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9 Not-So-New Apps You Need On Your Phone in 2017

9 Not-So-New Apps You Need On Your Phone in 2017
Carly Jacobs

These days everyone wants the newest greatest thing available but I’m a sucker for things that last the test of time. There are some things I’ve had for ages that I keep using. For example my Easy-Yo yogurt maker. We’re hard yogurt lovers and this thing saves us so much money and the yogurt is insanely delicious. It’s just a thing I use a lot and I feel like I should mention these things to people because they’re pretty freaking cool.

I’m the same with apps. I tend to not talk much about them but I use apps every day and just because they’re not exactly new apps, doesn’t mean everyone has heard of them.

Here are some not so new apps I’m still using and loving.

new apps

1. Long Day 

I’ve had Long Day for quite a while now and I adore it. I use it conjunction with TimePage to schedule my work times during the day. If I give myself an hour to complete a task, I’ll get it done in that time. It’s such a lifesaver for me because I keep my own hours. It helps me to stop myself getting unnecessarily immersed in a task and spending hours doing something should really only take 20 mins.

2. F45 Challenge App 

I’ve tried every diet under the sun and honestly most of them are pretty great. I did Weight Watchers a few years ago and it was ace, as was Michelle Bridges. It’s all good, solid stuff for people who want to lose weight. I’ve been doing F45 for about a year now and I’m currently on week 4 of their challenge and it’s really awesome. The app is a huge part of that though – I have all my meals and recipes on my phone when I need them and the tracking system is really intuitive. The app is a teeny bit glitchy at times but it’s pretty good most of the time. It’s one of the best fitness plan apps I’ve come across. Love it.

3. AusPost App 

Mr Smaggle had to convince me hard to get this app but it’s so worth it. I have a parcel locker number at my local PO and I used to just go in with the email to open my locker but that system fell to shit with the Vision In Blue Blanket project. Because I was receiving about 5 parcels a day, I just got too many emails and reminders and I had no idea how many parcels I was supposed to pick up. The app shows you which parcels need picking up and which ones you’ve already picked up so you don’t have to sift through days of emails figuring out which ones are notifications and which ones are reminders.

4. Acorns

I had a really hard time with Acorns the first time I tried to use it but I switched banks and it’s working perfectly now. It just rounds up every purchase I make to the nearest dollar and invests that extra money into my little online portfolio with them. It’s like a really sophisticated way of collecting gold coins and you get extra interest money on top of that. So good.

5. TimePage

This is Mr Smaggle’s organiser app and I honestly can’t use anything else now. It gives me little alerts when I need to be places or have meetings. It’s also just beautifully designed and it’s a pleasure to use.

new apps

6. MindBody 

I use this to book my F45 classes and it’s great. Lost of gyms, health centres and massage places use MindBody. You can book into most things without calling people and you can pay on the spot. I love it because I travel so much and I can always find a local F45 or gym through MindBody and lots of places offer rad discounts through the app too.

7. AppleMusic 

We have a family AppleMusic account and it’s so worth it. I have my Bose headphones on all day, every day and I need white noise to keep me on task. AppleMusic has daily playlists I love and I’ve also uploaded this epic playlist my best mate made me for my birthday last year. I’m also discovering new music which is really cool. It’s not been a big thing for me up until I had AppleMusic (I was much more of a play-The-Phantom-of-The-Opera-on-repeat, kind of a gal) and I’m loving it. Makes me feel like I’m a part of the cool crowd. I listen to ‘bands’ now. Bands.

new apps

8. Netflix 

I had no idea there was a Netflix app until a few months ago and I randomly installed it on my phone before a flight to Indonesia. Thank god because there was no TV on the plane and I had the foresight to download a season of Rupaul’s Drag Race. Totally saved my butt. Sometimes if we’re on a long road trip I’ll pop an episode on while I’m crocheting in the car. I’m kind of against the idea of the take-it-with-you-anywhere TV concept but it’s not like I’m watching TV shows while I’m out for dinner. Dire circumstances only. Like if the doctor is running an hour behind or I have an unscheduled overnight stop over.

