Apps

Check Out Some of the Best Fitness Apps Available

As we enter a new month, it’s time for updates on your resolutions! Many of us vowed to do, or refrain, from many things. From cutting out bad habits, to developing good ones, our resolutions probably run the gamut of behaviors we want to develop.

A popular resolution that many of us make is to begin following a consistent workout or dietary regiment. Regardless if you’re pumping iron, or running laps, a surefire way to keep track of your progress is by making use of a smartphone app, many devices even come with some applications pre-installed. But with so many fitness apps available to users on their phones and tablets, how do we determine which ones are best suited to our needs? We’re here to help you sort through the many fitness apps on the market and bring you closer to making a decision when downloading.

Calorie Counter by MyFitnessPal, Inc.

This calorie counting app for Android boasts the largest food database of any Android calorie counter. Over 3-million foods are listed in the database, and the MyFitnessPal Calorie Counter offers a syncing feature so that data is always available and updatable. Additionally, you may add friends in order to easily track and support each other’s progress. You may set goals, record nutritional information, and much more, making it clear why this calorie counter app is one you’ll want to consider. Continue reading →

Cooler weather and shorter days remind people that winter is on the way. If you are like many people who prefer to drive to holiday gatherings, you need to be ready for any weather, traffic situation or emergency that might leave you stranded. Smartphone apps can give drivers potentially life-saving help and other essential information to ensure safety on the road.

Winter Survival Kit - As one of the most important free apps on the market for winter, this survival kit is available for both Android (versions 2.2 and higher,) and iOS platforms. You can store your emergency telephone numbers in the app. Once your GPS on your phone is enabled the app can find you and contact roadside assistance or 911 in emergencies.

Storm Shield NOAA Weather Radio App - If you don't already have a battery-powered solar emergency weather radio, this is an important app to have. Available from Google Play for Android, and the iTunes store for iPhone for $4.99, this app will give you voice-activated or push notification alerts of major life-threatening weather situations. It allows you to have a NOAA weather radio on your smartphone.

The Waze Social GPS and Maps is a must have app for all travelers. A great feature of this app is when actual drivers give live, up-to-the-the-minute information about bad weather, traffic jams, accidents, and speed traps. It will also help in situations where navigation device don't have current information. It is available for both Android and iOS operating systems.

GasBuddy - Anyone who drives will benefit from GasBuddy, an app that is available on Android, Blackberry, iOS and Windows platforms. If you're on the road it will alert you to nearby gas stations and give prices. It also keeps track of the cheapest gas prices. It even calculates the cost of gas needed for a trip.

The database keeps track of gas prices all across the United States and in Canada. The app relies on drivers to report gas and to keep the data up-to-date. Active participation earns you points toward entries into weekly contests for $250 free major brand gas cards.

Smartphone owners who take full advantage of all of their device's capabilities know how helpful they can be for everything from ordinary phone calls, to keeping track of appointments, creating to-do lists, and even doing things they regularly do online. These apps can help with everything from travel plans to finding the cheapest gas in town for your summer plans. Whether you are an Android or an iOS user, we have suggested an app for everyone.

GasBuddy

If you drive to your summer getaway destination, GasBuddy is one of those apps you'll consider a “must have.” Plug in the ZIP code, and the app will find the cheapest gas prices in that location. You'll also be able to see how recently the prices were updated. If you do a lot of driving -– for travel or just as part of your daily life -- this is a tremendously helpful app.

TripIt

Available from the iTunes app store or Google Play, this handy app can help you avoid the chaos that comes with having to keep all of your travel paperwork and documents straight. It will consolidate all of your travel plans, create an itinerary, and then allow you to sync your itinerary between your phone and computer. Link your email address to TripIt and you can send your itinerary to family members with nothing more than the click of a button.

The app finds reservation confirmation numbers from your mountain of emails and then it compiles your itinerary with flight boarding times and check-in times at your hotel. The free version is a full-functioning program, but you'll have to deal with the advertisements.

Trip Advisor

TripAdvisor is described as a “crowd-sourced” guide, meaning it gets its reviews from people who use the app. It provides information on hotels, restaurants, places of interest and much more. The offline city app allows you to check out reviews without having to use your data allotment.

iFlyPro

This app is available for both iOS and Android and it can help you navigate different airports and keep up with flight delays. An important consideration is that the app will consume nearly 50 MB of space on your phone, so it might be better to download it onto your tablet and study the different terminals before traveling.

