35 
After my anti-texting screed last weekend, I came learn of and appreciate the wonders of MightyText, which is proving to wonderful. In this smartphone age, apps really do have the power to drastically affect (certain parts of) our lives.
So what app has improved the quality of your digital life the most, be it Android, iOS, even Windows Phone? Share the love.
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i have a god awful sense of direction, so maps is my most useful app
[insert apple maps joke here]
Thankfully I use Google Maps
Same for me, Google Maps has been my most used app on my phone for quite a while.
Second, Google Now although it will be even better once they update it so I can use it to turn stuff on and off. Like apple adverts lol
Forgot one, I just downloaded last night but its been great in showing me dry solder joints on a pcb that I couldnt see with the naked eye. On Android, its called Cozy Magnifier and Microscope.
Yeh, I guess in the history of my smart phone usage, it would have to be Google maps. Although in the past year or two the quality of some apps is truly brilliant. I downloaded Tripit recently and I don’t know how I could have travelled without it.
Yes! As someone who is always sorting things last minute, Tripit has been a godsend for my travels and helping sort out all the details.
I don’t get tripit. I send them the itinerary, then they send it back to me.
Huh?
You have to just forward them the confirmations of flights or trains or hotels and it will automatically add it to your itinerary.
Yes, it will pull out the details and combine different aspects of the trip – transport, accommodation etc into one itinerary. It will also link to maps of the location etc for easy reference.
why send me something I’ve just sent them?
It doesn’t send it to you as such. It collates it all together in a really useful chronological layout where you can access all information quickly and easily.
Apple maps. Gotta be Apple Maps. It took me in a whole new direction…
maps or my bus app that tells me when busses are due. Is there an iOS equivalent of Mightytext?
or preferably one that doesn’t take 24 hours to deliver the message….
frankly on my phone 99% of apps sit there not needed, the ones i use the most are yahoo mail, google maps, memo, quickpic and i suspect ms smartglass may be used a fair bit with my xbox now its launched.
On my nexus 7, TV catchup, BBC iplayer, Pulse (news aggregator), youtube including various apps that find kids cartoons for my son.
I am assuming you have a Windows phone, if not could you please tell me which phone you are able to get MS Glass?
Got it on the app market for Android.
It’s been out for iOS for months and it came out this week for Andriod too
MICROSOFT XBOX GLASS is still not out for MICROSOFT WINDOWS PHONE? But it is for Android and iOS?
#DEAD
I don’t have many apps installed as I have no need for a billion apps. But the one that has helped me in many situations and the one that I use above all others is Google Maps.
I use XMBC for my jail broken Apple devices. Now this app reall does open up a whore new world of entertainment. Footy matches live on a saturday, movies, live TV from around the world.., it simply rocks.
As for Apps from the App Store, I recall going to a wedding in a Scottish castle a few years back, the evening meal was nice, looked pretty on the plate, but way way too small… Out came the iPhone, launched the McDonalds finder app, and 20 miles later all was taken care of..
Whole*
Freudian slip there Taf, eh? Are you suggesting youre an apple whore?
No. But Apple did just refund me £80 for the hassle I had recently…
Sounds boring, but The Trainline app on both iOS and Android because it eliminates frustrating processes we all took for granted. Either firing up a web browser and having to faff around with web forms, or before that, speaking to Bindu in Bangladesh to find out when the next train left Little Pimple On The Wold for Plankton Upon Y. Trainline is fairly intelligent and knows where you are too, which saved on yet more faffing.
Next up, as most others refer to, Google Navigation. Priceless. I tried Apple Navigation on an iPhone 4S and it was prettier and just as good. It’s the 3D images and placename errors that break it, not so much the navigation that is based on Tom Tom. All said, Apple should have remained with Google and not allowed emotion to take president over business.
I used Hotel Tonight (iOS/Android) when in the US and it was superb. Great UX, great service, great support and incentive program. A great idea executed well by a cool team. Oh, and it saved me a fortune in Chicago!
WhatsAppMessenger, another superbly executed app. The fact this has not yet been acquired is a mystery to me, in fact, being it is cross platform, and intelligent, I have no idea why people use BBM or iMessage.
WhatTheFont – photograph or upload an image and it tells you what typeface is used in the area you select. Priceless in our office where we do design work.
Kayak – Great UX. Being the content used to supply airlines and travel apps is all the SAME, no matter how good the UX, we all pay the same prices and have the same chance on seats. #apollo is the god of travel!
TuneIn Radio – You know why this is great. Oh killer of table top radios and bedsite clock radios.
Shazam & Soundhound. Positioned in the top left of my phone display so I can fire it up instantly.
Flashlight for iOS – Lovely UX and useful in those moments when you wish you had a real flashlight.
PlainText DropBox text editor – A tad buggy and on iOS lacks any BACK function so you have no way of backtracking on edits, but priceless when you need to update some notes in the cloud. (On Android, the actual DropBox app allows you to make edits. And there is the standard Android BACK button so no issues there.)
Enough!
Thanks for the ‘What the font’ suggestion. I sometimes have to copy docs that are not on our servers and its a nightmare trawling the fonts for the right one.
