What is your favorite app?

Parent Cafe
1

<p>At my daughter’s urging, I reluctantly downloaded Runkeeper on my smartphone. I am pleasantly surprised by how much this app has motivated me and how much I look forward to my daily runs, especially since I never enjoyed running. The improvements that I have made in the past two months would not have been possible without this app.</p>

<p>So now I am wondering: In what other areas can technology improve my life? Do you have any apps that you depend on to live your life more efficiently/effectively? I would love suggestions for:</p>

<p>Meal planning
Organizing finances
Organizing photos
A good calendar</p>

<p>It’s time for me to get with the technological times. Thanks for any recommendations!</p>

<p>P.S. Another app I like is Coupon Sherpa. Before checking out at any store, I check to see if there is a coupon that I can use.</p>

2

<p>I love Big Oven. It generates meal ideas for me when I’m standing in the grocery store dreading coming up with yet ANOTHER idea for dinner. It also generates a shopping list for whatever you choose. You can also synch your computer and add your own recipes and they will also generate shopping lists for them as well!</p>

<p>I share my Big Oven account with my newly launched 20-something son after he requested a few family favorite recipes when he moved out on his own. He can stand in the grocery store and pull up “Aunt Sue’s Stuff” (actually a form of pasta carbonara that was renamed by my kids when they were little), and get everything he needs to make it, go home and pull up the recipe and make it. Now that he’s paying for his own food he quickly realized how expensive those Trader Joe’s frozen entrees can be after awhile and he’s using his leftovers for lunch the next day. I knew that if he couldn’t get recipes and shopping lists on his phone, that cooking for himself just wouldn’t happen. He now has favorites like Thai pork burritos, feta and lamb burgers, stroganoff, etc. Many of the recipes have just a few ingredients and are pretty quick and easy. </p>

<p>The app is free but you have to see ads from Pillbsury, etc and I actually am using it so much I’m thinking about going to the pay version to unclutter things.</p>

3

<p>Love Runkeeper, tho my GPS cuts out occasionally and it thinks I’m moving at the speed of “The Flash”! I also stream music via Slacker while I’m walking.</p>

<p>My new favorite is My Fitness Pal which catalogs all my calories in & out. I’m a little obsessed with it right now! I can even scan barcodes when cooking and calculate my own recipe’s calories.</p>

<p>I tried out an app that will forward texts from my phone to my Android tablet. I haven’t used it much (have to turn it on in both places which is kind of a pain), but it’s promising! I tend to leave my phone charging in the kitchen and carry my tablet around in the evening.</p>

4

<p>This is my newest favorite app. I use it all the time to decide which wine to buy in the store. You scan the label and it gives you reviews. It works very well.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.vivino.com/[/url]”>http://www.vivino.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

5

<p>gasbuddy. let’s me find the cheapest gasoline in the area.</p>

6

<p>Pepperplate-recipes and menus
Grocery IQ-grocery list
Rhapsody-music
Trip Advisor-travel planning
Yelp-eating, shopping, etc when in unfamiliar locales
Google± photos, sharing, facebook like stuff, but with “circles”
Google calender
Google chrome- browser
Mighty text-send and receive texts from your tablet
Any do-to do list</p>

7

<p>RunKeeper is like a treasured member of my family. :)</p>

<p>I think I deleted coupon Sherpa - couldn’t get in the habit to check it</p>

<p>For sending greeting “cards” via phone I like Red Stamp , a free app. Easy to do, and I like the you can choose cards that you can insert a photo from your photos in it.</p>

8

<p>AllThisIsNew and abasket, Runkeeper has changed my life and the way that I view exercise. I am glad to here that others are also happy with it.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. I need to embrace technology and these apps are a good place to start.</p>

9

<p>The Red Cross tornado alert. We can show the kids that we are not, despite the media feeding their cell phones, under a warning.</p>

10

<p>I even put RunKeeper on while I cut the grass just out of curiosity of how much mileage it works out to be - we have a big yard. I’m pathetic!!</p>

11

<p>OverDrive Media lets me download free library ebooks and audiobooks. There are a free other free media resouces as well.</p>

<p>I also enjoy listening to the Ted talks, which is its own app.</p>

12

<p>Haha Abasket. I love it. I may do the same. ;)</p>

<p>I know it’s already loaded on there but I love the notes feature on my phone. I’m always out and think of things and now instead of forgetting I write it down. I put grocery lists on it and jot down new books I see I might want to read. </p>

<p>Other apps I like are retail me not. I was at JC Penney and downloaded a coupon which I used. I like USA Today, it gives updates to breaking news which is sometimes annoying but one which I was grateful for when the Boston Marathon bombing happened. </p>

<p>I use the overdrive app for library books and the kindle app for books. I like white pages to look people up and I’m always listening to podcasts. Even though the reviews are fake I like yelp to find businesses. And the target app I can download coupons on. I used the Starbucks app to find a Starbucks in a strange city. </p>

<p>I have a sleep sounds app for when I can’t sleep and Pinterest when I’m bored. </p>

<p>I was sure I never needed a smartphone. Now I don’t know how I lived without it</p>

13

<p>I have a lot of apps on my phone. My kids think I am pathetic. OI have one that checks cellphone #s that have called, but I dont think the app is available anymore to download (guess I was grandfathered in). I loke Redlaser, which lets you scan a barcode and see where else the item is sold and for how much. Also like inrix traffic alerts, though it sometimes gives me highway traffic alerts simply when I am driving near a highway.</p>

14

<p>So true Deb - life without a smartphone? No way!</p>

<p>I didn’t know RETAIL ME NOT had an app! Going to look for that now!</p>

15

<p>Maplets.
Maps for trails, for the zoo, for parks.</p>

16

<p>USPS has an app–handy for calculating postage. I love the yelp ap. also have Priceline, tripadvisor and Hotwire APs. They’re very helpful for travel. Thanks–just added retailmenot ap, which I didn’t know existed either.</p>

17

<p>abasket, I noticed that on MyFitnessPal you can track the calories you burn mowing the lawn with a riding mower. That is pathetic.</p>

18

<p>Words With Friends…it’s my little bedtime diversion!</p>

19

<p>I love Key Ring. No more digging through my bag for those little plastic store cards, and my actual key ring is less cluttered.</p>

20

<p>Deb922 reminded me I have another favorite. For the type A, list-obsessed-personality EverNote is a heavenly way to keep notes and checklists in sync from tablet to phone to computer. I love it!!!</p>