It's a tech world and we're all just living in it so you might as well take advantage. Do you have an issue keeping plants alive? There's an app for that. Do you need help keeping track of your finances? There's plenty of apps for that. Apps are here to save the day. In this day and age, there is pretty much an app for everything. It's all about finding the ones that suit your needs the best.
For Productivity:
1. Pomodoro Timer.
Studying in bursts with rewarded, short breaks has been proven to be most effective, but if your are at all like me that's not as easy as it may sound. You can't seem to focus for five minutes before you find yourself deep in the heart of Pinterest, YouTube, or Facebook. Or you study so long that when you finally look up from the books your eyes are bloodshot and somehow (no one knows how) it's daylight outs. This app helps people like you and me by evenly distributing your study time and I've found that it actually works pretty well at decreasing stress.
If you ever feel like your becoming addicted to your phone, Checky is here to monitor your habits. This is an app that I think everyone should have. Whether you're interested in changing your phone habits or not, it's a good idea to have an understanding of just how much you use your phone. It might be more (or less) than you expected.
For pet owners:3. Pet Phone.
Being a pet owner is a wonderful gift, but also a huge responsibility. Pet Phone makes that responsibility a little less burdensome by managing and keeping track of your animal's vet appointments, allergies, weight, medications and important information. We have to keep our four-legged friends healthy.
4. Bring Fido.
Bring Fido, as you may have guessed, is all about traveling with your favorite companion. Whether that's finding a local dog park or locating a pet-friendly hotel for a trip across the country, this app has got you covered.
For gardeners:5. Koubachi.
Koubachi is the best! Koubachi helps you keep your indoor plants alive. I love plants and I love their making my space a little more green. But, unfortunately, hectic times roll around, and the next thing I know my plants are brown and dead and sad (mostly sad). Koubachi sends you reminders when it's time to water your plant based on the conditions of your home and the species of plant.
6. Perennial Match.
Perennial Match helps you picture how flowers will look next to each other before you even plant them, but more importantly, it generates comparison charts to ensure that the different species of plant are compatible based on soil, water, sun and fertilizer needs.
For organization:7. Stylebook.
I'm not a fashionista and I never thought I would be spending money (even the small price of $3.99) on an app to manage my closet, but I did and I have no regrets. Stylebook has over 90 features to help you curate your closet and get more out of what you own, but just three of the features make it an excellent purchase. The ability to upload your own outfits and create looks gives you a great idea of what your wardrobe has and what it desperately needs. The ability to put looks into a calendar and plan for weeks in advance eliminated stress I didn't even know I was feeling. The app's ability to generate cost analysis based on how often you wear certain items is honestly the best. It helps you realize that buying those shoes for $30 was an absolute steal considering you wore them 28 times in the first month alone, or that the $40 on that really cute jacket you wore twice wasn't the best decision. This app makes me a smarter shopper and dresser and I love it.
Speaking of being financially responsible, have you heard you Mint? No? Let me introduce you. Mint is a personal, pocket-sized lifesaver that you will not be able to believe you once lived without. In three words, Mint is a financial app, but really it's another multifunctional app that really makes sure to provide you with all you need. It reminds you to pay your bills on time, provides you with a FREE credit score, monitors your spending and generates a personalized budget with specialized advice on how to save more or cut costs. Most importantly, Mint helps your savings account thrive!
For cooking:9. Green Kitchen.
I have yet to find a more complete app for vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free recipes. If you stick to one of those particular diets, when you are looking for new recipes it sometimes feels like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Green Kitchen fixes that by supplying a copious amount of amazing recipes.
Also, I don't know about you, but I'm skeptical about making a recipe if there aren't pictures of the dish. I want to be able to visually verify that the new dish I made is supposed to be that texture or that color prior to entering the unknown realm of putting a bite of it into my mouth. If you are like me, you are in luck because Green Kitchen provides pictures for almost all its recipes. If you are not like me, it's still nice to look at the yummy food.
10. Mealboard.
I have only been trying out this app for a couple of weeks, but thus far I am very impressed. Unlike most meal-planning apps, this one includes a grocery list and recipe planning feature, whereas most split the feature and don't give you all the information you need. Mealboard takes on the enormous tasks of storing your recipes, creating weekly meal plans, making grocery lists, and keeping track of what's in your pantry. Once you get past the initial annoyance of inputting your favorite recipes and what's in your pantry, it's an absolute dream. Find yourself out and about thinking of making an old favorite for dinner, but don't know if you have one of the ingredients at home? Mealboard can tell you.
For those suffering from wanderlust:11. Airbnb.
Airbnb let's the user discover thousands of places to stay in more than 34,000 cities around the world. The app is for any and every budget; book a shared room or an entire house to yourself. You can plan a trip a year in advance or book last minute. Plus, it's wonderful to know you're staying in someone's home, a small piece of local truth, rather than a cookie-cutter hotel room that looks the same in North Carolina as it does in Indiana.
