Before I found this app, I used to trip and stumble trying to get into my house every evening. Living deep in the forest, with no outdoor lighting to speak of and lots of tree roots crisscrossing the yard, made it an adventure just trying to get into the house at all, never mind getting in without a broken ankle. With this app, which uses the flash from the iPhone’s camera to provide light, I can now see easily and avoid any obstacles.
This is a very handy thing to have, not just for navigating tough front yards, but for finding small lost objects under furniture, for changing your tire on the side of the road…you name it! You can dial the brightness up or down, and turn it off in-app when you don’t need it anymore. The other cool thing? It’s got a compass included! |
Google Chrome
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Okay, okay, I know, what is an iPhone user doing using a mobile version of Chrome? Simple: because Safari is slow as molasses for no reason. I downloaded Chrome after a few weeks of using Safari on the iPhone, and haven’t looked back; it loads faster, doesn’t take up near as much memory (it seems) as Safari does, and I have the option to go Incognito with my tabs if I so wish. (Now if I could just make Chrome my default browser on the iPhone, we’d be ALL good to go. LOL) |
RedLaser
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For saving money, RedLaser is a great little app. Scan a barcode off any item with your phone camera, and RedLaser will tell you what the cheapest price is for online shopping and local shopping. Using this app, I saw that I could save 3 bucks off my favorite deodorant just by buying it online, and could save almost 4 bucks on cat food by buying it from a different store than usual. These days, saving a few dollars here or there is a BIG bonus! |
Echofon for Twitter
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I never thought I’d find an app that let me access all my Twitter accounts through one interface without logging out and back in. But Echofon does exactly that–it helps me manage my Twitter accounts for my various websites, lets me know when new people have followed or mentioned me on any of them, and I can post and read Tweets as normal. It’s been a real time-saver!
(Admittedly, I don’t know if the regular Twitter app does this or not–I could never get the Twitter for iPhone app to download, so I went with this one instead. I’ve been happy with Echofon’s performance, though!) |
BibleGateway
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For those of you who want to have a quick reference for Bible verses literally at your fingertips, the BibleGateway app (from biblegateway.com) is a must-have. I find myself using this during church sermons, when I need to follow along with the pastor’s Bible verse references (and when I need to keep myself on-task, lol). All you have to do is open the app and search for the book, chapter, and verse you want, and the verse appears within its context! You can also choose which translation you want, or you can start reading the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, all within the app itself. |
ScanLife
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For all those neat QR codes you see posted everywhere, here’s the scanning app I use. It scans even in low light, and not only takes you to the page the QR code leads to, but also lets you share to Facebook, see what codes other people have scanned, and keeps a history of the past codes you’ve scanned in. (You can also make your own QR code for your contact info!) |
MacHash
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If you own any Apple products (like the iPhone), MacHash is a wonderful news aggregator for everything pertaining to the Mac brand. Pulling from several dozen Mac-news websites, it arranges them by most recent, and you can easily scroll through, reading headlines. When you find a page you like, just click on it to see a quick summary, and then go on to read the full article if you so choose.
Don’t think this sounds all that exciting? For the iPhone, at least, this app has served as a troubleshooter–for instance, I had a weird problem with the Do Not Disturb feature not turning on properly. I read a few articles, learned how to fix it, and in 5 minutes’ time the issue was resolved! Moral of the story: having a mobile news source for mobile technology can definitely be a good thing! |
IMDB
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Being able to pull up info on movies and TV shows without having to open a web browser first? EXCELLENT. The interface for the IMDB app is clean and easy to navigate, and provides you not only with the search function for the database, but also movie showtimes near you, featured articles, and the message boards as well. Great for impromptu movie outings as well as proving your friends wrong (or right) about a movie or TV show. |
