My Favorite Apps — Part 1

Mobile applications have become so embedded in our daily lives that we often can’t go through a day without using it. One can liken mobile apps to an identification; Can you go a day without carrying any form ? Some apps are ubiquitous due to the convenience they provide and the jobs they help us do better especially in this normal fast space society we live in. Here are my favorites apps which make my life so much easier:

Eventbrite

This has become one of my go-to apps as I grow and develop in my career. Location recommendations seems to work well as I find events that are relevant to my interest or push me out of my comfort zone. The design is appealing to the eye and it’s layout doesn’t get you lost. The categories of event is well organized as well as the four subsections of the app at the bottom (home, search, likes, and profile).

I would like to see eventbrite add sports events like the Golden State Warriors. Currently I use either Stubhub and Ticketmaster to get basketball or baseball tickets; adding sports would consolidate three apps into one.

Spotify

Just as I need my morning breakfast to get started, music gets me through the day. Whether it’s when I’m driving, walking, taking transit, hitting the gym, or meditating. Spotify is my platform for music and subscribing to the premium service was a game changer for me. The convenience of no ads, downloading a playlist when data is not available, and not having to deal with CDs or tapes is hard to beat. I love the design of the mobile app; black background with the right color contrast gives that intimate and chill feel. The app is easy to navigate especially if one is a new user. My favorite feature is “your library” and how I can continue my listening session/playlist on a different device without having to search.

If there’s an area of improvement, it would be the suggestions of playlist and songs. Often times I would like to explore a genre, type or era of music I am unaware about but suggested playlist or songs are keep me trapped in similar types of music I have listened to. Another feature that could be improved is the ability to listen simultaneously to my friend’s songs.

Caltrain

New to the scene but finally available is the Caltrain app. The chances of missing my train has dropped significantly as I don’t have to wait in line to get a ticket. There is the environment benefits of reducing paper waste and saving trees. There’s still a lot of work to be done on the app.

First the bright red is not appealing. Maybe toning the red down a little or having a better contrast (not white) could do the trick. I don’t like that I can see my past tickets as it magically disappears after it expires. There’s the loophole of not buying a ticket till a conductor asks for it which could hurt Caltrain’s revenue; $2.25 loss per zones could come in handy if thousands take advantage of the loophole.

Medium

Despite medium being the platform I use to post blogs, it’s my avenue for a quick read. It’s convenient not carrying a magazine or kindle to read short articles. The intro screen with historical figures gets me all the time — I wonder who came up with that. The white background is a contrast to Spotify’s app, hence giving it that feeling of simplicity.

Layout of recommended articles could be improved as I sometimes get lost scrolling through; I recommend that an “up” arrow or shortcut be added making it easier to get to the top of the page. Similar to Spotify, suggested articles is too specific to interests and tend to fill up the list of articles; it would be nice if the feature could occasionally include articles that are not only my interest and pushes me out of my comfort zone

What are your favorite apps and why? Feel free to share in the comments section below.

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