KRLD App of the Day

Thursday (5/11): OpenBay
Our App today is called OpenBay. You might have your favorite mechanic that you trust with all your car repairs. That's a rare thing. For the rest of us, we have to go look for someone that can fix problems and hope that we don't get overcharged for the trouble. Open Bay can help. It can aid you when you need to find a repair shop for what ails your car. It lets you compare quotes for your particular repair from shops near you. You can also book a time at the place you choose. If a repair shop wants to be part of the Open Bay lineup, it has to follow certain standards. You open up the app, and describe what you need. The app gives you a ballpark of what kind of cost you're looking at. Open Bay is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (5/10): Sortly
Our App today is called Sortly. Do you know how much stuff you have? Do you have an inventory of your belongings? It's important for a lot of reasons. One reason, you might be moving and want to keep track of your belongings before they go into boxes. Or you might want to have a full listing of your things to update your homeowners' insurance. This app can help you keep that inventory for your business. It has all sorts of uses to help your organize everything. You can use your tablet or phone or desktop to see what's in your personal or professional inventory. The secret is: you take pictures of everything and group them into folders. You can also scan barcodes for your items. You can even use the app to come up with unique QR labels. If you're a business, the app can help to keep up with how much you have in stock and when to re-order. Sortly is a free app on iTunes and Android. It comes with in-app purchases.

Tuesday (5/9): Night Sky
Our App today is called Night Sky. People rediscovered their passion for the stars, thanks to pictures from the Webb telescope. When you live in big cities, it can be a problem to see what's in the sky above you even on the clearest of nights. Light pollution doesn't affect this app. It can turn your phone into a planetarium. All you have to do is point the phone to the sky, and it will show you what's out there. It'll identify stars, planets, and constellations. It can even show you what satellites are in orbit around the Earth. You don't even have to wait until the night. The stars are always there, day or night. You can just point your phone at the ceiling to identify what's out there. There's also a way to tag your favorite stars, so you can keep track of where they are at any time. Night Sky is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

Monday (5/8): Manything
Our App today is called Manything. Do you have any of your smartphones or tablets lying around, not doing anything? Now you can repurpose them to make your house a little safer. Manything stands for Monitor Anything. It lets you turn your old tech into smart cameras to watch out for anything that moves in your house while you're away. All you have to do is download the app onto your current phone and on your old device. One is the viewer, one is the camera. You can watch your home anytime you wish. You can also record what's going inside the house. It also lets you save that video to the cloud. Set up the remote detection zones and decide how sensitive you want the camera to be. Manything can work with one camera for free, or you can set up an entire CCTV network. Manything is a free app on iTunes and Android. It comes with a subscription plan.

Friday (5/5): Hiya
Our App today is called Hiya. This is an app for the phone. They are smartphones and the word "phone" is a part of that. This app is a way to weed out the spam calls from the real ones that come in. It gets rid of the whole "unknown caller" that will pop up on the screen when it's a number that you don't know or isn't in your contacts. It also keeps those spammers from filling up your voicemail with their useless drivel. It has an autoblocker to keep the call from even coming in. The app also has tech to stop someone from spoofing a number to get through to you. It has a database with caller names to show you who is really dialing you. You can find out if a number you don't recognize is a robocaller, thanks to the reverse phone lookup section. Hiya is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Thursday (5/4): GreenPal
Our App today is called GreenPal. It can be tough to find the right landscapers to work on your lawn, if you're not going to do it yourself. This app can be a go-between to help you find the right person or company to handle your lawn. It also can set up a lawn pro to come out to the house the very next day. It says it's just like ordering a cleaning service. The app provides several competitive quotes from companies that are near where you are. It only uses the best rated firms. You can also pay straight through the app, so you pay a fair price, and the workers get their full fare. You can even set up the next appointment then as well. GreenPal is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for the lawn service.

