Electronic devices do so much to help us in our everyday lives – providing information, connection, entertainment, organization, convenience, time-savings – as well as opportunities to save. Some of the most helpful apps that can be installed on our devices are available for very little or no cost, while providing a great deal of value. Here are seven absolutely free apps that can enhance your life in a variety of areas:
Organization
1. Springpad – An extremely customizable, powerful personal organizer and assistant. Create notebooks filled with lists, to-dos, links, contacts… and by telling Springpad what it is you’re saving, it helps you consolidate, organize and retrieve your information easily and conveniently from anywhere. Springpad makes collecting recipes and meal planning a breeze, too. Its built-in integrations will notify you when, for example, the movies you want to see are in theaters or available on Netflix, a band you want to hear is performing in your area or an item you want to purchase goes on sale on amazon.com.
Vegetable Gardening
2. SproutIt – Plan out your vegetable garden with advice from this handy app, which visually displays your garden plan and guides you through the entire growing season. Get vegetable and herb recommendations, a planting schedule, growth timetable – all based upon your particular geographic area, email reminders of tasks and gardening tips from this easy-to-use app that will help even beginner gardeners succeed.
Uncluttering/Going Green
3. PaperKarma – Do you, like most people, dislike paper junk mail? PaperKarma can make it stop being delivered to your mailbox. Install the PaperKarma app on your smartphone and snap a photo of the unwanted mail; they contact the mailer, instructing them to unsubscribe you from their mailing list, and the barrage of paper junk mail stops.
Fitness
4. MyTracks – This easy-to-use app uses the GPS in your device to track your outdoor activities by path taken, distance, speed, duration and elevation. MyTracks displays your route on an actual google map so you can view your course and can provide voice announcements of your progress if desired. It saves your data history from each activity so you can share it with others, replicate a particular activity and course or compare stats from one activity to another. It’s also easy to share updates from MyTracks to your social networks.
De-stressing
5. Breathe2Relax – This smartphone app helps you manage stress by guiding you through diaphragmatic breathing exercises. This type of deep breathing calms and reduces anxiety by suppressing the body’s natural “fight or flight” reaction to stress. Use the app as you desire – to alleviate situational stress or adopt an overall relaxed sense of being.
Family Security/Communication
6. Life360 – This app, for iOS and Android, utilizes GPS technology to help you keep track of your family, allowing you to ensure that everyone is where they’re supposed to be. The app enables VoIP conference calls and group messaging to keep the family connected. The app also sends alerts of nearby crimes and has a panic button to help keep everyone safe.
First Aid
7. American Red Cross First Aid –This app provides instructions for handling the most common everyday emergencies. It includes step-by-step directions, videos and interactive quizzes to help you provide appropriate first aid on the spot. Safety tips are also included and information is pre-loaded so it can be accessed even if you can’t connect to the Internet.
No matter the area or need, electronic devices can make our lives more organized and convenient, less complicated, safer and healthier. These are but a few of the multitude of free apps available to help our devices serve us better.
What are your favorite free apps?
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SproutIt is for US only. Luckily I am near the border so I used a US postal code, but just a heads up for others.