With each passing year, our smartphones resemble little pocket computers more and more. But for those of us that still rely on actual personal computers to get us through the day, LogMeIn helps bridge the gap. LogMeIn’s app will let you tap in to your computer remotely, controlling it from your phone’s screen as though you were sitting in front of it. It’s great for retrieving a forgotten file in a pinch or lending some quick tech support to faraway friends and family members.
The mall isn’t generally considered the place to go to get the lowest prices on things, but that doesn’t mean you need to pay full price. Shopular’s app can tell when you’re at the mall — it finds your location based on cell towers and your phone’s Wi-Fi connection — and alerts you to daily-updated coupons for popular stores.
You don’t have to go too far on any social network to find daily doses of negativity. New app Happier offers up a refreshing palate-cleansing: It’s a social network for good stuff. Upload happy moments and personal victories for others to see, or peruse the positive photos, quotes and joyful snippets left by others. The world may be a cruel place sometimes, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take time to acknowledge the good parts.
The reigning champion of helping you get from point A to point B, Google’s mobile Maps app is a must-download for just about any iPhone owner. Sure, the app helps you get where you’re going (or figure out where you are), but it also pulls in restaurant recommendations leveraged by Google’s purchase of Zagat, and real-time traffic information leveraged by Google’s purchase of Waze (another app on this list).
It’s hard to find a smartphone-toting runner who hasn’t at least heard of RunKeeper, let alone used it. The venerable quantified-self app maps your route out as you run, letting you review your distance, pace and other data points along the way. You can share your achievements on various social networking sites, and the app integrates with a whole host of other fitness apps and services to boot.
Carrying around 350 catalogs would be a backbreaking exercise in futility. Lying on your couch and swiping through 350 catalogs shrunken down into your iPhone? That’s more like it. Catalog Spree serves up digital versions of popular shopping destinations, letting you browse, buy and share your finds with friends.
Redfin’s most unfortunate sin is that the real estate service isn’t live in all 50 states. If you find yourself in one of Redfin’s coverage areas, however, its website and mobile apps offer up a clean, easy to use way to peruse homes for sale. The iPhone app lets you check out available homes plotted on a map in your area, with listings updated every half hour or sooner.
Springpad is a service that lets you save just about anything, like a digital scrapbook of sorts. Except instead of merely freezing the things you save in time, it keeps those things alive. Save a new movie you want to see in theaters, and even years later, Springpad will show you where to buy it on Amazon. Save a recipe you’d like to try, and Springpad turns the recipe’s individual ingredients into a shopping list. If you can save it, chances are Springpad can make it more useful.
As smartphone apps go, Yelp could be considered an old-timer by now. But it’s still a must-have for finding the shops, restaurants and attractions located nearby, complete with ratings from Yelp’s army of loyal users. This app helps you find out where to go but — perhaps more importantly — often gives you an indication overpriced tourist traps and mediocre eateries to avoid.
It shouldn’t be surprising to learn that various online services cobble together information about you to better sell you ads or to sell data about your surfing habits to third parties. DuckDuckGo bucks that trend by acting as an anonymous search engine, letting you find the things you’re looking for without scooping up any of your data. The iPhone app also sports a “stories” feature that packages interesting content from popular sources.
