9 Apps That Will Change Your Life
A #homescreen says a lot about a person.
There are now over 3 billion smartphones in the world (going to 6 billion by 2020) and for those of us with a smartphone, they have become our gateway or front door in to the rest of the world, to search, to discover, to chat and to work and play.
Ever since I discovered the beautiful #Homescreen app created in 2014 by the Betaworks team (now removed from the app store!), I have become intrigued by what (and if) you can tell about someone’s personality from the apps they choose to prioritise on their home screen.
This personality analysis though is for another post… For now, here is my ode to 9 apps that sit on my home screen, make my life easier and that I absolutely couldn’t live without.
“Deep work is the killer app of the knowledge economy, and Evernote is the killer app for deep work. It allows you to capture your ideas and cultivate them.” says CEO Phil Libin.
Evernote is that little place you can go to read, write and think free from distractions! The lack of collaboration and communication features is actually Evernote’s strength. It has become the searchable notepad of my life. In fact, it still amazes me that people take notes on paper. Seriously. All those paper notepads of unsearchable notes!
Another special and magical productivity app. This time because it so flexible. It’s not just a to do list, it’s also a Sprint board, a project management tool, an investment tracker, a network tracker and the home of my list of favourite restaurants.
It can do static data collection, it can assign tasks, it can be used to manage a flow, it integrates with Slack and email. Trello really is all things to all people (all 1.1 million daily active people). The replacement of CRMs, spreadsheets, notepads and whiteboards — i would bet that every single person who is reading this has a process, list or project that if not already, would benefit from using Trello!
Citymapper is the ultimate transport app for Londoners (or Mancunians, Berliners, Parisians, New Yorkers, Mexicans or Singaporeans etc). Citymapper combines open and proprietary data sets to make public transport in any major world city a breeze.
The beauty of the Citymapper app is how it makes planning ANY journey around London so simple and brings all that complex information to the tip of your fingers!
Have you met Gobot?
If you take one portion Google Hangout add it to a big dose of Skype multiply it by a single web URL and take away anything to download, then you get the magic that is Appear.in.
Appear.in is unique in that it allows you to create and share a personal URL for your web conference and then allows participants to participate from anywhere on the web or mobile app just by clicking on the URL. Forget the hassle of having to add Skype ID’s, pin code’s or dial-in details, just send your own personal appear.in/URL and be on your way.
A relatively new discovery but the home of over 200,000 audiobooks. When you spend all day in front of digital screens of all sizes, it is a real pleasure to just put your headphones in and ‘read’ a book without having to look at a screen!
The best way to describe Nuzzel is a tool that curates news based on what your Twitter and Facebook friends are sharing. Given the enormous amount of news and other content that is thrown at us every day it is a simple but brilliant way to immediately cut through the noise and read the important stuff (or at least the stuff that is deemed important enough to share by your peers). Today Nuzzel has pride of place on my home screen and is often one of the first places I go to in the morning to see what’s important.
Imagine being able to book any restaurant in London without having to pick up the phone and go through painful automated booking systems. Hero is a beautifully crafted new app that allows you to message any restaurant or shop in London. Hero allows you to book restaurants whenever you want. For me this is usually at 7am in the morning on my way to work and I realise I need a reservation for the evening or weekend and would otherwise have to set a reminder for later in the day to call said restaurant. Instead I just ask my Hero :)
Revolut is an app and prepaid card that gives you near perfect exchange rates when spending currency abroad. It’s perfect rates and great UX make it a must have companion for any trips abroad. It is so simple to top up, check your balance and spend your card that it is a total no-brainer.
Beware though, it won’t last forever. Other banks have offered effectively free currency exchange in the past (Nationwide and Metrobank etc) and all have eventually had to charge. Revolut is no different and will surely need to find a longterm sustainable business model at some point.
[Sunrise]
An honorary mention to Sunrise, which was until recently a bedrock of my home screen. By far and away the best and easiest to use Calendar app on the market until Microsoft swooped in and have since shut it down! 😔 After trying out a few alternatives, I have settled on Google Calendar as the next best, but still inferior, alternative.
Tweet me @bengrabiner or comment below with any life-changing apps that I have missed!