Wednesday (5/3): Afloat
Our App today is called Afloat. This is an app to help with that perfect gift for someone else. It's also good when you want to support local businesses here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. It's a gifting marketplace for any occasion. Birthdays, holidays, or just because you want to send something special to someone special in your life. The app connects you with up to 70 different stores and boutiques here or in Kansas City. Again, you get to shop local. All you have to do is look through the stores and find the perfect something that you like, and start the process there. The app has connections with companies like Stanley Korshak, Jojo Mommy, and others. It's also great for last-minute shopping since you can get same-day delivery. afloat: gifting on-demand is a free app on iTunes.

Tuesday (5/2): Just Press Record
Our App today is called Just Press Record. This is an audio recorder for the phone. It can also provide transcription services for anything that it hears and records. It takes just one tap to start everything working. The app also provides editing tools to get everything the way you want it. One tap starts the recording, one tap can pause it, and one more tap will stop the recording. There's really no limit to how long you record, as long as you have the space in your iCloud to save the files. The app also transcribes text, which you can also search to find certain words. After you're done, you can share your recordings and transcriptions with other apps that you have. They can also go onto your social media. Just Press Record is 5 bucks on iTunes.

Monday (5/1): Knowable
Our App today is called Knowable. This is an app that can teach you what you need to know in all sorts of different topics. Every Monday through Thursday provides different audio courses on various issues from the top minds and experts in the world. They have more than 200 different lessons already from everyone like the astronaut, Scott Kelly to Mark Bittman from the New York Times to an NBA star Chris Paul. It's a way to just get smarter on a daily basis. The goal of the app is to provide some inspiration for you to seek out new goals, and attain them. You can learn what they call life changing skills for life on the go. You can even take quizzes on the material that you're learning to make sure you understand it all. Each lesson only takes 10 minutes. Knowable is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Friday (4/28): Roadtrippers
This app is just what you might need if you're planning a roadie for your summer vacation, or at any time that you're on the road out of town. The app can help you to plan your trip to get the most out of the time on the road. You build the route in the app, and it gives you turn-by-turn navigation in the maps section. It can help you find interesting places along the way if you're looking for a little side trip before you get back on the highway. It has millions of locations, like diners or other attractions that might interest you. It has national parks and hotels on the way. There are travel guides in the app. If you're road-tripping with others, you can sync up all of your devices so you end up at the same places at the same times. Roadtrippers - Trip Planner is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Thursday (4/27): Pedometer++
This is an app for people that want to keep track of their steps on any given day. Or it's great if you're working on a walking or running fitness routine. It's pretty simple. It can keep an accurate count of your steps every day. You can keep track as you increase your counts and work on your fitness goals. All you have to do is keep the iPhone in a pocket near your hips. It uses the gyroscope to determine when you're walking or running. The app also works with your Apple Watch and the Health app in the phone. It'll show you how many steps you've taken, how far you've walked, and how many calories you burned in that time. It also keeps a close eye on your heart rate. Set goals for yourself and see how you reach them. Pedometer++ is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

Wednesday (4/26): April Coloring
Our App today is called April Coloring. It's still April, so let's color. Let's get some recreation time on our phones and tablets. This is a way to relive some of our childhood by doing something as simple as coloring in the lines. Adult coloring books have become very popular lately. This app is like a paint-by-numbers type. You start with a white screen with black and white shapes, then you take each section and color it in. In the end, you can see the results of your time. There are thousands of pictures for you to work on, and as you finish them, more are unlocked. There are daily paintings that come in for you. When you're done, you can save your paintings and even print them, if you wish. April Coloring is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Tuesday (4/25): Double Take
Our App for Tuesday is called Double Take. It's able to take your phone and turn it into a multi-camera studio. The app can shoot video from different cameras on the phone and lets you switch from camera to camera to form a video with different views. The app shows all the pictures that are available from your point of view. If you're doing an interview with someone else, you put the camera in the middle and you can see both people in the video. It comes with a picture-in-picture function that you can move around on your screen. You can also do a split screen, using two of the shots at the same time. DoubleTake by FiLMiC Pro is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Monday (4/24): Superchat
This is a brand new app that brings A-I to your iPhone or iPad. Other artificial intelligences like Perplexity can answer your questions. Chat GPT can write what you want it to. This app lets you talk with historical figures through A-I. Or you can talk with a virtual attorney to get some information about a legal issue. It says it’s a way to get the insight of people you might never get to talk to. You can even talk with fictional characters for fun. Some examples: they have Cleopatra, Albert Einstein, Neil Armstrong, or Joan of Arc. You could match wits with Sherlock Holmes or learn from the mind of Socrates. Have a chat with Rapunzel or Thor. This one is just fun and can stretch your imagination. Superchat is a brand new app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

