Mobile App Life Hacks

So as you will learn from this blog, I am a Social Media Specialist. Which means a lot of things, but mostly I spend my days involved in all things digital and social. Personally and professionally. Since my job is highly mobile, I have become very picky about the Apps I keep on my phone. I've also had time to research and find the best of the best. I was inspired to put together some of the best apps I've found after an all day meeting with some of our vendor partners at work. People always seemed fascinated by my job and want to know my opinion on apps I use so I decided to compile them for you to enjoy in a new series for my blog:

Oh! Keep in mind, I'm an iPhone user so these apps will be Apple Store Specific.

GPS

These days, GPS apps are pretty much a staple on any smart phone. I will indulge in the Google Maps app but my go-to for the past 3 years has been Waze. I have introduced many co workers to this app over the years as we have traveled to our different markets for events. When road tripping, this app will be your new best friend. You can save your frequent locations like Home, Work, or a favorite address location (like I did when I would go visit my bestie in Nashville all the time). One click and it begins to route your way while offering a variety of versions to go. You can choose based on shortest time, distance, and of course traffic. But the biggest reason why I love it is the Police Notifier. Now granted, Waze crowd sources this info so it's not always accurate but when users report in a cop has posted up on the side of the highway, it will alert you of it. I also like seeing the real time traffic. Users can not only communicate with other drivers on the road about why traffic is at a standstill, but they can also snap a picture of it. Here is actually a snap shot I remembered taking of my favorite 'waze experience': 

While visiting Nashville for work, the President happened to be in town. A normal ten minute drive downtown to meet co workers for dinner turned into a nightmare because Air Force One was taking off. I took a screen shot of what we were dealing with and sent it to our Regional Manager to let him know we would definitely be late for dinner lol. If you click on the notifications with the numbers on them, you'd see conversations and comments on the report. This time around, they weren't so friendly lol. 

Weather Apps

I travel to multiple cities fairly often for my job and all my family lives in a completely different city than me, so I always try to keep a few cities saved on my weather apps. I have used a variety weather apps to keep me up to date on what the heck I'm getting myself into on the daily because I have definitely been in 3/4 different cities in one day by car. So the clear winner for me was Yahoo Weather Apps. This app is ridiculously beautiful (because apparently weather apps can be beautiful lol) It shows different images that represent the city your in. 

 

(Sorry for the Winter Storm Warning, but such is current life :) 

Louisville has a beautiful shot of the Derby Hot Air Balloon Races and Lexington shows beautiful farm scapes. No matter what time of day, or the current weather condition, the app will show images of what's currently going on. These aren't the best examples but it's all I got to work with right now lol. After you scroll down though, you get the forecast, radar, wind conditions, etc. It's definitely efficient while being aesthetically pleasing. Who even knew we wanted that in an app? I also use AccuWeather who has recently stepped their game up. I like Accuweather because I like the weather alerts it offers when bad weather is on its way.


Stay tuned for the next installment in my Mobile App Life Hack Series: Photo Apps.