I got an iPhone for Christmas and I had no idea what I was missing before this handheld obsession appeared in my life. When they say there is an app for that - they are not kidding! I had no idea the vast array of cool options out there just waiting to be loaded onto my phone. It's basically become an addiction for me. So after getting my app collection to the impressive (or embarrassing) total of 352 in just one month, (don't panic...most of them were free or lite versions) I have complied a list of my favorite apps. These are the ones that keep me entertained and a little saner. To my fellow iPhone users - I hope that you find some of the some of them useful too!Waketunes (FREE): This app makes it easy to set an alarm to wake you each morning and it lets you pick the song you want to hear from your iTunes library. I beats the basic sounds that come standard with your phone and I love being able to wake up to something that makes me happy. When you are as far from a morning person as I am - every little bit helps.
TVStatus ($1.99): I watch so much tv I should be ashamed. We typically have 4 shows recording at once. The whole DVR invention was probably the coolest gadget I had ever beheld. I do run into schedule conflicts and I have a tough time tracking my shows. This cool little app will keep up with all your favorite shows, show you what time they are airing that night, and keep you updated when the next new episode will be on. It also has things like episode summaries and what not but all I care about is being able to open it up and see what shows need to be taped tonight so that I can double check the dvrs (one gets 2 shows upstairs and one 2 shows downstairs - it's important to make sure they are not conflicting). I realize this might be more excessive then the majority of the world but if you want to know when the next new episode of your favorite show will be on - it will count it down. Gossip Girl will be in on in exactly 32 days. See that - knowledge is power.
Shazam (FREE): This is the coolest thing. Whenever you hear a song that you like - you just click the tag now button inside the app and it will tell you the name/artist of the song. It even lets you buy the song from iTunes. I have found so many songs I love this way. It told me the song on the Dear John preview that I am now totally obsessed with. It also settles many an argument between my husband and I about song artists. It feels so good to be right...
TinyTrax ($0.99): When I first saw this app I thought how boring to click different train cars and engines and then watch it run across a track. Boring for me, yes - insanely exciting for my son: absolutely! He can play this for hours, seriously, hours. He thinks it is really amazing to make super long trains that take 30+ minutes to go across the tracks. He then sits their entranced with his creation. If you have a train loving child - this is the ultimate app for them and you. It makes shopping an actual option in my life.
Pandora (FREE): So much better than listening to the usual radio stations. You actual create your own radio stations by telling Pandora an artist you love. The songs you hear are either by that artist or by artists that are similar. I have discovered so many songs I love this way and I don't have to listen to commercials!
Redbox (FREE): Did I mention that in addition to tv I am obsessed with movies. Every Tuesday the new releases come out and I used to drive to quite a few different locations trying to track down the new title I was searching for. When you use the redbox app it will locate the movie you are looking for at the location closet to you. It even lets you reserve it so that when you get there all you have to do is swipe your card and watch the machine spit it out.
Plushed ($1.99): This game is just so cute. I love the graphics and I get completely sucked into it. It has a many levels to explore and accomplish. For the price it is by far one of my favorite games!
Kideos (FREE): This is youtube for kids. It's super easy for them to use and it lets you filter the results by age range. You no longer have to worry about the videos they are clicking on and they don't even have to know how to write. It pulls up a great selection of quality videos for your child to watch - they also have a website version by the way. Keeps both of my children entertained. They love the video of the diaper clad baby shaking his groove thing to Beyonce.
Mail Notifier ($0.99): This creates push alerts each time I get an email. I no longer need to open the my email every time I get a message just to learn what it is. The push alert tells me the sender and the heading, sometimes more, and prevents me from checking my email because someone wants me to cash their check so they can return to Africa.
Movies ($2.99): Back to my movie addiction - currently we have 543 movies in our home. They are stored in alphabetically order in little sleeves in filing boxes. I basically forget what we have once they are in my movie system. Movies lets you keep an easily searchable database of all the movies you own. It will even let you log out the movies that you have lent out. I created a make believe friend called "newbie" and whenever we add a movie we have never seen to our collection I pretend to lend it to her. Then I can filter the search to show all movies lent to newbie and it's easy to see all the titles we have to choose from that we have yet to enjoy. I can also filter the movies to show only kid titles and let my son choose what he would like to watch. It even prevents me from picking up another copy of a Thomas the Train movie we already own (since we have like 22 - I have a hard time keeping them straight).
