1. Voice / Hangouts (Android & iOS)
- Set up a separate number with your Google account.
- Use that for making calls or texts to contacts, freelancers, sources and anyone else you’d rather not have your actual phone number.
- Can forward the Voice number to any phone.
- Could become Hangouts app instead of Voice (but with the same features).
- Project management app
- “Email is holding your team back.” This app is all about tasks.
- Tasks are assigned to a person on your team. Others can follow a task to keep up on it.
- Tasks can have due dates and be checked off when done
- You can create subtasks that can be assigned to others
- Attach files to tasks
- Web version is more robust. The app shows you your tasks and an inbox, which is your news feed.
Apps for Staying in the know:
3. Feedly (Android, iOS. Blackberry Windows & thirdparty apps)
- RSS 101 pulls all new articles or blog posts in one place
- Get every headline from favorite sections of newspapers (e.g., Health & Science), blogs, websites
- Stay on top of your beat or industry without going to every news website or blog.
- Categorize feeds in folders. Swipe through the new articles. Save to read for later.
- Easy to set up new feeds in the app.
- Save things to read later on any device.
- Can Pocket a tweet, webpage, etc. Use tags to categorize your Pocket.
- When you have time, pull up the app and read the articles. Browse by tags to find the articles you need.
- Cool feature: the app can read to you with text to speech. Open the article in the app, and pick the accent and how fast or slow you want the article read to you.
- Apps for being organized:
- Save photos, files, etc. from your phone or any device and have it all in one spot (in the cloud). Can download a desktop version that allows you to easily save files from your desktop.
- App gives you access to all files saved in your Dropbox.
- Save photos and videos you took with your phone on Dropbox instead of emailing them to yourself.
- Can also share files and folders with others.
- Google’s version of the Microsoft Office suite. Documents. Spreadsheets.
- Presentations. All files you create in Drive are saved in the cloud and can be accessed by logging into your Google account.
- App allows you to access all of those files as well as edit them on your mobile device.
- Can collaborate on Drive with other users: see live edits, look at versions to see the changes made to the document and see who has accessed the file.
- Can create survey forms with Drive.
- App allows you to scan a document to PDF. Looks like a real scan, not like a photo.
- I tested a lot of notetaking apps—Evernote, Trello, etc.—and none of them impressed me.
- Keep is by far the easiest and most intuitive notetaking app out there.
- Easy to add new items, to create todo lists, add reminders to notes and have notes with photos attached.
- See your phone notifications on all devices.
- Easily transfer links, files, notes, and photos to all devices
- Download the app on mobile devices. Install the browser extension (Chrome, Safari or Mozilla). Even a desktop app.
- At work, phone is in your bag. See all notifications on your desktop—calls, texts, app notifications
- If you're on your phone browsing the web, you can push articles to your desktop. You can also push files like photos.
- Goes both ways. Press the push bullet button on your browser, it's ready to send the link to your phone. You can also push files and photos to your phone.
- Photo Editing:
9. Photoshop express (Android, iOS & Windows)
- Sorry Photoshop fans—this free app does not allow you to edit PSD files or have layers. It’s a simple photo editing app.
- Select a photo from your phone and add filters. You can change the intensity of the filters, which gives you more options.
- Fine tuning also available such as exposure, clarity, sharpen, contrast, shadows, temperature, vibrance. Red eye and blemish removal options.
- Great feature allows you to tap and see the original photo and tap again to see your edits. Can help you compare.
- Save the photo when done and share.
10. IFTTT (Android & iOS)
- If This Then That (IFTTT) is an app that automates tasks that you do over and over. You connect it with your accounts around the web—Google, Dropbox, Pocket, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, etc.
- Then you create recipes. If I do X, then the app does Y.
- Examples: If I leave my home (using location of your phone), tell me to turn off the phone’s wifi. If I post a photo on Instagram, add it to my Dropbox. If I go to the grocery store, send a text to my spouse asking if he or she needs anything.
- You can browse recipes that other users have created and use them.
- Using today’s apps you could create these recipes:
- If I save an article in Feedly, automatically add it to my Pocket.
- If I add a file to this Dropbox folder, save it as a document in Google Drive.
- If I archive an article in Pocket, add it to a row on a Spreadsheet in Drive.
- If I label a gmail \"pocket\" then save it for later in Pocket
- If a new article in a Feedly category, Push Bullet will send you a notification to all devices
LagniAPPe (a Louisiana term for a little something extra):
11. Twilight (Android & iOS) & F.lux (iOS)
- Sleep better by taking out the blue light of your device as it gets later.
- When you turn your phone on silent, Shush pops up and asks how long to keep it on silent. You can pick a length of time from 15 minutes to 12 hours or choose to keep it off. Great for meetings.
- My preferred method of keyboard. Swype the letters of the word instead of tapping each letter.
- Travel app allows you to keep all your travel information in one place. Forward your plane, hotel, car reservation emails to the app and when you need confirmation numbers or any other info, just open TripIt instead of searching your inbox.
- Copy and paste clipboard manager: A clipboard of multiple things that you copy so you can paste whatever you need.
- Keeps your clips even after you power down phone. Delete clips when you're done.
