5 Must-Download Apps to Kick Summer Off Right
All praise the long weekend! We know you got some serious grillin’ to do, a pool to open and (eventually) a sunburn to rub aloe on. But before all that, or even, while you’re waiting in an airport for a delayed flight to destiny, take a minute for YOU. And your phone. This week in What’s App-ening Land, we have a slew of apps that aren’t just lookers (although this is a particularly pretty bunch, we must say), they’re also helpers. Keeping you organized, beautiful, well-read, the kids entertained, get ready to DL these bad boys RN. You can thank us on Tuesday.
1. BKSHLF: Getting ready to kick off some sweet summer reading this weekend? First, modernize that list with a simple and beautifully designed app that organizes and tracks what you’re thumbing through. Link up the app to your GoodReads account to add lists, add new books by scanning their barcodes, get a preview of new books to borrow and browse to see what everyone else has their noses in.
Cost: Free for iOS
2. Moju: Don’t have a 3D phone yet? Neither does… anyone! So instead of waiting patiently for Amazon and Google’s to arrive in 20-not-sure-teen, download a trick to make your friends think either you, your phone or your Instagram has super powers. Moju lets you capture special photos (up to 24 of them) that together move when you pivot or twist your phone — see it in action on Moju’s site.
Cost: Free for iOS
3. Stash: Like a personal assistant solely for your makeup bag and medicine cabinet, this helpful app catalogs all of your favorite products and nudges you when it’s time to refill. It will even give you suggestions for where you can nab them the cheapest and easiest with price comparison and an area in the app for you to press “Buy.” Bye!
Cost: Free for iOS (+ think of all that money it can save you, yeah, yeah??)
4. Plants: We’re still celebrating the launch of our kids section over here at Brit + Co, and what better way to keep the party going than with a parent-approved app that brings the great outdoors to your kiddies’ fingertips? Tinybop, the company behind the equally awesome The Human Body app, just released their latest. Plants lets kids wander around the forest or the desert and see what’s up with Mother Nature’s flora and fauna in each biome. Kids and parents can play together and leave questions for each other while seasons change and animals look for food and shelter. We bet a whirl through the app’s lush illustrations by Marie Caudry will give you warm fuzzies for the picture books of your past. A trip to the library just might be in order.
Cost: $1.99 for iOS (buy now and you’ll get the tundra and grasslands biomes free when they’re ready!)
5. SquareOne Mail: Is it truly possible to have a stress-free inbox? We’re hesitant to believe such a world exists, but SquareOne wants to swipe away all of our skepticism and they have a pretty little app to do just that. By organizing emails into at least the *cutest* inbox we’ve ever seen, then letting you easily place them in designated categories in each, this looks ready to tackle the virtual mountain of work emails that even Mailbox couldn’t tame.
Cost: Free for iOS
Bonus/WTF?!?!?!
PetMatch: In stranger news, there’s a new pet adoption app that wants to help you find a new BFF after yours dies. Aw, so sweet, right? Yes, but this one uses image recognition software to help you find an adoptable pet that LOOKS like your fallen Fido. Aw… a little freaky, right? Since I’m all for adopting a pet in need, I fully support using any means to get one into your good home. Though before using the app, you should probably talk with my parents about the Lookalike Hamster Incident of ‘94. No hamster, I repeat, no hamster could replace Marvin, which we learned the hard way. RIP, Marv.
Cost: Free for iOS though we can’t calculate the cost of therapy if you’re planning a dead pet lookalike surprise for your little ones :-X
What new-and-awesome app did you download this week? Which of the above apps will you give a try?