Flixster (FREE): You can check movie show times, watch trailers, find out what's new on DVD, and even manage your netflix queue.
Gomi ($2.99): This earth friendly ball rolls all over the place cleaning up garbage and replacing it with pretty flowers. Might sound strange but it is oddly peaceful and insanely addicting. I just love to watch the flowers grow!
Holy Bible (FREE): Much easier than remembering to tote my bible plus it lets me highlight and take notes. You can easily view all the highlighted sections and all your notes. When I take notes in my Bible I tend to forget where each passage is or lose track of what I highlighted. This app makes it simple to keep up with all that you learned and thought or that verse that you wanted to show a friend.
Drop7 ($2.99): I love games and this one is a great one. I like the style of it and I love trying to clear all the rows. Basically you have numbers 1-7 and 7x7 spaces. You decide where each number should fall and if there is only 1 in a row and you put the number 1 there it will go away. You get the idea.
Alphabetic ($1.99): I like this one for my son. Its look and find with abc's. You have to find each letter in the order of the alphabet. You can play it with or without the timer. If your child is playing - turn the timer off to prevent frustration.
Audio Puzzle ($1.99): This game takes your music and turns it into a puzzle. You have put the puzzle together by listening to the various pieces (which are clips of your song) and arranging them the way the song should play. It's a fun way to listen to your music and harder than you might expect.
Polarize (FREE): I always wanted a polaroid camera and with this app I kinda have one. You can turn any photo in your library to look like a polaroid or take a new picture to look like one. You can even write on the bottom of the polaroid image.PandoraBox (FREE): It can be tricky to find the apps that go on sale each day and I get so frustrated when I miss a great deal. This app shows you what went to free and what is cheaper. I have to check it daily.
Klondike Solitaire ($1.99): I just love solitaire. Who doesn't? I can play it for hours trying to get out of the red.
Zen Bound ($1.99): There is something so tranquil about this one. I feel calmer each time I play it. I don't know what it is about winding the twine around objects but it calms my soul. No joke...the music might help as well.
PathPix ($1.99): You create pictures by drawing colored lines from the 6 to the 6 (but it can only cover 6 squares) or the 2 to the 2 and so on. It starts off really simple but be warned some of the puzzles will have you scratching your head in confusion.
BeGOOD! ($1.99): This is a great way to create a positive reinforcement system for your child. It lets you set up point goals which we let Connor decide the prizes for and then it tracks the amount of points your child earns. It also allows you to create a list of tasks that earn points. Connor gets points for cleaning up his toys, setting the table, etc.. and he loses points for lying, whining, and getting out of his bed at night. Since my phone never leaves my side - it is easy to constantly keep things updated. It will also let you create profiles for several kids. I'm tempted to give one to my hubby.
Momento ($2.99): This is like a new age diary. You can still write journal entries but now you can take/use photos in each entry and it will automatically pull your facebook updates and twitter tweets into your daily journal. It's really cool to be able to look at all that in one place and I for one, am not too old for a diary yet. It even lets you password protect your thoughts.
CardStar (FREE): I can never remember to carry my Kroger plus card, library card, even my blockbuster card. CardStar lets you put in the information on all of your cards (not credit or debit) and then it creates a scanable barcode on your phone for each one. You don't need to carry any of those cards anymore. Just hand them the image on your phone and you are good to go. Pretty soon I think you will only need your iPhone and car keys when you leave the house.
Awesome Note ($3.99): This is the place where I keep up with all my reviews to do, my ideas, my notes from my job, travel plans, shopping lists, basically everything. I am paper free. It lets you create folders to organize all your notes and all the different background options make it cute & fun. It is a very helpful way to stay organized.
Web Feeds ($0.99): I follow a lot of blogs and this app works with your google reader to display them on your phone. My favorite feature is the option to collect the posts you like and then email them to yourself or a friend.
BargainBin (FREE): Another great app for discovering whats on sale in the app store. The cool thing about this one is you can set up a watch list for the apps that you really want. If the go on sale for the price you set - it will send you a push alert. This way you don't miss that one day sale on the app you have wanted for months.
One Touch Dial Pro ($0.99): This app lets you create one touch dialing buttons for your friends. It even lets you chose the picture that it displays. I like that it looks like my husband and I are an app. I also like that it only takes one touch to call him. It will also let you set up an icon for texting a specific contact too.
1 comment:
Hey, congrats that you got an iPhone for Christmas! Aren't all those apps fun?!
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