Smartphone Apps - what are you using?

[Lex]

Switching to a new phone recently made me realize that I haven't mentioned a couple of particularly useful apps I've installed over the last year.

 

The old ones, which I posted about previously -

 

CNN, Soundhound and Shazam (song recognition apps), Xmarks (which synchronizes my laptop bookmarks with the phone), Flickr, Facebook, Pandora, and Spotify.

 

A voice recorder, a flashlight app, a calculator.

 

OpenTable and Yelp. (I don't use Yelp for the reviews but it can be useful to find nearby restaurants and bars.)

 

A decibel meter so I know exactly how loud the shrieking table sitting next to me is.

 

Adobe, because if I click on a PDF menu I need this to read it. (That really ought to be pre-loaded.)

 

A coin flip app so I can play heads or tails when making important decisions..

 

I read a number of "best apps" articles and got a few more ideas - specifically Pulse and Zite. Both are aggregator apps and once you tell them the type of things you're interested in they do a nice job presenting articles that appeal to me.

 

 

The new ones -

 

A compass app. I thought it might come in handy some day. So far it hasn't.

 

Google Keep - it lets you store notes, to do lists, etc. in the cloud. Evernote is probably better but I figure in time Google will integrate the app with their other services.

 

MyCar Locator – this is particularly nifty. After you park your car you tell this app to save the location via the phone’s built in GPS. It displays it on a Google map and later it provides navigation instructions showing the route back. The location is accurate within 15 or 20 feet - all you need.

 

Readability – this one is really nice. There are matching desktop and smartphone apps. From your desktop or laptop you click on the Readability icon that’s displayed on your browser menu when you find an article that you want to read later. The app copies it to the cloud. Then, on your phone, you call up the app, tell it to refresh your article list, and it copies all your new articles to your phone.

 

You don’t have to be on line to read them, a really nice thing when you need something to read on the subway. (There is one catch – the articles you copy to the cloud aren’t available for download for about 2 hours. You need to plan ahead.)

 

Skype

 

NYC MTA Bus Tracker – another really good one. A few years ago the MTA equipped all its buses with transponders. This app taps into that. You enter in the bus number (M23, B63, etc.) and the the phone prompts you to pick the direction (heading to Bay Ridge or heading to downtown Brooklyn.) The app then tells you how far the nearest bus is. There’s also a neat online map showing the bus location which is updated in real time. The app is quite accurate. I wish they had something like this for subways.

 

ESPN – besides access to articles the app also provides a scoreboard for every game which automatically updates in real time.

[prasantrin]

I have a number of those, plus I use these ones a lot, too:

 

Magic Jack (for making calls to the US/Canada for free, even when abroad)

 

Impetus (interval timer)

 

MapMyWalk

 

Polar Flow

 

aCalendar (I prefer aCalendar's display/format to google calendar or whatever other calendar apps I've tried)

 

digg.com

 

kindle

 

AirDroid

 

SMS Backup+

 

For texting, I use Messenger rather than Hangouts. I used to use Hangouts, but there was a problem with the way they imported my contacts, and it was just too annoying to use. And I kept accidentally sending Hangouts invitations to people instead of texts.

 

I use Keep, too. I tried both Keep and Evernote, and just preferred the simplicity of Keep.

 

I also use AVG and Lookout. I'm paranoid about viruses.

[taion]

I've really found myself using fewer and fewer as time goes by.

• Hangouts
• Chrome Dev
• Google Camera
• Google Inbox
• Gmail
• Slack
• ChatSecure (just for XMPP)
• Google Calendar
• Trello
• Google Keep
• Instagram
• Relay Pro (Reddit)
• Falcon Pro (Twitter)
• Google Play Music
• Amazon Kindle
• Google Play Books
• Google Maps
• Uber
• Google Authenticator
• Keypass2Android Offline
• Google Wallet
• Google Play Store
• Snapseed
• Photo Editor
• Facebook
• Google+
• Snapchat

[Orik]

Mostly like Taion with a variety of taxi apps due to geography (uber (US), sidecar (for when Uber is running surge fares), wingz (scary, scary drivers), TokyoMusen, gettaxi (tel aviv)) + various Japanese learning apps + Line + Whatsapp + tabelog + airbnb + Reserve (because they gave me $50, but now bye bye) + couple of video players + Google Play Music + evernote + eWallet thingie.

[taion]

Do you get a log of mileage out of having the Airbnb app? I feel like I'd have a hard time trying to book something on a phone-sized screen.

[Orik]

I use it as a host. I agree it's not very useful for booking.

[taion]

Oh. Well that makes sense.

[Lex]

@Prasantrin - yes, I use Lookout too but it's really a passive type of use. You just set and forget. It was the first thing I put on my new phone.

 

Back in 2013 I mentioned that I was activating Google Now. I've come to really find it useful. It gives me travel times to regular haunts (cough *bars* cough), info about local venues, and something I really prize - articles about topics I find interesting. Those are triggered, of course, by Google remembering your search history. Some people might find this a little creepy but I figured Google was saving the history anyway for their own purposes. I might as well get the benefit.

 

It's really a nice feature and Google continues to enhance it.

 

Come. Join us. Give up your privacy. Resistance is futile.

 

[Orik]

I'm sure you know about the far more creepy:

 

https://maps.google.com/locationhistory/b/0

 

And the future version of the same where Google (I think as part of google now?) will read your travel and restaurant bookings and put them on your calendar so it can trigger alerts.

[Lex]

I do know about location history. I just watched it map out the route of my afternoon walk. Of course that same function is what makes the Google traffic maps so accurate.

[StephanieL]

I use the Accuweather, Gmail, and Google Map apps regularly; the latter was invaluable when my GPS was crapping out on me. When I've traveled, the United, Delta, and JetBlue apps have been very convenient (and I think United has the best interface and usability of the three). Sometimes I use the Twitter app to share a photo I've taken. Occasionally I'll use my Starbucks, National Weather Service, and Optical Scanner (QR code reader) apps.

 

Beyond that, I mostly use my phone to talk and text. When I want to search the Web, I'll use the built-in browser (I think it's Chrome) in Incognito Mode.

[Orik]

Oh, right, I forgot accuweather / minutecast. Keeps the umbrella count safely under 15.

[Sneakeater]

I hadn't seen that before. It's really great.

[prasantrin]

This might fall under tmi, especially since I'm the only female participating in this thread, but period tracker is somewhat useful, as well.

[Sneakeater]

When my wife was alive, it would have been really useful to me to have an app that tracked her periods for me. It would have given me a much better picture of how things were likely to be.