12 Apps You Need to Try Right Now
There are days when it feels like you probably spend more time on your phone than interacting with real people (to be honest, that sounds like most days). We've shared some of our favorites to try and be productive during that time, and no, Snapchat doesn't count as "productive" nor does perfecting your selfie. But beyond the usual suspects of social media, there are so many apps out there that can help you do anything from brush up on a foreign language to extricate you from a bored-to-tears-nothing-in-common blind date. And the best part? They're (almost) all free!
Health
Clue: Never be caught by surprise in white jeans and a surprise visit by Mother Nature! Clue is designed to help you track your period and fertility while eschewing the traditional pink frilly design of most menstrual cycle tracking services. You can also jot down notes about your mood, the pain, and sexual activity all in a clean and simple interface.
Available for free for iPhone and Android
Mind Body: Maybe you just can't get out of bed at 7am but love the thrill of kickboxing or you're a die-hard spin fan, Mind Body allows you to find and book fitness classes from around the city on your phone. Read reviews, search for yoga studios nearby or check out deals in the neighborhood. Mind Body can also connect to your FitBit to help you track your progress and stay on track to achieve your fitness goals.
Available for free for iPhone and Android
Plant Nanny: New Year's resolutions, including one to drink more water, have long since fallen by the wayside. Get back on track with Plant Nanny, a cute app that encourages you to drink more water in order to keep virtual-you-as-a-plant happy. After inputting basic information (height, weight, etc), Plant Nanny calculates how much water a day you should be drinking and sends you push notifications to keep you on track. Don't drink your designated amount and your plant starts to look sad and wimpy.
Available for free for iPhone and Android
Social
Tab: Going out to dinner with friends is fun. Not so fun? Trying to split the check fairly at the end. Tab takes the fuss out of trying to figure out exactly how much everyone owes. You simply scan the check and select what you ordered and Tab calculates how much you owe including tax and tip so that you don't end up covering part of your friend's steak when you only ordered a salad.
Available for free for iPhone and Android
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Gotta Go: You walk into a blind date and can tell it's not going to end well. He looks nothing like his profile picture, can't stop talking about himself and reeks of gross cologne. You need an out ASAP without being obvious about how terrible the date is going. Your favorite naked-selfie comedian Chelsea Handler developed "Gotta Go" to help you extricate yourself from an undesirable event. It allows you to schedule a text or phone call to your own phone that can be used as "proof" that your roommate really did fall down the stairs and you need to meet her at the ER or that your friends car is being towed.
Available for free for iPhone
Game
Neko Atsume: Thanks to Taylor Swift's trailblazing, we can all be crazy cat ladies without shame. Now, you never have to part with your furry friends. Neko Atsume is a Japanese mobile game app where you try and lure cats to their yards. Ridiculous sounding? Just try it and see how unexpectedly addictive and soothing it is.
Available for free for iPhone and Android
Photography
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VSCO Cam: In an age of almost Instagram saturation, where any photo uploaded to basically any platform need to have a magic wand of filtering passed over it, a mega saturated Valencia filter just looks amateur. VSCO Cam aims for more subtle tweaks to up your game. You can apply a wide range of color filters, tweak the sharpness or adjust the saturation. The design is very streamlined and minimalist and takes some time to fully appreciate all the app has to offer. More themed pre-set filters can be bought in the app but the standard ones included do just fine.
Available for free for iPhone and Android
Phhhhoto: The day Facebook added GIFs to messenger was a great day indeed. And you know that if Mark Zuckerberg and Miley Cyrus are behind it, it's going to be great. Phhhoto turns your photos into fun gifs with special filter options available daily. You can easily share to other social media platforms and the platform is very intuitive.
Available for free for iPhone and Android
Other
RobinHood: UChicago is the home of econ after all so get in on the excitement of free market economics (find out how truly UChicago you are here) with the RobinHood app. Stylish and slick, the app helps you buy and sell stocks without paying the usual $7 fee per trade. Fingerprint login provides extra security and a clean layout makes buying and selling shares simple and fuss free. RobinHood also amasses news from the web about the stocks so you can stay informed. Keynes would be proud.
Available for free for iPhone and Android
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DuoLingo: Something about learning from a green parrot feels distinctly elementary school but the idea of DuoLingo is to help you learn (or keep up) a new language through simple exercises every day. With lots of game like influences - "lives" that you lose if you don't pass an exercise, points for practicing every day - DuoLingo offers a fun and engaging way to learn over 20 languages, including Esperanto and soon-to-be-released Klingon (told you we were nerds).
Available for free for iPhone and Android
Colorfy: Coloring books are not just for pre-K anymore. They've become bona fide accepted ways for even adults to de-stress. Colorfy offers mandalas, puzzles, and other patterns for users to pick their colors of choice and fill in the designs. Share your artistic creations on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!
Available for free for iPhone and Android
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What are your favorite apps? Let us know in the comments below!
