Favorite Phone Apps

You probably use your phone more each year. And not for making phone calls, but for all the other cool stuff it can do.

I upgraded phones this year and while I've been trying to keep it simple, I'm also looking for some awesome apps. So let's share. I'll tell you my favorite apps, and maybe one of them will also work out for you. Then you tell me your favorite apps.

I use email and Facebook apps the most on my phone. After that,

1. Foreign Languages--this is my game! I am working on improving my Portuguese with DuoLingo. I've wanted to learn Chinese for a few years (since Chinese will eventually overtake the world, in my opinion). I bought a couple books years ago, but that didn't work. But this Hello Chinese app has been terrific. It promises, "10 minutes a day, fluent in 3 months." I don't quite buy that, but I've actually learned some Chinese. And maybe someday I'll get to go check out caves in China and use it. And then Desert Girl decided she wanted to learn French, so she's using Memrise for that and I'm using DuoLingo so I can support her.

2. Reading. I prefer real books most of the time, but the ability for a phone to store lots of books and the speed with which to get them is great. I absolutely love using Overdrive. You find your local library on it and put in your library card and can check out e-books and audiobooks for free. Different libraries have different options (my brother in the city has more than us, but we still have hundreds to choose from). I also use Kindle a lot (you can read your Overdrive books on it). And although I no longer subscribe to Audible, we still have a few books that we bought on sale that we haven't had time to listen to.



3. Photos. If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you know I like to take photos. To look at photos, I just use the simple Google photos app. But Snapseed has some really cool editing tools on it. I also have PhotoPills, but haven't really taken the time to learn it.

4. News--I need help here! I feel that most U.S. news is so slanted either right or left that I'm not really getting the facts. I use BBC News and it's okay. But mostly I don't read or watch the news.

5. Maps. I use a variety of map apps. When I want to keep track of my runs, Map My Run is great (as long as I don't get in a hurry to get it started, as it will usually pop up an extra query and not start until I okay it.). We love Geocaching, and have started doing it again because the app is free (it was $20 not so long ago). US Topo Maps has great topo maps. I've been using the Free version, which only lets you have three waypoints. I've been considering paying the $11.99 to basically turn my phone into a full-fledged GPS unit. Thoughts?

6. Other. My most expensive app is iBird Pro, which has not only photos and descriptions but also songs of all the birds. It's super easy to pull up, especially when I forget my bird book. I like Podcasts, but haven't found an aggregator that's intuitive. When I travel (especially on airplanes), I want to watch my Amazon Prime downloaded movies. The only way I've found to do that is with the Amazon prime app.

7. I use Android, but if you have an iPhone, I highly recommend apps from Chimp Studios. My brother is the owner and has made some awesome apps (click the image below to get to his website).

Now, for the big question, what apps do you use most? I have a feeling that I might have a life-changing experience trying out what you like best!