We lead busy lives. We have important things to do, places to go, kids to pick up, dinner to cook. Mobile apps simplify our lives. Everyone knows YELP. How about these other awesome FREE mobile apps to help manage your day? Here is my round-up of Must-Have FREE Mobile Apps I can’t live without!
GOOGLE NOW (formerly Google App)
Good morning! So you’ve had your coffee and have a busy day ahead. What’s the weather outside? Traffic report? How ’bout the best princess party companies in the city? Tap your Google Now app, formerly the Google App, and get answers instantly. Google Now is quickly becoming a digital leader and life organizer in this mom’s mind! Thanks to the quick access of “Google Cards” with one touch, you don’t even have to search for things like weather and traffic and other go-to items of everyday need.
Google Now
Again, I have to thank the geniuses at Google. (Yeah, you know who you are.) After trying some rather pricey GPS apps (Tom Tom, MotionX, etc. and none to my satisfaction), Google Maps finally went mobile! And it’s awesome! With photos, route options (sorely lacking from other apps like MotionX), street view, voice activated GPS that syncs with bluetooth, and “At a glance” notes like watch out for “dog crap,” this is the BEST MOBILE GPS yet. And it’s FREE!!!
Google Maps
Props to the geniuses at Flipboard who thought, hey, consumers are easily bored and basically just looking at pictures and headlines and swiping to the next. That’s what Flipboard is all about. And it’s fully customizable with your favorite types of content and can integrate with your Facebook and Twitter social feeds. I love it! I get my daily scoop of news and social buzz all at the same time, then flip around for more.
Dropbox is the most efficient save and access your work in the cloud interface I’ve used yet. I have it installed on my personal laptop, phone and iPad and use it interchangably to access my files. In fact, I used it to upload some of the photos on this post!
Dropbox
Wiki-How
Teemo is the most creative, free workout app I’ve seen. The idea is to “teamwork” your way through various virtual exercise challenges like a jungle rescue or climb up Mount Everest. I like the in-app videos that demonstrate how to do each exercise such as “dynamic hamstrings.” It is one of the few free quality workout apps but does require Facebook login.
TEEMO
Planning dinner is always tiresome in my house. We make a lot of chicken dishes. Epicurious is my favorite foodie app because I’m not the most ambitious cook and yet I can easily follow the recipes on it from the convenience of my phone by typing in one key word such as “steak.” Try it, and you will score points with your spouse. “Hey honey, just thought I’d whip up some beer-marinated flank steak with aji and guac tonight!”
Epicurious
Food allergies are extremely serious. Our daughter has peanut allergies, so we have to be extra cautious about everything we eat and bring into the house. INRFOOD is a great app for label scanning and manual brand searching (i.e. Vanilla Wafers) to check ingredients.You can also store allergy information. If you type in something that contains an allergen, like peanuts, from your saved list, you will get this pop-up warning notice. Good thing Butterfinger is NOT on my dessert menu, ha!
INRFOOD
Fandango is my go-to app for movie ticket purchases on the off-chance I can get someone to watch my kid or sneak out. It is super easy to use, accurate, and fast. And I don’t even have to print anything out, which is great since my wireless printer always seems to be “offline” and I’m saving some trees!
Fandango
When I was growing up, my parents had our artwork plastered all over the fridge, cabinets, and doors. It was climbing up the walls of the kitchen like vines. Now that my 3 1/2 year old brings home massive amounts of crap (I mean artwork), I realize the cuteness thing gets old when I have no where to put it and I can’t find my fridge. Thank goodness the thoughtful people at Artkive came up with this app! Now I can take photos of my child’s stunning scribbles and print them into a book as memorabilia. It’s pretty darn cool!
Artkive (Photos Courtesy of The Kive Company)
MyHealthPal, from Advocate Children’s Hospital is an app I discovered by accident but it’s come in handy for checking on sick symptoms. Would love to find some other good free health apps for kids but this one has a decent, basic symptom checker and advice for parents.
MyHealthPal
Being a wife, parent and working professional totally rocks, but we all need to kick back and chill out at the end of a long day. Mixology makes it fun to mix new and favorite past-time drink recipes on your phone. It has a lot of options to become a great bartender in your own home and keep the bubbles flowing!
Mixology
Whew, what a day! So glad I had these great apps to make it easier. 🙂
What are your favorite everyday apps? Let us know in the COMMENTS!
Happy Tech Parenting!
Shoshana Stopek (aka Mommy Tech Bytes)
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