Look what came while I was at work yesterday!
Hello, lover.
Growing up, I was obsessed with fashion. My dad, who worked in the textile industry, would send me back copies of Women’s Wear Daily at college.
But as I gained weight, fashion didn’t love me back. The heavier I got, the worse the latest trends looked on me, if I could even fit into them at all.
But technology? Technology always fit, and so I shifted from wanting the latest fashion to the latest technology.
Once I lost 50 pounds, I started taking a bit more interest in fashion again…but I still love me some technology. Plus, after running hundreds of miles with my old phone, exposure to too much liquid meant a slow, slow phone.
So, long story short, I’m very happy for this new phone.
I haven’t used it much yet, obviously, but it seems like it has a great camera.
Someone asked me the other day for my favorite iPhone apps, so I thought I’d share (because I’m hoping you’ll comment with your favorite apps, too, so I can find new ones!)
The Obvious:
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Foursquare, Tumblr. No-brainers.
Health-Related:
RunKeeper: I run with my Garmin most of the time, but when I’ve forgotten to charge it, I use the RunKeeper app to track my runs. I find it pretty accurate, and it hooks up with the GPS far faster than my Garmin finds satellites.
Electric Miles: DailyMile doesn’t have its own iPhone app, but this app helps you log your DailyMile miles.
Travel:
iTrans NYC: This is an awesome one for NYC people–or people visiting NYC. It’s not free, but it tells you when the subway is coming, which is well worth the $3.99.
CityTransit: Similar to iTransNYC, but this one has all the subway maps, so you can quickly see where a train will be stopping if you can’t remember which stops are local and which are express on a train.
TripIt: Once you sign up for it online, it grabs all travel-related emails from your inbox and puts them into TripIt so that you have all your travel information in one place, such as confirmation numbers, hotel addresses.
Other:
Kindle: I recently got an actual Kindle, but I’ve used this app on my iPhone and iPad as long as it’s been out. It’s awesome to be able to read a book on your phone on the subway when you have no actual books or e-readers with you.
Cardstar: I hate those key tag loyalty cards junking up my keychain. With this app, you put in the numbers on the barcodes, and then cashiers can scan your phone instead. Much easier. (iOS 6 includes Passbook which does something similar, but I haven’t tried it yet.)
GroupMe: I can easily say this app has changed my life. While I know the iPhone does group texting, not all of my friends have iPhones. This app gives you one central number that everyone texts, and then the texts are delivered to everyone in the group. It’s awesome for group trips…or just a group of gossip-y girls.
Team iPhone? What are your favorite apps?
I love myfitnesspal, nike fitness trainer, audible (audiobooks), and LOVE ME SOME INSTAGRAM!!
I also use my kindle app when riding the subway!
With as much as you love Starbucks, I can’t believe you don’t have the starbucks app! It’s pretty much the best way ever to earn rewards and get free itune downloads every week. It is highly recommended and you don’t have to keep your starbucks gift card on you!
@Holly B.: I tried it once and it didn’t work and I gave up! I really should use the card more. I keep trying to convince myself I’m going to stop going so much…but that doesn’t happen.
@Theodora: You should try again! The other benefit is that you can reward yourself with Sbux after your run without carrying cash! While I’m here, I also love gym-pact (get paid to do the workouts you are going to do anyway!), Instagram, and Pandora get a lot of use on my phone.
Ebay, Amazon.com, iSmoothrun (transfers data to Runkeeper and dailymile), Google Drive. I have a 32GB iPhone now, so I need to get some more apps!
I love my new iPhone!
@Cindy: Ooh, Google Drive. I’ve heard of that on the Android but didn’t realize you could do on iPhone too.
The second I hit order, I immediately regretted not going for 32. Oh well.
Some of my must have apps? Waze (turn by turn nav, which has user-entered info – it’s like GPS meets social networking. People let you know of police activities, accidents, traffic, etc – so it gives actual time to destinations, given those reports), Slice (tracks all my online purchases in one place – with the status, delivery timeline, etc) and Mint (so I can track all the $$ coming out of my account for those purchases!)
Woop! Congrats on your new phone-super exciting! I cracked the screen on my 4S…looks like it’s time for a new one for me too! Love your app suggestions-thanks!
Wow. I just upgraded my old iPhone (the original) to a regular 4 (no Siri) like two months ago. Sad I didn’t know they were making a new one because now I have to wait 22 months to upgrade. I’m going to live vicariously through you;)
I love all the obvious apps you mentioned, and I also like weather apps and bank/credit card apps.
Yay! What a pretty phone!! I like the Sbux app too! 🙂 We also use the mint budget app. Can’t stay I love budgeting, but it works well!
Awesome! My plan is to get the Iphone 5 later this month when my upgrade is up. I just splurge this week on a new Macbook which was much needed.
I am right now loving Evernote as one of my favorite apps.
I just got the 4s in March knowing that the 5 was coming soon. I just couldn’t wait. The Nike Training app is pretty neat. I did one of the workouts and was huffing and puffing from the start. I also just got JeFit which has a list of routines that would be great for a gym session.
One of my first apps I downloaded was Heart Rate. It was featured on Dr. Oz the other day.
Wait, you aren’t using the GroupMe App to have threaded convos, like a chat room? You’re missing out!! This keeps my texts from going out of control. I also have my groupme loaded on my Kindle Fire (and my husband has it on his iPad) so we can GroupMe from these devices.
@Beth @ 990 Square: No, I prefer to just look at the messages in text messages, so I have one less app to look at!
“But technology? Technology always fit, and so I shifted from wanting the latest fashion to the latest technology.”
I’m so with you, girl! Same reason I love makeup and tech toys!
Nice! I only ditched my Blackberry for an iPhone six months ago so I’m not ready for the 5 yet, but it seems like a nice little gadget.
I’ve never heard of iTrans, but it sounds amazing. Do you find it to be pretty accurate?