Friday (4/21): Doctor On Demand
We learned a lot about teladocs during the pandemic. It's the only way a lot of people could talk to their medical professionals during COVID. This app lets you talk to a doctor on a video chat. That's good if you don't have a primary care physician and you need some medical help or advice. The app provides you the cost of the visit up front, so you know what you're getting into if you don't have health insurance. The video doctors can pretty much do what they'd do when they see you, after that long time in the waiting room at a real office. They also can learn your vitals through the phone's health kit. The app also works with mental health professionals, if you need that. There are psychiatrists and psychologists on the roster. Doctors can write prescriptions and send them to the pharmacy near where you are. Doctor on Demand is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for the medical services.

Thursday (4/20): Replika
Our App today is called Replika. It's become one of the hottest topics in the tech world, artificial intelligence, like Chat GPT. There isn't an official Chat GPT app yet. There are alternatives that do the same thing. This one is a little different because it's not necessarily a search bot or an A-I that handles what you ask it to write. This is an A-I that likes to have conversations with you about stuff. It's a cyber-friend but without the baggage of ghosting or catfishing or any other cyber trend. The app's designers wanted to make it as close to a human as they can, but it's a chatbot. You design what your Replika looks like. When you chat with it, it learns more about how to become even more interesting. Who needs a bartender or a stranger to talk about issues with? It also can track your moods, if you wish. Replika is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Wednesday (4/19): Google Arts and Culture
Our App today is called Google Arts and Culture. This app brings the arts to you. This app helps bring the entire world of art right there to your phone or tablet. It has thousands of images of works of art from thousands of museums in 80 different countries around the world. You may never get to the Louvre, but you can see what it has to offer. It has more than just artwork. You can see stunning photos that NASA has taken of the final frontier. It comes with 360-degree videos. You can take VR tours of museums. You can also experiment with your own pictures and turn them into works of art. Or you can take a selfie and see what portraits that look like you. Google Arts and Culture is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (4/18): SideChef
Our App today is called SideChef. This is a popular cooking app that gives you step by step recipes right there in your phone or tablet. It has thousands of them, and you can break down what it is you want to make by diet and ingredients. It can handle anything from vegan to paleo to keto. It also lets you set the goals that you want to achieve. It could be anything from saving money to a more healthy diet. The recipes are personalized to you. There are plenty of videos to help you through the process of cooking your meals. The app can even read the instructions to you, so you don't have to worry about swiping. It also works with grocery stores so you can have them deliver what you need to you. Side Chef a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Monday (4/17): #NotMe
Our App today is called #NotMe. It's still a problem in offices all over the country, no matter how many corporate videos you have to watch. Misconduct comes in all shapes and forms at work. This is an app that can help you report some questionable behavior in your office. It'll help you keep track of what you see, when, and where. The app also saves what it is you're documenting. You don't have to be a victim of misconduct, you might be a witness to it. When you're ready to tell someone, you can do it anonymously if you wish to. The app works to take those reports and help you with support and find a resolution. It works for employees and for companies. #NotMe is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Friday (4/14): Kiff
How many times have you gone into your pantry to do a deep dive into cleaning it, only to find out you have food that expired in something like 2018? This app can help you make sure that all the food in your house is well within the expiration dates. It applies to everything from your fresh groceries to your leftover pizza in the fridge. All you have to do to keep track is add the barcode to your food packages into the app. The app keeps those expiration dates, so you never have to guess, "does this smell ok to you?". You can also keep track of how long it's been since you opened something, cooked it, and then put it back into the refrigerator after you couldn't finish it. And you know, the app can help you keep all of your food in some kind of order so you can control how much you have and what needs to go. Kiff is $4 on iTunes.