As with most people, Navigation on Android is one that gets a lot of use.
From a working point of view, I find Evernote invaluable, using it to sync between home, work and phone. I now start all my documents in Evernote when in the planning/concept stage as you never know when you might have a eureka moment and being able to quickly add an idea wherever you are is great.
For automating general tasks, Tasker is well worth the cash if you know what you’re doing. I have it doing simple things such as turning on wifi when at home, turning on the lock screen when I leave, etc.
I recently bought the Nova launcher during the Play sale and it’s the best one I’ve used.
Other apps that get daily use, Tweetdeck, Handcent, MX Player and Jet Audio.
Oh, and if you root your phone, you must get Titanium Backup.
Honestly, ever since I got my iPhone 4s the flashlight app I downloaded has been one of my most used. For years I have been needing to have a flashlight on hand and using things such as my ‘Gameboy’ screen and its so handy to have one so close by constantly.
Luckily I haven’t upgraded to iOS6 so Google Street View it is.
My biggest problem is getting distracted and wasting time. And I’m not the sort of person who can make a work timetable and stick to it. So for me the Gleeo Time Tracker (for Android) was a miracle. I use it to obsessively time every work task I do, and keeping a permanent log of it. It makes me that much more motivated to make sure I spend a lot of time on something.
And if I get distracted while the timer is running, I either have to stop it (which is an additional mental barrier) or make my statistics less accurate. I am quite anal about the accuracy of my personal stats, so that works to my advantage.
It’s great to be able to flick back through Gleeo’s logs, and see how productive I’ve been. If I lost the use of my phone, that would be the one app that I miss most.
Without a shadow of doubt.. Google Maps
Probably the Furby app for the iPhone. Without it, feeding Greedy (my Furby) would have been much harder. He probably would have died…
It may sound trivial, but One Click Cab (iOS – not sure if it’s on other platforms) is brilliantly simple and effective. Just open the app and it gives local taxi numbers with ratings and able to dial with the push of a button. Easiest way ever to find a cab.
I use the Android Navigation app a lot of the time. I would also definitely recommend SwiftKey to anyone who types a lot on their phone: it massively improves the (already decent) default Android autocorrect, and makes typing very very quick.
Also useful is a little flash light widget that I can tap just to quickly turn on the light for my S2.
Google Drive. Being able to do work wherever I am and have it constantly available is pretty invaluable to me.
Flipboard and Planner
Spotify – nothing beats seamless playlist synchronisation and a massive music library at your fingertips
Not sure if this counts as its not really an app but a service.
I have been using SaneBox for a few weeks now and it’s literally saving me hours a week.
What SaneBox does is sit in between your email server and your email client.
It uses its complex formulae to work out which emails you want to read now and what can wait for later.
The ones that you want to read o into your inbox ad the dross goes into a different folder for youth check when you have time.
So you don’t miss anything you get a report every day or how ever regularly you set it to alert you of your dross email.
Best part is that they are ridiculously cheap and they are offering a 14 day free trial.
Here’s a link that will give you $5 free credit added to your account to go towards a subscription once your trial runs out.
https://www.sanebox.com/signup/18cf3a197d
Copier – Network Copy & Paste is mine – allows you to send data between iphone/ipad/computer – truly really useful
Love Netflix on my android and iOS devices, especially through my VPN configurations on the go!
Also standard Facebook and Twitter apps work great for me!
Most helpful apps include Gingerbread keyboard and VLC.
I got to say VLC is pretty good..
Evernote. Being able to make notes on my phone and laptop and have them sync to the same place is a lifesaver.
Dolphin Browser for Android.
Mainly because it was the only functioning browser that you could for Desktop mode on at the time and had tabs and Flash Player worked great on it.
Couldn’t use it on either an HTC Desire or Samsung S3. Far too slow. yet to find a really slick browser
1) Google Maps
2) Netflix
3) Tune-in Radio
4) Dropbox
5) ES File Explorer
Swap Netflix for the iPlayer, and ES File Explorer for MX Player, and I’m right with you.
I would have to say Dropbox by far has been my power application for the past 2 years, especially since I got my iPhone. Atop of using it to back-up my important files and transfer files between work and home, I use it for so much else. One example is as I’m trying to improve my drawing skills, it’s great for keeping all my reference material – both image and video – in one place where I can add and remove where needed. It also completely streamlines the photo process of getting quick snaps to my computer without a hassle of cables.
My most used apps:
ES File Explorer – this should be part of all Android setups.
ICS Browser+ – the basic browser, done better. Chrome usage is increasing though as Flash starts to recede!
Google Maps & Navigate
Spotify & SMP
Google Currents
Rail Planner (love the get me home button)
I do a lot of backpacking and Viewranger is hands down the best off road mapping and navigation software. I have a garmin Oregon 300, but to be honest I only use it as backup in case the weather turns back, as Viewranger on my android is way, way better. I’ve had it since it launched on Symbian, and every map I have bought has been easily transferred from phone to phone to phone as I have upgraded.
Also like Locale for setting ringtones depending on location / time. Phone automatically goes to vibrate as I arrive at work, and goes silent after 10pm at home.