With today’s innovations in technology, the world is literally at your fingertips. You can find anything in the world within seconds at the touch of a button. These advances have made life much easier for all of us to make it through the demands of a busy life. Here are some of the top apps you must have that can help manage fitness, a busy schedule, travel, work, and school.
1. Running for Weight Loss
This is one of my personal favorite apps to use when I’m working out. With its user-friendly design and accurate information, it only takes second to track your fitness progress. It send you reminders of when to work out and drink water, with a built-in schedule for your workout days and weight tracker. You’ll be assigned a virtual fitness instructor and the app can even play music for you while you work out.
2. Roadtrippers
I use this app often when I go on my long drives out of state every so often. The app tells you how many miles you will be traveling and finds things along your route that might catch your interest such as attractions, hotels, campsites, restaurants, museums/historical sites and more. There are also pre-planned classic USA road trips if you’re feeling spontaneous and want to quench your wanderlust.
3. My Fitness Pal
The name says it all! If you have the patience to count calories and log daily weight loss and exercise, then this app is for you.
4. Google Maps
This app has a few added features that causes most users to deem this navigation app better than the factory app that comes on smartphones. One plus that I personally enjoy is that when you are searching gas stations, the app gives you the local prices of each one.
5. Pinterest
Don’t know what to do with all those fancy wine bottles? Trying to find a recipe for that potluck next week? Pinterest has got you covered. From skin care to DIY home improvement, Pinterest gathers thousands of articles and tutorials on just about any subject you can think of. Want to save one of the awesome “pins” you find? Just create a board for it or save it to an existing one to add it to your collection. *WARNING* This app can be ridiculously convenient and addicting.
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6. Google Translate
Whether it’s out of curiosity or desperation, we all eventually find ourselves wanting or needing translation. Google comes in handy yet again with a simple app that can translate one word or a whole sentence. I Found this app very useful when I lived in Japan, and although it isn’t always as fluent as native tongue, it definitely gets the job done. It can translate by typing or speaking, and well as speak the translation if you cannot pronounce or read it.
7. Amazon Alexa
Everyone should be acquainted with Amazon’s wonderful home products. The newest addition, Amazon Alexa seems to be upholding the legacy. This device can check the weather, control lighting in the house, play music, and even tell jokes. It’s a lovely home assistant as well as companion.
8. Waze
This fun little navigation app is just that. It alerts you of accidents, traffic, and even nearby cops! There’s also a custom setting for you to change the voice of the navigator, my favorite was the Elvis voice.
9. Bandsintown
Never miss your favorite band again! Bandsintown will show you all of the tour dates for a specific artist or performances by all of the artists touring near you. You can also buy tickets directly through the app as well as connect with other fans that are looking to attend the concerts as well.
10. Dropbox
I found this app very useful when I had an android phone. Whenever my cloud would get full I would just begin synching my items to dropbox. It’s almost like a second cloud, saving pictures, videos, music, and more for future uploading. There are many websites that will let you log in to your dropbox and use items from it so it is almost universal.
11. Evernote
Designed for a wandering mind, Evernote is more than just a note taking app. It let’s you bring your ideas to life using text, drawings, audio files, video clips and more. You can also scan pictures of notes you have already taken for reference.
12. Instapaper
Don’t you just hate when you’re reading a good article and lose signal or an internet connection? With instapaper, you can save the articles to your phone or computer for offline reading. It is very useful for on-the-go reading during a commute and can also save data.
13. PayPal
If you need to make a payment but don’t want to give out your bank account or card info, paypal is a safe and secure way to do so. It instantly let’s you send money to another user or pay for an item online without worry or hassle.
14. WhatsApp
If you are worried about incurring messaging charges from texting out of country or to another mobile device platform, Whatsapp is an alternative to the regular SMS. It allows you to send as many texts as you want to whatever phone you would like. The best part about this app is that it is FREE.99 my friends.
15. LinkedIn
Here isn’t a better space for professional networking than this. With linkedIn, simply fill out your basic professional work information such as skills, work history, and college experience to build something like a digital resume for all of the employers to see. LinkedIn works as a matchmaker for employers and those seeking jobs. Perhaps a job might find you!
Related: The Top 10 Translation Apps for Travelers
16. GoogleDrive
Similar to Dropbox, Google Drive also works as a storage space for documents and files. You can save Microsoft files as well as share them.
17. USAToday
Never miss a beat in American news with this app. It will provide you with Top News and trending stories across America. You can also search articles for a good read.
18. The Weather Channel
This app will tell you if you need to pack an umbrella or not using up to date local information. It can also check the weather in another area as well which is very handy for travel or checking on family and friends.
19. Yelp
I use this app to get food reviews on restaurant I would like to try. In addition to helping choose tonight’s dinner, it also has businesses, services, and local attractions so you can know how patrons have felt about the establishment. The star ratings tend to be very accurate, with customers giving detailed reviews of their experience with a place.
20. Uber
The first time I took an Uber was when I was stranded on the streets of downtown Atlanta. It was such a convenient process, I wondered why I hadn’t tried it sooner! It’s simple, the app is based on your location and will show all of the available Uber drivers in your area. The wait time is short, and the ride is very comfortable. At the end, you even have the option to tip the driver if they gave great service.
21. Pocket
Found an interesting story or webpage? You don’t have to let it go just yet because you don’t have time to read it now. Save it for later with the Pocket app. You can also discover more and share the ones you enjoy with others.
22. Slack
No one wants to have to pop into the office on a Saturday to get information that could have been sent in an email. The Slack app is a communication platform between coworker to share ideas and give feedback from the comfort of their homes without needing face-to-face meetings.
23. Wunderlist
It’s so easy to forget one task while doing another. However, Wunderlist is here to take the hassle of forgetfulness away. It is the easiest way to manage tasks and build to do lists for planning special events or just managing daily life.
24. Mint Bills
Now this is innovation! The Mint Bills app keeps track of all your monthly bills and expenses and lets you pay them online so you’ll never have to worry about missing a payment again.
25. Retail Me Not
Not all of us have to time or memory to clip coupons for the grocery trip or holiday shopping. Retail me not brings all of the best the coupons to you in an instant, no scissors needed.
Related: 5 Must-Have Parenting Apps
26. Jobr
This app is exactly like the Tinder dating app, with it’s “swipe right” or “swipe left” concept, except you do it with available jobs. If you like a job, you have the option submit a resume and apply for it right from your phone.
27. Apple Pay
By setting up a payment option on your Apple product, you no longer have to pull out your credit card at the cash register. Most locations now only need a swipe of your phone instead.
28. Tab
We’ve all been there. It’s the end of the meal with friends and you’re trying to figure out how to split the bill or maybe you just need to know how much is a fair tip. With Tab, it comes with a tip and bill calculator so you can put yours away.
29. Trello
Trello is the ultimate app to help you manage a project or assignment and track your progress. You can also collaborate with other users to keep the creative juices flowing.
30. Epicurious
A digital cookbook can prove very useful for the budding chef with limited resources or a busy muffing-making mom who just wants to search it instead of flip through pages. You can build a shopping list as well to ensure your kitchen endeavors go smoothly.
Hope this list helped you find a new way to make your life a bit easier.