13 Apps That Will Change Your Life
Anyone else spend their weekend cleaning up their apps and categorising them in neat little coded squares? Me neither, but I did manage to delete those four or so pages that you never swipe open because everything you actually need sits on your first screen anyway. That inspired me to pull together this list. Consider it more of a round-up of suggestions rather than a definitive list of life-assisting apps. Some are free, some are that annoying app price that ends in .99 cents. And please, let me know if there is an app you can’t live without. I have one small spot left on my phone’s first page and I’d like to close it off with a good one!
Wakie | Alarm
You may have woken up with Alarmy for a while now and want to switch it up. Or you might live alone and are considering letting some extra personalities in to share your morning. Spin the wheel and start each day with greetings from a new person. Will you be woken up by a Polish student or a hot-sounding Scotsman? Maybe tomorrow it will be a Spanish fireman on his lunch break.
File under connecting with other humans any way you can.
One Giant Mind | Selfcare
Jonnie Pollard teaches meditation and keeps you on the wagon with his genuinely free app. It’s solid. It’s not overly noble or sappy. You can swap between a female and male voice, there are three types of music (or silence) to meditate to, and I have nothing but gratitude for this. Position it right next to your other dailies like BOM and Spotify.
File under the one app that is truly good for the world.
Psych! and The Truth Comes Out | Games
Can’t find where you have put Rummikub? Sick of feeling sick over the Cards of Humanity Q&A combos? Generally bored with board games? Roast and toast your friends and family with Psych!, best played with three or more. The Truth Comes Out is an unlikely discovery on Ellen DeGeneres’ digital game platform, Ellen Tube. It’s just so good.
File under pure self-drive (and FREE!) after-dinner entertainment.
Picture This | Floral
Some people like to get into wine at middle age, others like to self-educate with botanicals. Both are solid choices, but one is healthier than the other. Imagine you’re taking a morning walk and an intoxicating flower pulls your vision into pin focus. What is this? How have you walked past it every day and not noticed? One uploaded pic later and the Latin name as well as store name and best conditions are listed. Like Shazam, but for plants.
File under recreation and joy.
Moonly | The Cosmos
Who doesn’t love an affirmation? I prefer to take mine minus the art direction and just full of intent, but I know others really love a considered font and digestible placement, and Moonly gives you this as the bonus to its daily moon updates so you can plan your witching hour.
File under I am a proud manifesting witch who finds satisfaction in art-directed affirmation graphics.
Toshl Finance & Level Money | Finance
Fiscal management and its diametric opposite – internet shopping –are undoubtedly the most popular app sectors. I use Toshl for expense tracking and budget management, while Level delivers me the reality of how much spending I have left, complete with me-friendly graphics.
File under R for realism.
Vivino | Wine
I don’t drink but the older I get, the more know-it-all I become. With every friend and almost every family member describing themselves as “wine lovers” in the first line of their bio, this app lets me scan a label and get all the good guff. (You can also add a crate to your cart if you want.) The app is free but the buying option makes it potentially expensive.
File under is this just a wine shop disguised as an education platform? With such good and worthwhile padding, who cares?
Pocket Universe | The Universe
Every night something remarkable happens in the sky and Pocket Universe is here for it all. No third-dimensional vortex here, just stunningly beautiful inspiration of our wonderful planet. Many ways to deep-dive this, from entry-level feel-good interactions to leaderboard inclusions for those that want to geek out.
File under free ways to remind yourself of how insignificant we really are.
Runpee | Entertainment
When to leave the cinema to have a pee is what this app is about. If you do need to make a pit stop, Runpee will tell you what you missed while you were gone. It also lets you know if there is anything worth waiting for after the credits have run for those that relish those little extra nuggets. Thank you Runpee.
File under Q for quirky.
Measure | Make Your Bag Lighter
“Cut once, measure twice” just doesn’t seem to fit in today’s mad rush, quick-fix life, but as someone who measures Tupperware for shelving purposes for a living, I’ve found the Measure app that comes on an iPhone good for all sorts of things. I use it not just for styling jobs – getting the length of a dog for a client’s dog bed or a good guesstimate for the fabric for someone’s curtains – but also the size of my kids’ feet. I do miss that noise when the metal tape measure snaps itself back into the case, but it’s better than looking for your tape measure only to realise you left it back on that last shelf.
File under like a piece of clothing, if you use it once a month it deserves its spot on your phone.
Trello | Life Management
I have a sister who takes whiteboards on holidays (travel size). She mystifies me generally. We took a holiday together last year and I went downstairs on the first morning to find her surrounded by coffee cups, two travel whiteboards, an earpiece and a block of colour-coding Post-it notes. She uses Trello. Now I do, too.
File under not having it all but maximising what you do have.
Words _ Megan Morton
Photo_ Denise Duplinski/Pexels