Google the 10 most popular Apps of recent times and you will be faced with a list dominated by Social Media and Messaging platforms. Let’s put these obvious Apps aside (and lets also park the dating Apps J), we’ve filtered through the thousands of Apps out there to list for you some great (and mostly free) Apps – that you may not have heard of!
Socratic
Mum, I need help with my math’s homework.
How many times have you confidently approached your child’s math problem only to become stuck yourself? Worry no more.
Socratic by Google is a learning app that has been developed to not only give you the answer, but to also guide you through the key concepts so that you understand the answer and how to get there.
In addition to being voice activated, you can also just take a photo of the problem you are working on or the text you are trying to understand and Socratic will find resources, concept explanations and videos to help you work through the question. Saving you time looking through multiple resources yourself.
Developed primarily for high school and university students, Socratic covers multiple subjects, from poetry to drama, from physics to math specialties.
Guess who has just become the genius parent in 2021!
10 Percent Happier Meditation
We have all heard about the benefits of meditation but many people struggle to really get started when they go it alone. This is where 10% happier meditation comes in – it not only provides simple guided audio meditations that help you get the basics right but you can also access a live coach that can answer your questions and keep you on track.
This app originated from a book written by ABC News (US) Dan Harris after he suffered an on-air panic attack and realised he needed to better manage the voice in his head. Despite his initial scepticism, he found meditation and wrote the book as a way to convince other sceptics about the benefits of meditation.
As the blurb on the App says: “meditation will not solve all your problems. But it might make you 10% happier”. Surely that’s worth a go!
Robinhood
The stockmarket goes up, the stockmarket comes down – regardless of this shares and stocks are still considered some of the most effective options in wealth-building.
Robinhood is an online stock brokerage, that allows you to trade in stocks, ETFs, and options, and buy and sell cryptocurrencies, all commission free. In contrast to passive investment portfolio, you are in charge of every single purchase and sale and there is no minimum account balance required and you can buy as much or as little as you feel comfortable with.
The App is designed to be mobile first and so it’s attractive and easy to use for trading and tracking your asset. This along with it being commission free and having no minimum investment makes it a good starting option for would be investors – who appear to be Robinhood’s main target. However, you need to do your own research – the App does not include any educational resources that would help new investors navigate the stock market.
NYT Cooking (USD 57.99/year)
We all know the New Your Times (NYT) as a leader in print and digital news, with global influence and readership. But did you know you can also cook with the NYT. Recipes are available to suit cooks of all levels and weekly meal plans are provided. You can also customise your meal plan by answering a few questions.
And if you are an Americanophile – you won’t know where to start – pumpkin pie, thanksgiving turkey, lobster mac and cheese, peach cobbler and southern fried chicken!
AllTrails: hike, bike & run (AUD 29.99/year for the Pro version)
Now that you’ve finished eating your Southern fried chicken and pumpkin pie, its time to go for a run…. or a hike or a ride.
AllTrails has over 100,000 trail maps from all over the world, and over 4,000 in Australia alone. You can find trails that suit your specific fitness level and needs – child-friendly, wheelchair friendly, pet friendly, and share your outdoor escapades with family and friends through the usual social media platforms.
Discover new trails in your local area and save your favourite ones. Use the GPS activity tracker to ensure you don’t get lost when you are somewhere new, and download offline maps so you can navigate those trails that don’t get a signal.
The AllTrails Pro version requires an annual subscription with a small proportion of the subscription fee going to an environmental cause.
A 4.8 rating from over 7,000 reviews cant be wrong, right?
Duolingo
New Year, new New Year’s Resolution – why not learn a new language?
Due to its free content, Duolingo is at the top of the language learning apps.
Although none of these apps provide the total immersion experience you get from attending a language school or 1:1 tutoring, it’s a great first option before an overseas trip (remember those!) or before you commit completely to a language, this could be the way to go.
Duolingo offers a choice of 94 different languages, and uses space repetition as its primary learning method. You get reminders to keep you on track and learning is made fun with quizzes, streaks and points scoring.
And for those who want to learn Klingon (Star Trek) and High Valyrian (Game of Thrones), here you go!
Vivino
So, you’ve been really good to yourself: you are meditating, you go for regular runs and you are bettering yourself by learning a new language – now its time to talk about wine!
We know some people are wine buffs, and love telling you everything they know. You can join this group of know- it-alls, simply by scanning the label on the bottle you have picked up. Vivino will give the bottle a rating and provide a bunch of reviews on the wine as well. Save time at the bottle shop and never take a bad bottle of wine to a dinner party again! Winner!
You are scrolling through your phone and find an article that interests you but you don’t have time to read it – so why not save it for later.
Pocket lets you save articles, videos, recipes and anything else you come across. This content can then be accessed in the one place, and read offline, at a time that suits you.
Pocket is a simple idea that also allows you to easily share your saved content to another person’s Pocket, to social media or email.
Pocket is an oldie but a goodie.
Zombies, Run!
Okay, I had to add this one in, just because …….. its about zombies!
Its for those of you who like a bit of fun when you run, and some scares along the way to really get you going.
Get your sneakers and headphones on, and before you know it, you can hear the zombies, coming up behind, you, in front – in fact they seem to be everywhere. So all you can do is RUN!
There are detailed audio stories (missions) that place you at the centre as the hero and take you through the zombie environment you are faced with.
Zombies, Run! Turns you exercise into an adventure – if you like adventures that scare you and make you feel you need to run to survive.
And finally….
LastPass
Its all about cybersecurity these days, so how about ditching the use of your birthday, your children’s names, 12345 and password as passwords. Believe it or not, these last 2 are in the top 5 most used passwords of 2020! And you need to stop writing your passwords down in a book that you keep in your office.
Passwords not only need to be changed regularly but they need to be different and rather complex to minimise the chance of an online data breach. So how will you remember all these complicated passwords – say hello to LastPass.
LastPass is a password manager that encrypts and stores your passwords online. You set up an account, and once you save a password to it, you’ll always have it when you need it. LastPass also generates long randomised passwords that help protect against hacking, stores digital records such as memberships, simplifies online shopping and also has a component linked to dark web monitoring that will alert you if your personal information is at risk.
So put sorting out your passwords on your To-do list for this weekend.