Thursday (4/13): SetJetters
Our App today is called SetJetters. There are people that are fascinated with how movies or TV shows are made. Or they want to see where those movies or TV shows shot different scenes. This app lets you search through a database to find out the exact locations for location shoots. It has a map to show you those locations anywhere in the world. It'll teach you about the places where the shoots took place. It also works as a mini-travel agent to give you ideas about what to do in a particular city, beyond just seeing those movies or TV sets. Find out about where they shot anything from Lord of the Rings to Game of Thrones to the different locations for Mission Impossible. Find out if your hometown became famous for something in the past when it comes to Hollywood. You can also take your phone camera and take a picture from the exact location of a famous movie shot with the ShotSync feature. SetJetters: Movie Locations is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (4/12) Emergency: Alerts
Our App today is called Emergency: Alerts. This is an app from the American Red Cross. The app brings you all of the latest alerts for any kind of hazard. There are 40 categories that it monitors. It can be severe weather storms, like tornadoes or heavy lightning, floods, wildfires, or excessive heat. You can also get alerts for other areas that are of your concern as well. It helps with you tracking any of those hazards in real time. That includes hurricane trackers to watch the path of a big storm. It can set up those critical alerts that will even go beyond your Do Not Disturb mode on the phone, if you want. If a disaster strikes where you are, the app will show you where the Red Cross has set up shelters. It has satellite pictures and weather radars to look at. Emerency Alerts is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (4/11): X-Earth
Our App today is called X-Earth. This is a way to explore different cities in the world through your phone or tablet. It uses augmented reality to look at different places in cities to learn more about everything from individual buildings and other areas. It uses your GPS to point out businesses that are of interest through its search. For example, if you scan a hotel building it brings up reviews of the place as well as photos and a contact number for you to call. Same for restaurants, and other points of interest. This is a new app and it's adding more cities to the databases every day. X-Earth is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Monday (4/10): Unroll Me
Our App today is called Unroll Me. You might be in a mood to have less clutter in your life. This is one app that can accomplish that with your email. You don't need all that junk showing up in your inbox every day. One swipe of this app will make sure that you are unsubscribed to email lists that you don't want to be a part of any longer. That'll clean up the spam. Another swipe in a different direction sends some of the emails that you do want and puts them into a Daily Digest. A third swipe keeps others right where they are. It also has a function that lets you just assign those emails, without needing to swipe anywhere. It can also get rid of any of those subscription emails that can flood in as well. It also works with more than one email account. Unroll Me is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Friday (4/7): The Masters
Our App today is called the Masters. This is THE premier golf tournament in the world. It's played from the beautiful Augusta National course in Augusta, Georgia. This is the official app for the Masters. It lets you watch the live broadcast of the tournament. It has live streams of individual holes, like the infamous Amen Corner. You can also watch one featured group of players play their entire 18 holes a day. Pick your favorite players and you can see every shot they take. You can have a front row seat to the presentation ceremony where the winner gets the famous green jacket. There are also interactive features with trivia contests, polls, and others. The Masters Tournament is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (4/6): 1Blocker
Our App today is called 1Blocker. Websites have all kinds of ads on them, and with this app, you can block them. It also helps you keep your data a little safer when it blocks any trackers that the website has. The app doesn't alter the site itself, just the ads and trackers. This works with the Safari browser on your iPhone or iPad. It's also a good thing because it doesn't put any strain on any resources in the phone. You can whitelist websites you trust and know and don't mind ads on. The filters are built into the app itself. It'll also give you stats on what it's accomplished with the blocking. 1Blocker is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

Wednesday (4/5): Comic Life 3
Our App today is called Comic Life 3. If you ever wanted to see what you could look like in a comic book, this is the app for you. It comes with a lot of different templates and comic book-type fonts. There are word balloons and lettering-type art. It uses the photos in your camera roll, so you can determine who are the heroes and villains of your story. It has an editor to take anything out of the background of the pictures, too. Really, the only limit is your imagination. You can put your photos in a full frame or in panels, like in comic books. Then you drag and drop what you want your characters to say. When it's done, you can read your virtual comic through the reader in the app. Comic Life 3 is 5 bucks on iTunes.

