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What's your favourite/most useful app?

(66 Posts)
JanePGransnet (GNHQ) Wed 30-Apr-14 16:19:40

We all spend so much time on our tablets/smartphones etc, that we at GNHQ have decided to start rounding up our pick of the most useful/entertaining or even downright silly apps.

This will be a regular thing, and to get things started, we'd like to hear from you about which ones have benefited you in some way.

So, which apps make your life easier? Which ones make you laugh? Which ones do you find helpful? Which is your overall favourite? Serious or silly, we'd like to hear about it. Thanks all cupcake

baubles Wed 30-Apr-14 17:53:45

I've always been a bit scatterbrained when it comes to finances.

I find it difficult for some reason to keep figures in my head and despite trying several ways of keeping track of my spending there always seemed to be something I forgot to mark up in my wee book with the result that I never had as much money as I thought. sad

One day I realised there must be an app for that and lo and behold thanks to this marvellous invention I know exactly where I am.

I know I could do exactly the same thing on paper but perhaps because I'm so used to using technology I don't forget to update it every day. smile

chloe1984 Wed 30-Apr-14 18:07:20

I love the iplayer radio app all I ever need to access any radio programmes I may have missed.

jinglbellsfrocks Wed 30-Apr-14 18:11:10

Alistair Sawdays pubs app

Because wherever you are in England or Wales, you are never far away from a good dinner. smile

Pittcity Wed 30-Apr-14 18:18:52

My latest favourite is https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mipermit.android Mipermit] which lets me pay for local car parks without scrabbling for change or fighting with a machine. You can add hours without having to go back to the car park.

Grannyknot Wed 30-Apr-14 18:24:21

I'm not much of an "appy" person grin but my (adult) kids both use this one for cooking and shopping:

www.nhs.uk/change4life/pages/meal-planner-recipe-finder-app.aspx

Pittcity Wed 30-Apr-14 18:24:50

Pity there isn't an app to stop you pressing the wrong button on your phone when posting on this forum.

DebnCreme Wed 30-Apr-14 19:20:45

Favourite App: Scrabble. Most useful: the one which keeps an eye on my 'phone useage.

Versavisa Wed 30-Apr-14 19:37:25

Runkeeper tracks my walks and gives me extra motivation if I should need it.

YNAB tracks all my budgeting and spending beautifully. I can't praise it enough. From a very supportive and educational organisation too.

KnitCompanion has relieved me of paper knitting patterns and notes. It is an eye opener and so useful throughout my knitting projects. Can be used in depth or on a more superficial level.

Find My Friends is extremely useful when meeting family and friends.

My Recipe Book holds an ever growing collection of recipes, and is easy to add to electronically or manually.

There are lots more on my list as I'm a bit of an app junkie these days. They make organising my life so simple.

glassortwo Wed 30-Apr-14 20:11:12

My favourite at the moment is white noise baby app, does the trick when 12 week DGS wont settle, a little Doppler Ultrasound sends him over everytime.

www.tmsoft.com/iphone-whitenoisebaby.html

yogagran Wed 30-Apr-14 20:14:10

Thanks for the recommendation for "My Recipe Book" Versavisa, that's really good and it's so easy to add online recipes to it.

annodomini Wed 30-Apr-14 20:31:43

The app I like best is Google Skymap which identifies the stars, planets, constellations etc. If only the sky was always clear enough to use it!

Agus Wed 30-Apr-14 20:43:19

Has to be Google Apps for me followed by Freecell and Boggle to help me zone out grin

Purpledaffodil Wed 30-Apr-14 21:11:50

Have found the Touchnote app very useful. You can use photos from your iPhone to make cards and postcards which are printed and posted for you in several different countries, depending on address of recipient. Price is reasonable considering cost of overseas postage, although useful for thank you cards in UK too.

baubles Wed 30-Apr-14 21:15:00

Yes purpledaffodil I'm another fan of Touchnote. It's such an easy way to send a photo.

Purpledaffodil Wed 30-Apr-14 21:23:41

Oh and My Fitness Pal is free and really useful for tracking calories eaten, weight and calories burned through exercise. Has a great feature where you can scan the barcode on a food and it turns into an entry complete with nutrients. Witchcraft! There is also access to forums and support, but I have never used thatblush

Purpledaffodil Wed 30-Apr-14 21:26:15

Good to find another fan baubles. I like the way it will store names and addresses too so you don't have to take an address book on holiday!

yogagran Wed 30-Apr-14 21:45:58

Best app for sending photos is WhatsApp. Free sending of messages and photos, so useful if you've got friends and family abroad

yogagran Wed 30-Apr-14 21:54:41

OS MapFinder if you're a walker as it's a free download and has all the footpaths etc marked on it, exactly the same as the usual OS maps

London Bus Traveller for planning a bus route. Just put in your start point then your destination and it will work out the bus route(s) you need and the time it will take

UK tides for planning trips with the DGC for rock pooling

Do it tomorrow tomorrow.do/ A useful for making lists of things to do

newist Wed 30-Apr-14 21:54:54

McAfee, it gives me piece of mind, some people I know forget about security on their phones, while they safeguard their computers.

janerowena Wed 30-Apr-14 22:20:30

I love Duolingo, which helps you to consolidate a language and at the same time everything you write is used to translate old books. I watched a TED talk on it and was hooked. It's my 'thing' instead of Sudoku or crosswords when I am waiting around for someone.

I also use google calendar quite a bit, it is a planner/organiser and you can use it to interact with others in a business if you wish.

Accuweather, Ebay, and google maps are others that I use a lot.

Pittcity Thu 01-May-14 07:43:17

I am busy checking out all these apps and putting those I already have into some sort of order so I can easily find them.

Those I use most frequently are Gmail, Facebook, Twitter and the shortcut to Gransnet of course...these are all on the front page of my phone!!

Another useful one is RedLaser with which you can scan barcodes and find out if you can get it cheaper elsewhere

...and nobody's mentioned Candy Crush!!! grin

Lona Thu 01-May-14 07:45:39

Pittcity I was hoping someone would mention 'Angry Birds' blush

whenim64 Thu 01-May-14 08:26:41

One of the most used apps on my iPad is HayDay, which is a farm game with fishing area, diamond mine, agriculture, animals and access to other farms. I keep it ticking over for my grandchildren, who come along and rearrange it, use all the coins and diamonds to buy more buildings and animals, and generally wreak havoc. Great game!

annodomini Thu 01-May-14 08:33:23

Pittcity, since you've mentioned it, I will also admit to Candy Crush! Oh what a time-waster that is!