Kayak

This free online travel-booking app for iOS and Android lets you search and compare flights, car rentals and hotels on the go. Similar to its online version, it will compare flights from hotels.com, Orbitz and more and it is hailed as the number one travel app currently.

Seat Guru

With Seat Guru (brought to you by TripAdvisor), once you have made your reservation, you can plug in your flight and date and see what seats are available. Unlike the seat selector on the airline website, Seat Guru tells you which rows have the most leg room, and where you're most likely to get bumped by people moving up and down the aisles.

Kindle

If you don't have an e-reader, you can now download the Kindle app for Android, or for your iPhone or iPad and leave those heavy books at home! We suggest downloading this on a tablet instead of on your phone because the app itself and the e-books (or other downloads) will take up a considerable amount of space.

Anything you can do to make your trip planning enjoyable will ultimately make your entire vacation a lot less stressful. You will also be less likely to forget important things because these tools will help you with reservations, organizing your itinerary, traveling in greater comfort, and most of all, getting the best deals on everything. One last thing, don’t forget to download a free WiFi finder so you can use all these apps for free!

Thanks to advances in mobile technology, the digital cameras built into smartphones and tablets get more use than traditional digital cameras. Because of Internet access, people can now take pictures and immediately upload them to social media sites. Since these devices are so widely used, customers are eager to find photo-editing apps that don't require a laptop or desktop computer. In response, software creators are developing apps for both iOS and Android operating systems.

Snapseed

Nik Software created Snapseed. It was formerly only available for iOS, but has recently been released for the Android operating system. It is only compatible with Android devices that use the 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) operating system or later. This means that many smartphones that still use the Gingerbread operating system (Android 2.3) are not compatible with the program. Snapseed is a free app that can be downloaded either from Google Play or iTunes.

Snapseed is highly rated by Gadget Soup, the Globe Press and Imaging-Resource, as well as other tech authorities. Snapseed was ranked as iTunes' Best Mobile App of 2012. It was also rated as the Top iPad App of the Year.

Snapseed allows users to upload their photos to Google+, which isn't possible with other photo editing apps. The iOS version of Snapseed also has new features that aren't present on the Android version yet. The Retrolux feature allows users to create vintage-like styles, scratch and/or texture effects along with light leaks. It also allows users to choose different frame styles and frame colors. Both the Android and iOS versions let you adjust contrast, filters, and exposures, all of which will turn your "snaps," as they are called, into more professional looking photos.

Instagram

Instagram is available for both Android and iOS operating systems. The familiar program is one that people often use for sharing photos on social media networks because of its web integration, but many users may not be aware that it also has very good artistic filters and a selective focus dropper. The nice thing about Instagram is even if you upload photos from a mobile device, you can access them on a computer by using Instagram from the Internet. With Instagram, editing and sharing features are integrated.

EyeEm

EyeEm is another free photo editing and sharing app that is similar to Instagram. The newest version, which was released in September 2012, added something called DiscoverFeed. It is designed to observe the things you like as you use EyeEm, and from there, it creates a photo feed based on your interests. As EyeEm learns your interests, the photo feed changes.

EyeEm is a network, like Instagram, but EyeEm is based on the interests you share with other people, while Instagram is based on friendships you create through social media networks.

Pic Collage

Pic Collage is a free app for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. It makes it possible for users to turn their cell phone or tablet photos into collages by adding special effects, text, and more. It also has a built-in feature that allows for sharing the collage on Facebook and Twitter. Think of Pic Collage as if you had all the tools you'd use for scrapbooking, but in digital form. If you want stickers or more backgrounds, you can purchase those.

IncrediBooth

This program is only available for iPhone and iPad. It makes it possible for users to create photo strips like those that you'd get in an old-fashioned photo booth. You create these on your iPhone or iPad and then can upload the photo strips to Facebook or Twitter. You can also attach them to emails. However you share them, you'll get to create fancy retro photo strips.

These photo-editing apps are designed to allow users to do basic things like crop, rotate, and resize photos. Many offer additional features that allow for the creation of special effects and even collages, all possible through complete digital production. High-end mobile devices are made with high quality cameras that almost render the pocket digital camera that was once the only way to take pictures. No matter which app you choose for your phone, don’t forget to protect it with one of the phone skins on Best Skins Ever!