Tuesday (4/4): Libby
Our App today is called Libby. Not everyone can get out to the public library for whatever reason, but you can bring the library to you with this app. This is a virtual library card for your local branch.

You can use it to look through an entire catalog of books that the library has on digital. You can borrow them, just like you would when you show up. Then, you can read the books through your e-reader. There are audiobooks and magazines available, too. Come up with reading lists.

When you're reading the books, you can save your place and come back right where you left off. There are books for kids that you can read together. Libby has all you could ever want from a library without leaving the house. It works with your library card in your city. It's a free app on iTunes and Android.

Monday (4/3): Perplexity AI
Our App today is called Perplexity AI. That artificial intelligence site called Chat GPT doesn't have an official app anywhere on the App Store. You can utilize the same type of searching, just like Chat GPT through this app.

This app will help you with information that you are doing research for. This is like Google on steroids. You can ask all kinds of questions and get detailed answers. You also don't have to type the questions.

It works with your voice as well. It will also show you the most popular questions that people are asking on any single day. You can also ask follow up questions when you get the answers to your first. The app will also show your history of questions. It'll even let you look at the sources of the answers that the app provides. Perplexity AI is a free app on iTunes.

Thursday (3/30): Seven
Our App today is called Seven. Everyone is busy. Some people want to get a good sweat on, but they are too busy to take an hour or more for a traditional workout. Now you can get results and work out for 7 minutes a day. There's no wasted time or motion with these. You don't need any special equipment at all. The app also lets you earn different kinds of achievements for every workout you complete in 7 minutes. There are 200 different workouts that are tailored for your level of fitness. It even comes with different kinds of virtual trainers to keep you motivated. You might have a drill sergeant, a kung fu master, or if you want someone nicer, it could be a cheerleader. Its slogan is: "Small habits lead to big changes." Seven is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Wednesday(3/29): Dazz Cam
Our App today is called Dazz Cam. This camera app is for those people that love the look of old-school type photography. It puts a classic look to the pictures that you take. Maybe, you want them to have the look of a camera from the 80's. It has all kinds of retro filters to give you whatever look that you want. There are different filters, so you look like it came from a disposable or a Polaroid, or others. You can take two pictures and make it look like a double exposure. You can use the flash to make the picture look like it would on film. Basically, you don't have to make any edits or alterations to your shots, after you take the pictures. Those edits are in the shooting itself. Dazz Cam - Vintage Camera is a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases to get all the cameras available from the app.

Tuesday (3/28): Crouton: Cooking Companion
Our App today is called Crouton: Cooking Companion. You don't have to fly by the seat of your pants when it comes to your next meals. You can have some organization and meal planning in your life. That's where this app comes in. It lets you keep track of those recipes that you see online. That includes links to the sites, pictures, and any notes or instructions that you take on them. It can also automatically search the web for any recipes that you can think of and import those recipes. It comes with a hands-free interface, so you don't have to swipe left or right to move forward as you make your meals from those recipes. It can come up with meal plans, based on what you have in the frig or the pantry. It'll even help with the grocery shopping for what you need. Crouton: Cooking Companion is a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases.

Monday (3/27): CoinSnap
Monday's App of the Day is called CoinSnap. Lots of people have coins that are just laying around in a jar or something else. Ever wonder if you have something that might be worth something more than just the face value? You can find out before you take that whole collection to Coinstar. The app uses AI to scan through your coins and can identify any kind of special change that you might have. It has a huge database of rare coins and you can find out all kinds of information about where the coins came from. If you're a collector, the app can double-check to see the value of your collection, one coin at a time. It also helps you to keep track of what you have and what it's worth. CoinSnap is perfect for collectors or just people that have a bunch of change. It's a free app on iTunes and Android with a subscription model and a seven-day free trial.

