Yes, I'm afraid I've turned into one of those ladies. Before I got my iPhone 4S, I was constantly jealous of all the amazing apps I was missing out on and, worse of all, I felt so unsophisticated calling myself an Apple addict and not having an iPhone. Since purchasing it, I've loved all the different apps you can download and it is admittedly one of my favourite possessions, as sad as that is!
I love how quirky some of the apps are, I used to think all you could download were games apps but over the past few months I've downloaded some really different helpful apps that are perfect for a variety of different situations. Some are great for money saving, others for helping with fitness or productivity. Here are some of the most helpful apps that I'd recommend downloading and my personal favourites from 2012.
Utilities
This folder just keeps the 'boring' apps so to speak but ones that are necessary none the less. I have a Flashlight app, NatWest for my banking, and Orange Weds which I use to get my Orange Wednesday's code and see what's out, as well as local cinema times. I also have an app called WC Finder which I think is beyond funky - it's pretty much just a map with all the nearest public toilets on! Weird? Yes. But also very necessary if you're out and about bursting for the loo and don't know where the nearest toilet is...
Games
I have far too many games and my favourites change regularly. Some of the ones I currently have downloaded include Temple Run, SongPop, Zombie HQ, ZombieLife and Jurassic Park. Some of my continues favourites however, include...
ZombieFarm 2
A take on Farmville, it's generally the same concept but with zombies. You grow different types and then can defeat bosses. Can you tell I'm obsessed with zombies yet? I just love the idea of growing my own zombie army...
Hatchi
Personally one of my most favourites, although it can get a bit repetitive after a while so my pet often dies. Yep, this is pretty much a tamagothci for your iPhone. My tamagotchi still dies all the time, just like when I used to go to school and leave my mum to look after my tamagotchi when I was a teenager, but it's still a pretty cool blast from the past. I'm just a really, really bad mother who forgets to feed Roger..
Words Free
Pretty much Scrabble, and I'm really, really bad at it. Still, it's useful for funny stories. I was playing two different games with the same person once, and the only words I could make on each game were 'sex' and 'horny'. He sent me a message asking me if I was frustrated or trying to tell him something..ha!
Utilities
This folder just keeps the 'boring' apps so to speak but ones that are necessary none the less. I have a Flashlight app, NatWest for my banking, and Orange Weds which I use to get my Orange Wednesday's code and see what's out, as well as local cinema times. I also have an app called WC Finder which I think is beyond funky - it's pretty much just a map with all the nearest public toilets on! Weird? Yes. But also very necessary if you're out and about bursting for the loo and don't know where the nearest toilet is...
Games
I have far too many games and my favourites change regularly. Some of the ones I currently have downloaded include Temple Run, SongPop, Zombie HQ, ZombieLife and Jurassic Park. Some of my continues favourites however, include...
ZombieFarm 2
A take on Farmville, it's generally the same concept but with zombies. You grow different types and then can defeat bosses. Can you tell I'm obsessed with zombies yet? I just love the idea of growing my own zombie army...
Hatchi
Personally one of my most favourites, although it can get a bit repetitive after a while so my pet often dies. Yep, this is pretty much a tamagothci for your iPhone. My tamagotchi still dies all the time, just like when I used to go to school and leave my mum to look after my tamagotchi when I was a teenager, but it's still a pretty cool blast from the past. I'm just a really, really bad mother who forgets to feed Roger..
Words Free
Pretty much Scrabble, and I'm really, really bad at it. Still, it's useful for funny stories. I was playing two different games with the same person once, and the only words I could make on each game were 'sex' and 'horny'. He sent me a message asking me if I was frustrated or trying to tell him something..ha!
Tapped Out
The Simpsons game! I love, love LOVE this app and have been playing it for a good few months now, probably because my best friend has it too and we constantly try to outdo each other. You basically undertake different tasks to build your own Springfield up and collect different Simspons characters. I've just gotten Snake, my favourite, and I'm constantly repeating his accent and his phrases. 'Dude, that's harsh...!'
