Looking For Cool Practical Apps.

June 16, 2016 1:56 PM

It is a very general question. I am looking for cool practical apps for my smartphone. Apps along the lines of YP, MiMoment, etc. Price comparisons, shopping, weather apps...What apps do you use for your daily duties? I am a writer/fashion designer/yogi/farmer's market junkie. Random suggestions are fine.
posted by goalyeehah to Computers & Internet (21 answers total)

Android, iOS, or something else?
posted by box at 2:49 PM on June 16, 2016

I use Sleep Cycle every night, used to use Thyme for cooking timers before Alexa moved in, F.lux on my jailbroken iPhone, but that's not necessary anymore, I think. Paprika for recipes. You might want to check out IFTTT to see if you want to dive down that rabbit hole.
posted by Huck500 at 3:08 PM on June 16, 2016

Stuff I use on my phone once a week or so, depending on the season:
CAIC (Avalanche Forecasting)
Open Snow (Detailed Skiing-Focused Snow Forecasts)
Amazon Shopping
Epic Mix (Tracking vertical feet at CO resorts)
Amazon Music
Instagram
IMDB
Riverflows.net (stream flows)
Podcast Addict (Podcasts)
AirBnB
Backcountry Navigator (USGS Maps and Satnav)
Google Maps
posted by craven_morhead at 3:09 PM on June 16, 2016 [1 favorite]

A couple I really like:

Sky Map
Terra Time

I use TerraTime as my background and as a system clock widget.
posted by bonehead at 4:04 PM on June 16, 2016

I like forecast.io for usually accurate and unusually specific weather forecasting "light rain starting in 17 minutes, stopping 20 minutes later".
posted by rodlymight at 4:19 PM on June 16, 2016 [2 favorites]

I like to listen to rain sounds when I go to sleep, so I listen to Spotify and use a Sleep Timer App to turn it off after a few hours. I also use Night Mode App to dim my phone screen at night as I find even the lowest setting on my phone is blinding at night.

I play Yoga DVDs on my phone using Hoopla App, which is a free rental service through my library.
posted by ljesse at 5:06 PM on June 16, 2016

I live and die by Google Keep.
posted by phunniemee at 5:36 PM on June 16, 2016 [2 favorites]

Down Dog yoga app is fairly new and it is wonderful! You can choose the sequence type (restorative/flow, beginner/intermediate - advanced is coming in the future), time (15-70 minutes), pace and music (or no music). The app is really well done, looks sophisticated, and their routines are varied even if you choose the same combo of options that I mentioned. It's also free, which is pretty amazing considering the quality.
posted by sweetpotato at 6:06 PM on June 16, 2016 [3 favorites]

Business Calendar for scheduling my life.
posted by snorkmaiden at 7:18 PM on June 16, 2016

Mindbody helps you find yoga, fitness, other wellness activities close to you. Any.do is a good listmaking app which allows you to share with another person.
posted by crunchy potato at 7:28 PM on June 16, 2016

MyRadar for tracking storms and telling me when to wait to take my dog on a walk without getting soaked.

Run Pee. Tells you the best times to go to the bathroom at the movies and what you missed while you were gone.

Pinterest. General time wasting and day dreaming. Great recipes too.

Tides Near Me for picking the best times for my beach walks.

Texture. Monthly pay service for a dozens and dozens of popular magazines. Better for an iPad, but I use it on my iPhone sometimes. You can also clip articles and save and categorize them for looking at later. I clip a lot of recipes this way.
posted by cecic at 7:49 PM on June 16, 2016

Response by poster: To box...I have android
posted by goalyeehah at 9:04 PM on June 16, 2016

I use the RetailMeNot app to check for coupons when I am out shopping.
posted by belladonna at 10:59 PM on June 16, 2016 [1 favorite]

Paprika for recipe storage
Dark Skies for hyper-local weather prediction
Google Hangouts for free phone calls on WiFi to US phone numbers
Citymapper for public transport
posted by yankeefog at 5:20 AM on June 17, 2016

I use two conversion apps to cover my unit conversion needs.

Convert~the unit calculator (Apple) is a great interface that converts between all types of units, and is simple to use.

Kitchen Calculator Pro (Apple) converts kitchen measurements. Not only can it tell you how many teaspoons are in a gallon, it can convert US-style recipe amounts which are measured by volume to European-style amounts measured in mass. It is glorious.
posted by Liesl at 7:12 AM on June 17, 2016

Looks like both of those are available on Apple only, sorry. But I did see a plethora of similar apps in Google Play.
posted by Liesl at 7:18 AM on June 17, 2016

A also just discovered Google Keep. List-making apps are very personal but for me it works well.
Snapseed for editing photos.
White Noise, for napping
Radio Paradise, great, eclectic, commercial free internet radio station
posted by docpops at 8:03 AM on June 17, 2016 [2 favorites]

Overcast for podcasts and weather underground for very accurate weather!
posted by bookworm4125 at 9:03 AM on June 17, 2016

Soundhound to identify tunes!
Twilight to kill the white light when you wanna mess around with your phone in the evening and don't want to squint into a blazingly bright screen
posted by speakeasy at 10:21 AM on June 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

Tunity for listening to a TV in a crowded room or bar.
posted by AugustWest at 1:12 PM on June 17, 2016

Try to think of functions that you'd like: I put the names of the apps in parenthesis because several of them have extremely generic names.

Need a separate alarm or timer? (Stopwatch and Timer)

Know the weather and see the radar (Arcus)?
learn definition of a word while reading a book? (colordict);

record some hilarious audio going on in the background or take your own verbal notes (tapemachine, voice recorder).

Identify what music is being played in the background (Soundhound, Shazam). (each cost around $5 and very comparable to another)

Transfer files from your phone to your computer (Wifi File Transfer Pro) - it's $2-3).
Take public transit a lot?
depends on your local agency, some cities have apps, others have APIs I use (Transit).

Find the cheapest gas (gasbuddy).

Listen to podcasts? (Podcast and Radio Addict)

How are you with your finances? Do you track every transaction? If so, how? Like to know how much is in your bank account at any time? I use (Ynab). (Mint) is another.

Drive a lot and want to find quickest route? (google maps, waze, mapquest, Scout).. each have different UIs and similar functions).
posted by fizzix at 11:34 AM on June 18, 2016 [1 favorite]