Friday (3/24): Vinted
Our App today is called Vinted. It's a pretty good bet that you have a bunch of old clothes in your closet that are taking up space. It might be nice to get that space back and you can make a bit of cash out of that spring cleaning. This app is perfect for selling your old clothes. You can also use it to get rid of your old toys or housewares. It's like an online garage sale. You join the Vinted community, then take pictures of your stuff. Upload the photos to the site, along with your asking prices. The app will show you if anyone checks out your stuff or decides to buy. The app also helps with shipping labels. It comes with its own payment system inside the app. And Vinted doesn't take any fees on your sales. The money is all yours. You can also shop yourself through the app. There's a search function that lets you find what you're looking for. Vinted is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (3/23): Spotless
We’re so busy with work that we might forget what needs to be done at home. Some housecleaning tasks can fall through the cracks. This app can help you get everyone and everything back on track to fill in those cracks. It breaks down the home into the different rooms, and you can tell when’s the last time you gave each room a good scrub-down. It’s a home-based task manager. Put in the jobs that need to be done in each room. You can get rid of the clutter, dust, and grime and put every room back into your control. You can set reminders of when you need to change the A/C filters or the ceiling fan blades. Spotless: A Simply Clean Home is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Thursday (3/16): Wyzant
Our App today is called Wyzant. How are you kids doing in school as they closer to finals? Wyzant is a tutoring app to help your kids with their school work. It can connect both parents and their children in order to get in contact with a tutor. And the tutors specialize in certain subjects, so you can find just the right person. The app provides real time chat, so your child can get help and answers right away. It also helps you to keep track of your kids' progress in their trouble classes. The app has retired teachers on staff to act as tutors, and there are thousands of them. They work with everyone from kindergarten through college students. It even has specialists that only do standardized tests. Wyzant - Find A Tutor is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for the tutoring sessions.

Wednesday (3/15): Vixer
Our App today is called Vixer. This is a video mixing app that lets you edit the videos that you want to put onto social media. It can polish up what you put together and make them look professional. It helps you to crop the pictures you take. You can edit videos, speed them up, add text and music. The music you add is royalty-free, and you can add what you want with the upgraded subscription. It has filters that allow you to get just the right look to them. You can merge videos into one. There are more than 50 filters to choose from to get just the right look to your pictures or videos. You can add different customized frames. You can turn your pictures into a social media slideshow. Vixer is a free app on iTunes. It has in app purchases.

Tuesday (3/14) : Slide
Our App today is called Slide. Inflation is hard enough on us at the grocery store or anywhere else we're shopping. Now, you can get something back when you go shopping like you normally have to. The app can help you get up to 10 percent cash back at hundreds of different stores, travel and restaurants. All you have to do is open the app at the checkout, have the cashier scan the barcode on your phone and you're good to go. That money can come straight to your Venmo or PayPal account right away. It works with all the big names. That's everything from Lowes to H&M or DoorDash. Slide even has an account with American and Southwest Airlines. It's adding more businesses all the time. Slide is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Monday (3/13): IoT Assistant
This is an app from the minds at Carnegie Mellon to help you keep your identity protected. This app will arm you with information about data certain things are collecting about you. That means everything from your smart speakers to facial recognition cameras. You can find out who is collecting that data and who gets to see it and how long they get to keep it on their files. You can then get into the resources to make changes to your privacy wishes. The app shows you what kinds of sources are around your location. You might see a sign that says, "This area under camera surveillance." You can also help the app discover more resources that are around you. Maybe there are doorbell cameras, for example. IoT Assistant is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Friday (3/10): Rover
Our App today is called Rover. It's hard enough to find good quality child care when your kids aren't in school. What do you do for your pets? This app is a good way to start. It can help you find a pet sitter that lives in your neighborhood. The app's pet sitters do just about anything that you might need. That's everything from just simple dog walking services. Others will drop in at your house to care for your pets, so you don't have to board them. You can also choose to leave your pets at the pet sitter's home. If you get someone to walk your dogs, you can see where the dog walk is going through a GPS map. The Rover sitter will also send you pictures of your animals, so you can have peace of mind that they're OK while you're not there. The app has more than 200 thousand people on the job around the country. Rover is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for the services.

