5 Must-DL Apps This Week: School Yo’self on Your Commute + More!
Happy November, y’all! It’s that weird calm-before-the-storm weekend. You know what we’re talking about — next weekend you have friends in town, the weekend after that you have your last wedding of the season AND you need to see Mockingjay at midnight, then it’s, like, THANKSGIVING and then it’s practically Christmas and you haven’t even figured out what you’re wearing for New Year’s Eve yet so — WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?! Stop. Breathe. Download these apps. And unlock a helpful hack, a shipping hero, a cool new school and more all to your phone.
1. Surge Protector: Say you’re trying to call an UberX to take you home, but, oy, Uber is SHRN and experiencing surge pricing that will put you past your taxi budget for the weekend. And it’s only Thursday. Call up *this* app that will find the location closest to you without surge pricing. They’ll call an UberX to pick you up in the free zone and you win and avoid those obnoxious (sorry but…) prices without having to play the “refresh and pray” game.
Cost: Free on iOS (only available in SF for now)
2. Shyp: To do lists can become massive, voracious beasts that want to eat up your free time. They can also just be just daunting enough to scare you from crossing things off of them. As the holidays creep closer, you’re going to have to gird your loins, procrastinators so may we recommend Shyp to handle all of your shipping needs? They’ll pick up your items (any items, for REALS) pack and send them anywhere in the world and you just pay $5 + whatever the lowest option they can get you. We’ll take it. Shyp just came to our office for R+D and we’re kind of in love with them and their Shyp Heroes. And the concept of Shyp Heroes. And in quieting the beast of our to do list.
Cost: Free on iOS (available in SF, NY and Miami soon!)
3. EWG’s Food Scores: Your food ranks on more than just the pyramid and this app lets you go way beyond the nutritional label to figure out its “score.” Use it to scan the barcode of whatever’s on your list while grocery shopping and you’ll have a better sense for what its true ingredients are, how nutritious it is and how much it’s been processed.
Cost: Free on iOS and stay tuned for the Android App
4. Code School: We know you’ve been meaning to learn how to code, but why don’t you put your Java where your mouth is and just DO IT. Code School brings its easy “learn by doing” methodology to your phone so you can. Turn your commute into a study sesh with 40+ courses on all the essentials with videos that walk you through every step.
Cost: Free for iOS
5. Google Calendar: Google’s redesigned calendar app is a mega babe in the productivity section right now. Your to do list just got a whole lot more gorg with Google’s Schedule View, which lets you see snapshots of where you’re running errands, who you’re having drinks with and pictures of what you’re having for brunch on Sunday. The app will comb through your emails and pull Calendar events from things like flight confirmations. There’s no iOS version right now, but Google says they’re bringing Calendar to iPhone and we are holding them to it.
Cost: Free on Android
Bonus: ICYMI App Edition
– 11 Photo Sharing Apps: Don’t be that guy who takes pics and never shares them :(
– Reserve: Actually *get* that coveted rez with this helper on your smartphone.
– Bitmoji: Turn yourself into an Emoji with this app.
What was your favorite app this week? Share your thoughts below!