Weekly App Review #6
Thoughts on new apps I have used for the past 2 weeks
I took 2 weeks off from my weekly app review as I was on break from school, which was an amazing time to think and relax as I prepare to finish my last semester of college. However, I did not stop using apps! Out of the 5 apps reviewed below, I used 4 of the 5 almost every day over the past two weeks.
HealthcareDIVE — FREE (9/10)
Although I never wanted to follow in the footsteps of my family to become a doctor, I have always had a big interest in the healthcare industry. I am always keeping up to date on news regarding medicine and healthcare. HealthcareDIVE has quickly become my go to news source for relevant healthcare news through the app. The app presents article titles in columns of two along with the exact field the article is about (Health IT, Policy etc.), making it easy to scroll and find articles you are interested in. Clicking on an article opens it within the app, which eliminates the pain of returning to the app after links open a new tab in Safari. If you are interested in the healthcare and medical industry, you should 100% download
Snack — FREE (9.5/10 + super cuteness)
PUPPIES FTW!!
I can guarantee this will be my sister and sister-in-law’s new favorite app. Snack provides your daily dose of adorable dogs. It is such a simple idea and since downloading, I have visited the app every single day to see the new pictures. You have the option to “Heart” them Instagram style as well as send pictures to contacts from your phone. No, Snack will not be the next Facebook but it will do a great job of making you smile every morning when you get out of bed. The only reason this does not get a perfect score is because there are only 5 dogs each morning ☺
Human — FREE (8.5/10)
I am always looking for new ways to track my health in addition to the Jawbone UP that I currently wear. Another great app I use, Moves, is similar to the Jawbone but tracks my movement throughout the day using sensor and location information from my iPhone. I came across Human and thought that it was an amazing app to complement the current ones that I use. The core concept of Human is that every person should be moving (walking/running/cycling) for at least 30 minutes every day to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
After using it for over 2 weeks, I have been motivated each day to not just pass the 30 minutes but try and reach the 90 minute goal I set for myself. Human is a great way to motivate yourself to be active.
The design of the app is phenomenal as you can see below. It presents the days you have past your goal with small checks and after going to your profile, you see your weekly average minutes active. Additionally, the use of push notifications as you pass each milestone makes you happy every time your phone buzzes with that message.
The only issue I have is that I feel my battery has been hit hard now that I am using both Moves and Human. I cannot confirm that Human is the cause but since downloading, my battery tends to run out faster. I will continue to use it but could not give it a perfect 10/10.
UP Coffee — FREE (9/10) —
I noticed UP Coffee on Product Hunt and have found it quite useful since downloading several weeks ago. The app tracks your coffee intake based on what you input. It gives you information with regard to the best time to go to sleep, your coffee drinking patterns and even syncs with the Jawbone UP to help you gauge the effect of caffeine on your sleep.
My favorite part of the app is the Did You Know tab, which gives interesting facts about caffeine’s effects on the body. I never thought I would learn about caffeine from a company that specialized in fitness tracking and speakers. The book icon in the left photo brings you to this information
I ran into two very small issues with the app. The first, which irks me for some odd reason is that the save and continue button after inputting your drink is under the time as opposed to the top right, where most apps have the “done” button after performing a task. I would be interested to know which one is more effective. The second even more minor issue is that the app doesn’t include Snapple LOL.
Despite my nitpicking, the app is beautiful and has been a great way to keep track of my caffeine intake. I would love to get a weekly or monthly summary of my statistics. COFFEE ADDICTS, GET ON THIS (Typed as I sip on an Iced latte)
Later —$ .99 —(6/10) — I find the current reminders for the iPhone to be very insufficient. I came across Later and thought that I would give it a shot. The interface is very simple and easy to set up but unfortunately it did not offer much that was superior to the standard iPhone reminders. The unique capabilities of later is that it can send you an email or schedule a tweet.
I used it for several reminders over the course of the week but resorted back to my regular reminders. I still believe it is a useful app that is worth checking out if you want to send email reminders.
