10 Android apps to make your life easier
Technology has been designed and redesigned to make our lives simpler. And the same goes for apps as well. With the number of apps reaching an exponential curve, it’s hard to keep a track of the ones that are truly worth your time. Bringing the two together, here’s our list of free Android apps that are guaranteed to make your life easier and better. Read on...
Your brain has the ability to process information at godlike speeds of about 268 miles per hour (the top speed of a Bugatti Veyron!). In more practical scenarios, you often get an idea at times when you’ve least expected it to hit you - at work, at home, while travelling anywhere! With so much information being generated, the need for keeping track of your thoughts and ideas someplace safe and secure is inevitable. Enter Any.DO – your to do and task list app.
This note taking app is blazing quick and has a simplistic user interface which makes it all the more fun and easy to use. You can quite literally speak your mind as the app has voice recognition enabled. It also syncs with Google Tasks so seamless integration over multiple devices and platforms is possible. The app also allows users to share their data with colleagues and friends for better planning and task management.
Do it!
So, how does it make your life easier? In the middle of something important and have a world changing idea? Pause and tell Any.DO. Need a reminder to go pick up your wife from the airport? Tell Any.DO. Have a personal target for tomorrow or this week? Simply pen it down and let the app worry about reminding you to finish it.
How much did you spend on your food last month? Did you spend a lot on gifts this Diwali - how much? How much of your savings did you splurge on clothing? If you can answer the above questions in a jiffy, you either have a super computer of a brain, or you’re a miser. Either way, with expenses increasing, keeping track of finances has been one of the biggest challenges to man in recent times. Say hello to iWallet - your smarter money management system.
Manage.
This application lets you record your expenses with a few taps. You can categorize your spendings, analyze them and create budgets. After feeding in the data, you can visually compare where you spent more and what requires your immediate attention. Add your own categories, create your own mode of payment and finally stop worrying about your money.
The mind and body yearn for peace. But in today’s crazy crazy world, man has forgotten to keep touch with the basic essentials of life. As cliché as it may sound, there’s a reason why health comes first in healthy, wealthy and wise. With Pocket Yoga, you have a personal yoga instructor wherever you go. This app shows you instructions and images for different yoga poses and guides you through the entire course.
Empower.
So, how does it make your life easier? For starters, yoga helps you release the intense anxiety and stress you put your mind and body through. With all those features packed into an app, you can now practice it in a quiet zone in your office, your balcony or your nearby park or garden. There’s no stopping you from your peaceful life now!
Food, Another important aspect of your life - because you are what you eat, right? Nobody wants to look like a jackfruit anyway! This recipe app lets you discover new recipes, save your original recipes in the cloud and cook great food - with detailed instructions. Over 70,000 recipes means you’ll never get bored of your food. Oh, and if you have a specific diet, the app caters to include diabetic, baby food, vegetarian and gluten free food as well. This app is definitely a must have for bachelors or students living away from home.
Eat.
We all know the benefits of eating healthy food. So, how does this make your life ‘easier’? Firstly, the search gives you a list of recipes you can make based on the ingredients you have, saving you a lot of trouble. Secondly, it helps you plan your food habits - what’s good and what should be avoided in an orderly yet fun fashion. Even if ‘Maggi’ is all you can cook at present, rest assured this app will help you become a pro in cooking!
We’ve got so much overloading in our lives that we’d all love to have personal assistants. Vlingo is one such voice-powered assistant that can make your life easier. While driving, running, working or even when you’re too lazy to type on the phone – Vlingo lets you send emails, texts, call people, search the web, update statuses, get answers to questions – giving you a handsfree experience.
Assistant.
One instance where the app should really come handy is when you’re driving. The app has an integrated in car option that lets you wake up the voice system by simple saying Hey Vlingo. The automated assistant lets you call, text, navigate and even speak incoming messages. Now, that’s one free assistant that’ll do exactly what you want it to do.
We’ve all gotten used to Google’s Mail on our Android devices, so we’ve grown oblivious of the third-party e-mail clients in the market. Google’s Gmail app is simple and easy to use, but if you’re a busy person and have a ton of mails to go through, the free K-9 Mail client is worth a shot.
Work.
The e-mail supports all popular e-mail sending and receiving protocols, but it’s the kind of customization that’s possible. Our favorite is of course, the quiet hours where the e-mail client stops notifying you of new mails. That way, you can leave office not worrying about checking your mail till it’s work time next morning.
We’re used to using many devices in our lives - there’s a smartphone, a work PC, home PC and sometimes a notebook or a tablet. Syncing all of your browser data between them is a problem. There are browsers though, like Chrome that now offer synchronization features where you can simply access all your bookmarks across devices.
Read it...later..
If you like keeping up with the latest buzz and stories, an app called Pocket is a must. The app is free for download and allows you to bookmark pages across all these devices. Those using the iPad would know it by the name - Read It Later. The app also picks up all the content from these web pages, putting it in a very simple, magazine-like format. It’s even more convenient, as there are plugins available for browsers and adding bookmarks takes a second.
If you live in one of the major metros, travelling becomes a big part of your day. With fluctuating taxi fares, it’s easy to get duped. An app called MeterUp! offers taxi fares between two places, the distance and also a map with point to point directions.
Meter Down..
An approximate fare is also provided, which is particularly handy when you’re new to a particular city. The app has fares for taxis as well as rickshaws for a number of India cities - Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Trivandrum, Nagpur, Ahmedabad and Jaipur.
After a long way at work and a painful journey, most of us like to come home and settle down on the couch watching our favorite TV shows. While, there are web sites offering a TV schedule for the channels, it’s hard to find a single, simple page that has all the information you need. Fortunately, there’s app called TV Guide India so you know what to look forward to, when you get home.
Watch it!
The most important feature of this app is its large database of channels being broadcasted around India. You can check your favorite TV shows and even look at a brief of it. IMDB links are also present in the app. Unfortunately, there’s no way to set an alarm to remind you when your favourite show are being aired. However, you have the option of choosing your favourite channels.
We’re all used to waking up in the morning and reading our favourite newspaper(s), no matter how well-connected we may be. Early mornings are a rush, usually, so it’s not really possible for one to sit down and read the newspaper leisurely. You can however, do that on your phone.
Stay updated with the latest news
An app called India Newspapers offers readers all the latest news from all the major newspapers across India. If your favourite, local newspaper isn’t available, you have the option to manually add it by adding the website details. There’s some level of customization as well - such as the sorting as well as adjusting the size of the text in the app.
|