For those of you who don’t know, I’m sort of a major tech-lover. My life pretty much revolves around technology in one way or another, whether I’m blogging, using social media, or just doing school work (electrical engineering major over here). One of my favorite little gadgets? Apps.
I use them for everything. I’m pretty sure there’s an app out there for anything you could possibly need, and if there isn’t, you can bet someone will make one within the next year. They simplify my life in so many ways, and they’re just fun to use! After decluttering my phone and narrowing down which apps I actually need (I still have over 50), I realized there are a few apps that I love just a little more than others. With a blogger’s perspective in mind, I came up with a list of apps that I can’t live without, and I think you’ll agree!
A friend told me about this app last week, and I think it’s my new favorite. Sunrise is an all-in-one calendar app, meaning it combines your Google Calendar, iCloud calendar, and Exchange calendar in one beautiful layout. You can also connect it to your Facebook and Reminders app, so even your to-do list shows up. I absolutely love all of the details they added in, like a little weather icon that shows the expected weather at certain times of the day.
Everything I need to do, from homework to writing blog posts, ends up on this list app. Its super simple design puts the focus on the only thing that matters: your to-do list. I love the swipe-to-complete feature, as well as the ability to make multiple lists on the same display. I even have a list for blog ideas!
Most bloggers know about this app already, but I had to put it on here for the sake of making sure every blogger knows about it. This camera app has every filter a blogger could need for getting that perfect Instagram photo. My favorites? C1, M3, and T1.
This is also one of my more recent discoveries, and wow is it perfect. Pocket is kind of like Pinterest, but specifically for reading material like articles and blog posts. Rather than bookmarking a page and having it get lost in a list, Pocket displays your favorite pages in a beautiful feed where you can tag pages, choose your favorites, and save articles for reading offline. Perfect for saving your favorite blog posts!
If you’re a minimalist at heart, this app is for you. It converts your Facebook into a newspaper-style feed, getting rid all the extra ads and fluff to put the focus on actual post content. It takes a little getting used to, but there are a few features that have me thinking it’s better than the Facebook app itself!
These last two apps are actually for Macs, and they’re more about productivity than anything else. Caffeine is like the coffee for your Mac. It’s a little button that goes in your menu bar, and when turned on, it keeps your screen from dimming or turning off. I wasn’t sure how useful this would be until I started watching The Office for hours on end and constantly had to get up and move my cursor to wake up the screen.
This one is especially useful for designers and coders. If you’ve ever had to deal with copying and pasting different chunks of text, like color codes or code pieces, you’ve probably gotten annoyed with the hassle of recopying over and over. Flycut is a little tool that saves a history of text you’ve copied, and with a few keyboard shortcuts, you can select what you want to paste from that history list. It only pops up when you’re using it, so you don’t have to worry about another app cluttering up your screen!
Do you have any favorite apps? Share them in the comments!
I love getting to know my readers, so if you're just as much of a Pinterest fan as I am, join me and other amazing bloggers on my group Pinterest board! It's full of fantastic tips for blogging + business, and updated every day by members like you!
Jessica is the founder and editor of The Blogging Brew. She strives to empower people of all skill levels with the resources they need to be successful creatives. When she's not blogging, you can find her at the campus coffee shop with Pinterest pulled up and a hefty to-do list by her side.
Flycut sounds like a LIFESAVER. Where has this app been all my life? Thanks for sharing!