Social
Sync.ME
I use this app to sync all my contact details with peoples Facebook's - it's useful because it reminds me of people's birthdays and means everyone has a photo when they ring me or whatever. I'm quite OCD like that!
I have all the standard social apps like Facebook and Twitter, just to keep me more updated whilst I'm not at home or on the move. I also have Foursquare and GetGlue, just because I like to update where I am and what I'm reading/watching/listening to. I'm not quite sure why, I just do! This drives my nan and my dad mad as they hate it when I start texting/talking to people while I'm out with them! My dad has taken to banning my phone from me when we have dinner...
Photography
Instagram
This one is pretty straight forward - you all know what this app is so there's not really much to say. I have become an addict to it though as photography has always been something I've enjoyed and upon seeing some of my photos, Mamaw thinks I should pursue it as filters and editing aside, apparently I've got a 'knack' for taking photos from good angles. I also follow all my favourite rockstars on here and it's quite a good app for photo challenges and a bit of blog networking too.
PicFrame
This one is pretty straight forward - you all know what this app is so there's not really much to say. I have become an addict to it though as photography has always been something I've enjoyed and upon seeing some of my photos, Mamaw thinks I should pursue it as filters and editing aside, apparently I've got a 'knack' for taking photos from good angles. I also follow all my favourite rockstars on here and it's quite a good app for photo challenges and a bit of blog networking too.
PicFrame
This is just a standard app which I use to put my photos together in a collage. There are loads of these about but I use this one - it has lots of different options and you can add different effects and stuff. I use this a lot for putting photos together on this blog as I find it so stressful trying to line up all different photos so this makes it all much easier for me.
Picfx
This is another photo editing app, I use this as an add on to instagram as it just has a few more effects. I like the photo effects that come with it, you can add little hearts or light bursts which makes photos that little bit more arty.
Fitness
I'll be doing posts on each of these apps specifically as part of my Fitness Friday posts but some apps I use include Teemo & MyFitnessPal. MyFitnessPal is useful for keeping on top of what you're eating and checking you're eating the right amount of calories for your weight (i.e that you're eating healthily enough) and Teemo is great for little fitness tasks you can do throughout the day without having a full on workout. At the moment I only use this to warm up before I do a proper workout, but as I progress through the app I'll be using it more. I think my most favourite fitness app would be Zombies, Run! which I've done a full review on in the past here. I've got to say that honestly, hand on heart, this app really does inspire me to run more simply because the whole idea behind the app fascinates me and the fact that the more you run the more the story progresses. It really does push me to want to go for regular runs which is something I look forward to starting again. It's far too cold out to go for runs at the moment, but I think with having eaten so much at Christmas I need to get back on the horse!
Productivity
Writing Prompts
I don't use this loads but it's quite useful for if you're a writer and don't have any motivation. Sometimes I use it when I've got a great idea but don't know how to start it i.e if I need an opening sentence or whatever. It's useful as well for when you don't have any ideas at all, it suggests different situations and storylines which you can use as an exercise just to get you writing, even if you don't plan to follow through with it.
Relax M
I'm not quite sure why I've listed this beneath productivity, but this app sometimes helps me to sleep or relax. It has loads of different sounds like rain, or rain in a cave, birds, the piano and waterfall. There are too many to list but all of them are really nice and relaxing, I sometimes like listening to some of the rain ones when I'm writing as it calms me. Does this mean I'm weird?!
Travel
I don't have much travel apps to be fair but most of them I use for when I'm in London as opposed to elsewhere. I have apps like AroundMe for finding good restaurants to eat at nearby and things to do and Time Out, which I use for what's going on in London and other quirky things to do. I also have the TripAdvisor app (which was really useful when we were in Bruges actually as I used it to find cheap places to eat!) and Evernote. Evernote isn't a travel based app, it's an app to store different notes and photos/maps/to do lists etc. I've put it under my 'Travel' folder because I use this app solely for the planning of my big American road trip next year.
