Task: You rely heavily on your smartphone for staying connected, but are you getting the most out of this powerful tool? Surfing through the app store can be overwhelming, and forget about reading the phone’s help manual.
Solution: Waident’s support team huddled to come up with some of our favorite apps – plus we’ll direct you to some good online resources for how to get smarter about your smartphone.
How: Check out the list below, organized by task area, to find ones that might make your life easier.
WORK
Touchdown – Great Exchange email application with more robust features than built-in Android email client. Allows for multiple profiles, more like Outlook, set time for syncing, remote wipe, pin ability, and a huge amount of customization settings.
Google Voice – One feature of this app is the visual voicemail, which transcribes your phone messages into written ones.
Evernote – This is a note keeping app – similar to OneNote, but Evernote is simpler.
Dropbox or Skydrive – Provides online storage that is especially good for files that you need to access from multiple devices. As an added bonus, you can upload your pics automatically so you never have to worry about losing those precious baby (or party?) pictures.
Dictionary.com or Merriam-Webster – One of us uses it mostly for the word of the day. Merriam-Webster even lets you do a search by speaking the word versus having to type it.
iAnnotate – For those people who have to review long legal, business or other PDF documents, this app makes it easier to read, mark up, and share those documents.
LOCAL TRAVEL
Metra Minder – Quickly find your train schedule (there are versions for most cities with public transportation) instead of fumbling through a clunky website.
Transit Tracks – Tells you when to expect your next CTA bus or train so you can time your exit perfectly.
SpotHero – A great way to find the best price for Chicago parking.
ENTERTAINMENT
Pandora – You may already use Pandora on your laptop. This app goes mobile to easily stream music based upon a band or genre – on your phone.
Google Goggles – Accesses Google’s extensive library of images – of buildings, products, whatever – so you can learn more about whatever picture you’ve just snapped!
Pulse – This neat customizable news reader takes your favorite websites and transforms them into a colorful and interactive mosaic.
Instagram – They say a picture is worth 1000 words – and this app makes it easier than ever to share photos.
Goodreads – Find new books, keep track of books you’ve read, and, of course, read what other people thought about books you’ve read. Includes a barcode scanner.
IMDb – If you’re a movie aficionado, check out this app. It has the things you love about their website (movie and TV database) all packed into a nice little app. Get show times for theatres near you, fan and critic reviews, etc.
SHOPPING
Amazon Flow – Uses your phone’s camera for real-time searching of products and Amazon price look-ups.
Amazon App Store – You’ll find more apps on this site plus a free app of the day.
Our Groceries – Easiest way to sync shopping lists across multiple devices so no trip to the grocery store is wasted.
OTHER STUFF
Flashlight – Uses your camera’s flash ability to turn your phone into a flashlight for those dark and stormy nights.
Tips for iPhone — Tricks & Secrets – If you’re one of those “never reads the manual” people, this iPhone app may teach you a thing or two. We got the reco from this New York Times article entitled “How Smart Is That Phone? Apps Unveil the Tricks.”
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