9. Coffitivity 

AppleMusic is perfect for almost all kinds of work but I love Coffitivity for working with numbers. I have to do lots of reporting and spreadsheet style projects in my line of work and for some reason music just puts me off. The ambient sound of rustling coffee just gets my head in the right space for numbers.

What apps do you use everyday? Any standouts that continue to deliver?

P.S Also you should totally sign up for my newsletter. It’s full of cool stuff.
P.P.S Don’t forget Crochet Coach has a free trial offer period at the moment so make sure you sign up!

12 Comments

  1. Missy D 7 years ago

    Hrm, scrolling through my phone I realised I don’t have a lot of standout apps. But here’s some of my most used ones (aside from banking apps, podcasts etc).

    Google Calendar – I probably use this more than anything, especially since my partner and I are living in two cities. We can share calendars with each other and plan our flying back and forth. Love that it’s all in one place and I can access it from anywhere.

    Wunderlist – This is a list app that you can share with other people. I have lists like, ‘Restaurants to try’ or ‘Books to read’, ‘groceries’. The groceries is especially helpful, I share this list with my partner and we both add things as we remember them, then instant grocery list is ready to go.

    LastPass – Password saving app – love it. This means I can have strong passwords without having to try to remember them all.

    Splitwise – This is a financial spending app, perfect if you live in a share house, you can record when people owe you money or you owe them etc. We often use this for travel to keep track of where our money goes on trips (I like to keep records of roughly how much we spend when we travel).

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs-Smaggle 7 years ago

      Oh I love your Wunderlist lists. I started using Wunderlist but it wasn’t quite what I was after, but I might have to give it another go. I love Lastpass too! I use Keychain on my mac and it’s a lifesaver. Except I’ve forgotten the password for it which isn’t great… hmmm… must deal with that.

  2. Katy Hunt 7 years ago

    Podbean, so i can listen to your podcasts
    Google calender . So i dont forget stuff
    Audible, so i can listen to books
    ABC radio for when sport is on the radio

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs-Smaggle 7 years ago

      I only just discovered Podbean and all the lovely reviews in there! It’s so nice! 🙂

  3. Rebecca Riley 7 years ago

    Thanks for this! I already had a few, but I always love finding new apps to help with all areas of my working day in particular. I downloaded Coffitivy this morning and have had it on in the background all day while I work from home, responding to a gazillion emails.
    My other all-time fave that I use is ‘Paprika’. It’s a great one for those who save recipes all over the place where you can just load up the web address and it creates a recipe that you can refer to at any time. Total game changer for me!
    I’m also a bit addicted to my Fitbit app, for the main purpose of tracking my sleep. It’s bordering on the obsessive.

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs-Smaggle 7 years ago

      How good is Coffitivy? I’ve heard of Paprika – I’m going to get it right now! I have an okay memory so I tend to just google it but it would be good to have them all in one place.

  4. Kelly 7 years ago

    Oh I love the suggestions from both you and the comments – I am off to the check them out.

    • Author
      Carly Jacobs-Smaggle 7 years ago

      I love recommendation posts – they’re my favourite thing to write on Smaggle!

Pingbacks

  1. […] finishing each day with a half finished to-do list, try scheduling instead. I’ve mention Long Day before but I find by giving myself a time and date to have a task completed, it reframes my thinking […]

  2. […] finishing each day with a half finished to-do list, try scheduling instead. I’ve mention Long Day before but I find by giving myself a time and date to have a task completed, it reframes my thinking […]

  3. […] there is time scheduled to perform the activities required to complete the task. I’ve recommended Long Day repeatedly and it’s fantastic, but I’m even more excited about Actions which is the new product […]

  4. […] finishing each day with a half-finished to-do list, try scheduling instead. I’ve mention Long Day before but I find by giving myself a time and date to have a task completed, it reframes my thinking […]

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