For most people, the essential apps like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat are good enough for their daily lives, and who can blame them? The Apple and Android app stores are filled to the brim with useless nonsense, so much so that it is genuinely hard to find the cool little gems. Lucky for you, we at The Tiger did that for you! Here are some essential apps that will make your life much easier on a daily basis.
Pushbullet: Ever received a text on your phone, but couldn’t check it since you’re in class? Sure, some people are lucky enough to have iMessage, but what about those unfortunates that are stuck with Windows or an Android phone? Lucky for you, Pushbullet is here to save the day! By downloading both the mobile app and browser extension, Pushbullet allows for sending and receiving SMS messages from your computer, even notifications regarding phone calls and other apps. Even better, you can also send files and links between your phone and computer with ease, which makes Pushbullet all the more essential for PC/Android users.
Run Pee: Let’s face it: everyone has had to worriedly run out of the movie theater in a mad dash to the bathroom because they chugged too much Coke waiting through all the trailers, only to find that they missed a big action sequence or vital plot points. The developers of Run Pee feel your pain though, and designed an app that gives you descriptions of optimal points to run to the john without missing too much information. Not only that, but if you are curious about what you missed, the app also gives a quick summary of things that might have been important later on in the movie, so you don’t have to harass your friends when you come back. With the app being constantly updated daily with the latest releases, Run Pee is a no brainer for movie fanatics with smaller bladders.
Sleep Bot: As college students, getting an appropriate amount of sleep is already a struggle, and sometimes even when you get the recommended amount you still feel awful. Enter Sleep Bot. Using your phone’s accelerometer, Sleep Bot tracks and analyzes your sleeping patterns, calmly waking you up whenever you reach the optimal 10 hours of rest. Need to wake up at an earlier time? You can also set an alarm that will wake you up before or around that time based on when you are in your earliest sleep phase. While this might sound a little hokey, apps such as this have been supported by sizable scientific evidence, and since when is sleeping better ever a bad thing?
Slide Joy: Everyone likes free money, right? Give Slide Joy a try then! This app puts an ad or a news story in front of your phone’s lock screen, with a swipe to the left getting you more info about it, and a swipe to the right gets it out of the way. While this might sound annoying more than anything, with every swipe you earn a penny, and if you’re as social media obsessed like me, those will certainly rack up over time to a pretty sizable amount. At the end of the month, you can choose to cash out your earnings to get gift cards to stores such as Amazon and Starbucks, or you can directly put it into a Paypal account too. If you’re feeling extra generous, you can also choose to donate your earnings to a charity of your choice. While you probably won’t get anything more than seven dollars a month, it is always nice to have a little extra cash in your pocket, however small.
Swackett: There are tons of weather apps out there today, but they don’t really matter all that much when it randomly starts raining while you’re wearing flip flops or when the temperature suddenly drops by twenty degrees when you are jacketless come nighttime. With Swackett though, you will never be caught by surprise by a quick weather change ever again. Analyzing the weather for the entire day for the rest of the week, Swackett will give you a full recommendation on what you should wear on days, as well as what you might want to bring later on in the day. In addition, it also gives you advice on optimal conditions to take your dog for a walk, or the most fashionable clothing to wear out in the current temperature or weather conditions.