App Review #11
My thoughts on apps I’ve been using for the past week+.
Previous App Reviews — Week 10, Week 9, Week 8, Week 7, Week 6, Week 5, Week 4,Week 3, Week 2,Week 1
Flic (9/10—$1.99)—
I’ve been using Flic for the past month after seeing it posted on Product Hunt. The app is Tinder for your photos. It allows you to Swipe right or left depending on if you would like to keep (right) or delete (left) your photos. The app’s design is super simple, which makes the experience a breeze. Additionally, as you delete photos, it shows you how much space you are clearing on your phone, which always gives you a nice feeling of accomplishment
As someone that takes pictures all the time, Flic is the perfect app to go to at the end of each week to organize my photos. The app costs .99 cents and is 1000% worth it for the convenience it provides. Also, you will probably spend $4 on your cup of coffee so the price should not really matter ☺
Path Talk (FREE — 9/10)— I honestly can’t believe this app does not get more love and is not used by everyone. I now rely on it whenever I have a question about a store or restaurant. Path Talk allows you to message a “Path Agent” with a message or question and they will contact the business and provide you with an answer. Imagine having a personal assistant that can answer simple questions you may have before you go shopping (what size jeans are available) or to a restaurant (do you have vegetarian dishes)?
Using your location, the app presents you a map that you can navigate and tap over businesses or you can simply search for the business that you have a question in regard to. On the page of the business you choose, you can type a message and send it to the “Path Agent.” The agent will respond within 5–10 minutes with an answer to your question.
Workflow (9.5/10—$2.99) — There is good reason for Workflow to be at the #1 spot in the App Store. It presents endless possibilities in automating certain processes on your phone. Workflow allows you to connect apps and actions on your phone. For example, I can create a workflow(which will show up as an app), that will order an uber from my current location to my apartment.
Workflows are super simple to create and they are adding more services to the platform that you will soon be able to create actions for. My dream scenario would be a workflow that includes RunKeeper and Spotify. When I click the Workflow, it would start my run/bike and play a specific playlist from Spotify.
Workflow warrants a post of its own as one of the most innovative apps released to the app store. For a deeper dive, be sure to check out this review of the app as well.
Wizzy (9/10—FREE) — Aside from the icon being awesome, Wizzy is a super fun app to share personal videos with your friends. The design is super simple. The homescreen is a video screen. Click record and you will begin recording you and your surroundings. I have always wondered what Instagram would be like if the initial screen was to take a photo instead of the news feed of pictures.
I love how Wizzy takes the music selection out of the users hands. Choosing the perfect song is always difficult and Wizzy’s song selection makes these entertaining and often hilarious. Additionally, the red progress bar as you record a video reminds me of the snapchat video feature.
Robin Hood (9/10 — Free but has a waitlist)
I had been waiting to try Robin Hood for quite some time. They are reinventing the traditional stock brokerage by offering commission-free trades. I was around 4000 on their waitlist of nearly 500,000 when Howard Lindzon, tweeted out that he was sending invites to their beta and I quickly shot him an email asking for an invite. (His post about Robin Hood)
The app is truly revolutionary if you compare it to the experiences of trading on other brokerage platforms like Fidelity or Schwab. The design is extremely clean with a focus on the two colors that embody the stock market, Red and Green.
My only feedback would be to list the bid and the ask price on the trade order screen along with the current price.
I think the folks at Robin Hood are well on their way to compete with these traditional brokerages as they enhance their offerings in addition to commission free trading
Neato (FREE — 8/10) — I saw a tweet about Neato and quickly downloaded it. Neato allows you to send yourself quick notes from the notifications tab in iOS 8. There is so much potential for new apps in iOS8 and I was extremely happy to see someone take this opportunity. When I used to want to send myself a note, I would either send myself a text or email, which is extremely time consuming #firstworldproblem. With Neato, I swipe down on my phones screen and am presented with a small box in which I can write a note and send it to evernote, dropbox, my email or text someone.
My only gripe with the app is that the keyboard is a bit funky. There were several times where my taps went unnoticed. However, this is probably a small bug that will be fixed soon and is not a barrier to gaining satisfaction from the convenience of the app.
I highly recommend downloading Neato if thoughts or reminders are constantly popping into your head. It’s a great way to organize these reminders and to send them as a list to yourself.
