SURVEY SAYS: What's Your Favorite Smartphone "App?"
Now, realizing that everyone doesn’t have a smart phone, this week I asked readers to identify their favorite – and most useful – “app.”
Most didn’t distinguish between the two – and why should they? So, without further ado, check them out:
Grocery IQ rocks. How convenient to be able to add things as they occur to me (or they’re “suggested” by others). A grocery list in hand is never left on the counter.
My phone is a work Blackberry so it remains sans “apps”. However, I have an iPod Touch and my favorite and most useful app is the Kindle app. I can read my books (or work podcasts) and carry only the small device that also allows me to listen to tunes at the same time (which is less distracting than listening those who like to share their every thought with the rest of us commuters).
ESPN Sportscenter. It gives the schedule of each of your favorite teams, their most recent scores, and the scores of all the other teams in each league.
“Words with Friends. It’s a Scrabble-like game. I LOVE Scrabble, and this is my favorite app. I start a game with a friend. I play a word, and the app posts the word to the friend, who then plays a word, and so on. The scoring is roughly the same. The game board is the same size, but the bonus spaces are in different locations. It’s great because a game might take a long time (depending on when the other player can next get to their iPhone) or a short time, if you’re both playing intently.
I have a “whoopie cushion” app that is a lot of fun. I think you can figure out what it does.
Mint.com has an app that allows you to track your budget and see the total value of all of your retirement accounts in one place. You can also see your bank accounts, utilities and credit card accounts just by logging in to mint.com on the phone app or the website. I really like this app… and I really hope their security features are solid!!!
TED for iPhone. Love watching/listening to these short, intelligent, thought provoking videos. Everytime we’re in the car now for longer than 30 minutes someone in the family will say “Play a TED!”
I have a GPS that I use frequently.
"AT&T Uverse app. (AT&T is getting into the cable provider business if it's not up there by you yet) Lets me set my DVR to record a program on my phone."
I guess I would have to say my favorite is Facebook on iPhone and the most used.
Doodle Jump for iPod Touch the most fun and addicting game I've ever played, and a quick "go-to" whenever you're stuck with nothing to do or read.
My favorite app is "Springpad" . Springpad gives you a place to quickly and easily save anything you want to remember. Take a note, create a task, scan a product barcode, and look up a book or item that a friend has mentioned. Springpad automatically categorizes everything you save and provides strong organizational features. Tag anything. Create notebooks to separate your home and work life. Everything you save will automatically sync between your mobile device and the web. It will provide alerts on product availability, price drops, deals of the day, news, etc.
Words with Friends - it's a version of scrabble that you can play on your phone. You can play people you know or have the app choose opponents for you, and even send messages to your opponent during the game.
I don't have one yet as I just got my phone over the weekend. I am anxious to see what others like. I do want the flashlight app but have to find the right one. I have the barcode scanner app but haven't used it yet.
Probably my NPR app - I can get an NPR station from a city that I like to listen to, but is too far away for "regular" radio.
I don't have a favorite - I just like it being able to act like a computer, searching for people / place / phone number information.
E*TRADE Mobile Pro - allows me to do balance inquiry (including equity compensation), trade and transfer funds via my smartphone.
Google - I am just realizing how much information I can get. I even check words for the word jumble in the newspaper!
"My favorites for personal use are:
- Shazam - you can hold it up to listen to a piece of music (say if you're in a restaurant or in the car listening to the radio) and it ""tags"" the song - tells you who it is, the title, the album, etc. It even links to i-tunes and youtube versions of the song so you can download it on the spot
- facebook - of course! (Work blocks it, so this is a good way to stay in touch during the day.. seriously, no one I know uses email anymore in their personal life, just facebook and text)
- loseit - calorie tracking app
- wikipedia
for work, my favorites are:
m.plandvisortools.com - our mobile retirement plan fee benchmarking app (had to plug my firm's offering!)
gate guru - travel app that tells you want stores, restaurants etc are available at what terminal in every airport
sit or squat - tells you the nearest clean public restroom"
Politico is great for me since I like to keep up on who's doing what with whom.
USA Today. It shows top headlines, sports scores, and the weather.
The most useful app I ever bought was UndercoverTourist for Walt Disney World. It tells you the wait times for each ride in all four parks and tells you if fast passes are still available. It will also map your location in the park and direct you to a specific ride.
Google Maps/Navigation
Red Laser allows you to scan a bar code while you are shopping to see if that item can be purchased online or locally at a lower price. The app saved me $25 on a tricycle that I was going to buy at Toys R Us recently. Using Red Laser I bought it online before I even left Toys R Us. It was on my front porch 2 days later.
Dragon Naturally Speaking for iPhone. Allows me to make notes and reminders without typing.
My most useful app is NewsRack...lets me follow blogs and news feeds.
BlackBerry Messenger - the ability to text between other BlackBerry users
TripTracker -- It pulls info from your personal airline and other travel vendor sites to consolidate your travel itineraries, update status info (flight delays, cancellations, etc) and helps you manage your travel.
Grocery IQ: allows you to create grocery lists and organize them. You can get coupons and even share you list to coordinate shopping.
Bump - it's a free app that allows me to trade contact information, photos, calendar events, music and more with others who have the app. You simply hit the button and literally "bump" the other person's phone with yours and it transmits the info I want to send/receive.
Calorie Count - keep track of my food intake and exercise outgo, weight loss efforts, etc. Plus, it syncs to a website which I can also access.
Weather Channel App - I travel a bit and having current, hourly, 36 hour and 10-day weather data can help the planning/packing process.
Facebook - it allows me to be entertained in otherwise boring meetings.
I waste a ton of time playing Bookworm and I love it. People who like puzzles and word games should give it a shot.
iheartradio. It allows you to listen to different radio stations on the go!
Hmmm..my boys love iFart... 99 cents and I've gotten hundreds of dollars of fun listening to the boys laugh their heads off over gas sounds. Who would have thunk it?
Shazam is a music app. You here a song, activate Shazam and after a few seconds it will identify the song and the artist and give you a link if you want to buy the MP3. I was truly amazed the first time I used it to find a song my wife and I were interested in while eating a quick dinner at Arby's.
I do enjoy Words with Friends...scrabble game, RunPee...let's me know the best time to take a break during a movie, and the one that drives my family crazy is Earthquakes...lets me know when an earthquake happens anywhere in the world. I can set the push notification for any size...right now it's set to push when there is an earthquake 5.5 or larger
Google Maps for either BlackBerry or iPod Touch helps get directions in a pinch if you don't have GPS
Epicurious -- (recipe/food app) I love how you can search for recipes by the main ingredient.
An application for the Star Trek fan. Tricorder. It displays data from the sensors built into your device. The Grav screen shows the local gravitational field. The MAG screen shows the local magnetic field. ACO displays an analysis of the local acoustic environment. GEO shows geogrpahic information from the various providers which your device has (Network, GPS, Altitutde, etc.) EMS scans the electronmagnetic spectrum for radio signals. SOL displays information on the state of the sun and solar wind.
Right now, I'm addicted to a Word one - kind of like playing scrabble. Oh, yeah, can't forget Facebook! Allows me to access while at work (woops, did I just type that out loud?).
Ghost Radar - "analyzes nearby energies. Interpretations of the sensor readings are displayed using numeric, textual, and graphic readouts. Results may vary, we offer no guarantees, use for entertainment." They do not disclose that your phone may "speak" although you have it on "vibrate"! Really, really freaky app - scared the beejeebers out of me. Downloaded and uninstalled the same day.
Trivia Wars!!! - it's a trivia challenge over blue tooth so you can connect with other players (I try top beat my husband every chance I get!)