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The Top 5 Apps You Must Have on Your Phone

Sep 11, 2012 01:04PM ● By Erin Frisch

The Top 5 Apps You Must Have on Your Phone

These days, there are many smartphones on the market and an abundance of apps to choose from to enhance your experience. It can be difficult to decide which apps to download, and it’s all too easy to end up with a cluttered home screen full of apps you don’t use. We figured we’d help you out with a review of the top apps that can help you stay organized, healthy, happy, and connected to friends and family. And the best part is they’re all free!

Orchestra For iPhone or available on the Web

Orchestra is a free to-dolist app. Simple and elegant, this app is great for personal use or for use with your family, friends, or colleagues. It allows you to create a to-do list that you can then share with others. You can add tasks (via typing, speaking into your microphone, or sending an e-mail), send them to others (including non-Orchestra users), and filter and organize the tasks with different available options. Set recurring reminders (for bill paying and birthdays, for instance). Divide and conquer all those chores by creating lists to share with your spouse or roommate. This app is great for making grocery lists too. You can even get real-time status updates on tasks from your collaborators. Getting organized has never been so easy!

Fooducate – For iPhone and Android

You may already be a health-conscious grocery shopper, or maybe you’re looking to turn over a new leaf and eat better. Perhaps you need to be sure you’re choosing foods that are gluten or nut free, or you just want to avoid less-nutritious ingredients. Wading through label ingredient lists can be a daunting task when you really just want to get in and out of the grocery store quickly. Fooducate makes this happen by inviting users to quickly scan the barcode of whatever product they’re thinking of buying, and then categorizing that item with a grade of A (very healthy) through D (back away from the shelf). This app is user friendly and practical, and helps health-conscious  consumers figure out which items are worth purchasing and which ones to put back— quickly and effortlessly.

InstagramFor iPhone and Android

If you don’t already have this one, you should. It provides you with a fun, easy way to instantly share photos taken with your phone’s camera. Pick from one of several gorgeous filtered effects or soften the edges and add borders to breathe new life into your mobile photos. You can share your photos in your Instagram profile as well as forward them to be shared on sites like Facebook and Twitter, or Tumblr and Foursquare. Follow your friends’ photos on Instagram as well.

Dial ZeroFor iPhone and Android

Who likes to wait on hold or talk to an automated system when you’re  trying to get something done? Not anyone I know! This app has a database of buttons and phrases that will help you cut to the chase and get a real, live person on the other end of the line. Dial Zero has a database of more than 600 companies and the buttons to hit, or phrases to say, that connect you to a living, breathing customer service representative right from the get go. Explore around, and you’ll be amazed at the vast variety of schemes and phrases in place—for instance, hit 0, hit 7, say “Speak to someone.” Never again will you wade through countless menu options and automated robots who don’t understand what you’re saying!

Pandora For iPhone and Android (and even the Nook and Kindle Fire!)

Bring Pandora Radio with you wherever you go. This app provides a free personalized radio that plays only the music you love. Start with the name of one of your favorite artists, songs, or composers, and Pandora creates a custom “station” that plays music with similar qualities. Already a Pandora listener? Just log in after downloading the app. Pandora mobile is fully integrated with Pandora on the web. Enjoy all your existing stations—and create new ones. Discover new music and listen anywhere. You can also subscribe to Pandora One for $3.99 a month, which removes the ads that sometimes play in between songs.

Did we miss one? What app is your favorite that we must to download today!

 

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