8 App Recommendations That Will Make Your Life Better
There’s an app for that. That line from this 2009 Apple commercial not only helped launch the iPhone into the stratosphere by making the basic concept of apps understandable to the everyman (speaking human, if you will), nearly a decade later it’s moved beyond great marketing to become something pretty close to the truth.
As of March 2017, Statista reports there are 2.2 million apps available in the Apple App Store and 2.8 million apps available to Android users via the Google Play Store. That’s a lot of apps—and it’s made finding an app for almost every need or problem a reality. At this point if you ever think to yourself “there should be an app for that”, there’s a good chance there is.
That’s a pretty cool thing. But it can also create some challenges. Finding new and valuable apps in a vast ocean of apps of varying quality isn’t always easy. That’s why the best method of finding new apps to check out remains the old-fashioned way: Recommendations.
Whether you’re an app hoarder (feeling the need to grab every app you have even remote interest in) or an app minimalist (preferring to keep your smartphone screen a clean and tidy), here are some useful apps you may want to check out…
8 Apps You May Not Be Using Yet (But Should Be)
On this recent episode of the Speaking Human podcast, we shared our picks for some semi-mainstream-but-also-somewhat-underused apps that get our seal of approval. Here are our recommendations—along with a little bit of info on why you may find these apps valuable:
1. 1Password
If you haven’t put 1Password on your phone yet, you should. This app stores all of your passwords and sensitive data, and can help you generate new and better passwords for various logins. You can use it on your desktop, laptop, or smartphone, and it stores all the information you have in a virtual vault. The thing that’s so great about this app is it makes passwords both more easily accessible and more secure, which are things may people struggle with on a day-today basis.
2. JustWatch
JustWatch is a fantastic app for cord cutters who struggle to find and keep up with what’s new on streaming. The app allows you to note what streaming services you have and get a daily update of what movies and shows are new to those platforms that day. You can also see what content is currently popular from your “channels”, and keep a list of things you want to watch across platforms.
3. Snapseed
Though the name doesn’t totally imply it, Snapseed is a photo-editing application. It was developed by Nik Software, released in 2011, and it’s now owned by Google. This free app is a really fantastic option for those who want a little more control over the photos they take on their phones. It has filter capabilities like Instagram, it lets you place text on your photos, and you can do cool vignettes.This app is available for both Android and iOS devices.
4. Nowait
If you’re not a fan of waiting for tables at restaurants, Nowait is the app for you. Basically, you open the app, pick your restaurant, see how long the current wait times are, and add yourself or your party to the waiting list. You can then use to the app to monitor your progress—including how many people are in front of you on the list. This allows you to time it so you arrive at a restaurant just before your table is ready, rather than waiting. While the app doesn’t work with all restaurants, it’s definitely worth checking out to see if any of your favorite restaurants support it because it’s incredibly convenient.
5. Feedly
Feedly is a news aggregating that is cross-platform and can be used on web browsers, tablets and smartphones. This is a great app for anyone who wants their news to come to them. Unlike the native news apps inside your phone, with Feedly you can basically aggregate news for almost any source. So if you read Wired for example you can have that come in, which is a pretty mainstream news site. But you can also add something a little more obscure like The Gouda Life food blog. So instead of having to go out to many sites individually, you can just go to one app to get all your news and info.
6. Google Photos
This app is a great place to keep your photos without taking up space on your phone (it’s cloud-based with unlimited storage). So if you frequently go to take photos and get a storage-full message, Google Photos offers a practical and free solution (Google smartly promoted this benefit in its marketing). In addition to saving precious smartphone space, the app organizes your photos in categories like people, places, things, videos, etc.; enables you to make collages and photo collage videos; allows you to edit photos and add filters; and provides a way to share photos.
7. Letterboxd
Another entertainment-based app, Letterboxd is essentially a social network for movie fans. You can use it to keep track of the movies you watch, rate or review movies, and make movies lists (for example, “favorite movies of the year” or “Harrison Ford movies ranked by how much he wants to get off his plane”). You can also keep a list of movies you want to watch, and follow other users to see their movie ratings and reviews. It’s feature-rich and pretty easy to use.
8. 1 Second Everyday
1 Second Everyday is a paid app (it costs $4.99) and the idea behind it is you record a one-second video of your life every day and use that to create a four-minute video of your year. This is a really cool idea that essentially movie-izes your life. The founder of the app, Cesar Kuriyama, says “Being able to relive every single day has provided me with a treasured perspective on life. It holds me accountable for making each day notable. When I turn 40, I’ll have a 1 hour compilation that encapsulates my 30s. If I live to see 80 years of age, I’ll have a 5-hour video that summarizes 50 years of my life.”
Have a great, unsung app you want to recommend? Share it in the comments below or hit us up on Twitter.