Entertainment
Travel
I don't have much travel apps to be fair but most of them I use for when I'm in London as opposed to elsewhere. I have apps like AroundMe for finding good restaurants to eat at nearby and things to do and Time Out, which I use for what's going on in London and other quirky things to do. I also have the TripAdvisor app (which was really useful when we were in Bruges actually as I used it to find cheap places to eat!) and Evernote. Evernote isn't a travel based app, it's an app to store different notes and photos/maps/to do lists etc. I've put it under my 'Travel' folder because I use this app solely for the planning of my big American road trip next year.
Entertainment
TVShow Time
This is one of my most useful apps - I use it to log what episodes I've seen from my favourite shows. It's great for shows like Supernatural which is currently on season 8 and I'm still halfway through season 2...when I'm taking a while to catch up, sometimes I actually do have a life (haha) and it can be weeks between each episode I watch and I always forget what episode I'm up to and end up rewatching old ones or skipping ahead. This is a great app to show me where I'm at, how many episodes I still have to watch etc. It also updates me on when the show is next on TV (and what episode it's showing!). You can also make lists for shows that need to be watched or be recommended on similar shows to check out.
TVGuide
Just because I'm extremely lazy and can't be bothered to flick through all the TV channels...
Shazam
I use this all the time, I'm constantly hearing songs when I'm out and about or in a movie that I'd like to download. I use Shazam to find out what they are (and it's always accurate) and it all goes into a little 'Tagged' list which I can one day finally go through and download all the songs. One day. When I can be bothered. Well, I made a start just before Christmas to be fair, I think I got five done..you can also look up more information about the song or artist like lyrics, local gigs they might be doing etc.
This is one of my most useful apps - I use it to log what episodes I've seen from my favourite shows. It's great for shows like Supernatural which is currently on season 8 and I'm still halfway through season 2...when I'm taking a while to catch up, sometimes I actually do have a life (haha) and it can be weeks between each episode I watch and I always forget what episode I'm up to and end up rewatching old ones or skipping ahead. This is a great app to show me where I'm at, how many episodes I still have to watch etc. It also updates me on when the show is next on TV (and what episode it's showing!). You can also make lists for shows that need to be watched or be recommended on similar shows to check out.
TVGuide
Just because I'm extremely lazy and can't be bothered to flick through all the TV channels...
Shazam
I use this all the time, I'm constantly hearing songs when I'm out and about or in a movie that I'd like to download. I use Shazam to find out what they are (and it's always accurate) and it all goes into a little 'Tagged' list which I can one day finally go through and download all the songs. One day. When I can be bothered. Well, I made a start just before Christmas to be fair, I think I got five done..you can also look up more information about the song or artist like lyrics, local gigs they might be doing etc.
Other
Mindsnacks' French
This adorable little app is the perfect way to learn beginners French. It's really cute and easy to use, the different mind games actually do help you remember words and phrases. It's not extremely comprehensive but I think it's just the right amount for beginners without being too overwhelmed. It also keeps your progress listed to check at any time which is nice to see how far you get along.
Goodreads
Just the app to go to the website, but quite useful. It's a lot easier to update your reading progress without having to log onto your laptop, and there's also the useful scanner device so you can use your camera to scan a book directly into the app rather then searching it by title or author.
Stasheify
And finally, this awesome app, just because. On Bruge myself, Mamaw and my sister almost wet ourselves with laughter playing with this app for a good hour.
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| Don't I look dashing?! |
So that's a list of my favourite apps from last year, a list that I've wanted to do for a while! I know not all of you have iPhone's but I hope if you do then this list has been a bit helpful with a variety of both useful and funny apps. Do let me know what you think or if you have any you'd like to suggest!