Thursday (3/9): Toon Camera
Our App today is called Toon Camera. There is something about cartoons or animation. Now, you can see what you would look like in a cartoon. This is a photography app that lets you turn your pictures and camera shots into different kinds of cartoons. You can also record videos as animated shorts or features straight from the camera. Shoot photos as a cartoon in many different styles. It can be an artsy black-and-white animation to a pastel flavor to full-on color. There are still styles like simple pencil sketches to ink effects. Make them your own works of art and share them with others. Toon Camera is $3 on iTunes.

Wednesday (3/8): Sweatcoin
This is an app that will reward you when you take yourself out for a nice long walk. It keeps track of your steps, and pays you in sweatcoins for every hundred steps you take. Build up a nice tidy sum, and you can those sweatcoins into real merchandise. So, you're getting paid to move your body and exercise. The app also adds different kinds of daily bonuses. You can check out the market place to see how to spend your sweatcoins. It can deposit money straight into your bank or through your PayPal. If you're not interested in spending the sweatcoins on yourself, you can also donate the money to any of more than a hundred charities from Save The Children to cancer research to several animal charities. Sweatcoin is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Tuesday (3/7): Hanx Writer
Our App today is called Hanx Writer. There is something to be said for doing things the old-school way. That includes writing on the phone. Before we had phones or computers, we had the old-fashioned typewriter. Tom Hanks is the one who came up with this app. He collects old typewriters. He just loves the sights and sounds of them. Hanks has a collection of more than 250 of them, and he travels with two of them at a time. He wants to inspire others to learn about them. This app does that. You can turn your iPhone or iPad keyboard into an old-style typewriter, but with the modern deletion of the delete key. You don't have to look for Liquid Paper. The keyboard has the feel and clack clack clack of the typewriter when you hit a key. It works with anything you want to write from emails to texts or notes. Hanx Writer from Tom Hanks is a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases for more typewriter styles.

Monday (3/6): Crime Door
Our App today is called Crime Door. This one is for fans of true crime stories. It’s an augmented reality app that will take you to the locations of some of the most high-profile true crime cases. You can see what the investigators saw in the locations. You will work with actual crime experts to try to solve some of these crimes. You can physically walk through the crime scene locations in 3D. The app has more than 500 case files that you can explore. It also adds at least one new case a week. It also directs you to more than five thousand hours of true crime podcasts and 50 thousand hours of videos. You never know. You might see something in the crime scene that even the experts didn’t. Maybe you could help solve a cold case. Crime Door is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Friday (3/3): Dawn AI Avatars
Our App today is called Dawn AI Avatars. This one is a fun way to take a different look at the way you look in pictures. This app can turn your photos into avatars to use where you wish. You can see what you'd look like with 3D avatars of all different kinds. The AI checks your photos and creates images in your image. There are new different AI styles available every day, so you can see a new way of seeing yourself daily. They could be in pen sketches, or animé, maybe what you would look like if an impressionist painter had you pose for a painting. You can use it to make avatars of your friends and family, too and share them. Dawn AI - Avatar generator is a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases.

Thursday (3/2): Burner
Not everyone wants to give out their real digits to some people. It could be for any reason. This app lets you use your phone as a burner phone, complete with a phone number that isn't attached to your real account. You can give out that burner number, and then discard it when you don't need it any longer. You can have multiple burner numbers on one phone to help protect the privacy of your real digits. You can use the burner numbers and give them categories, like work.. life.. or anything else. The Burner phone number can even be local to where you are. Each one comes with unlimited calling and texting, and even its own picture roll. It comes with different spam settings and call blocking. There's a GhostBot feature that lets the phone give out generic responses to texts, if you don't want to chat with someone. Burner is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model after a 7 day free trial.

Wednesday (3/1): Cam Find
Our App today is called Cam Find. You can find just about anything in the world by just taking a picture of it. It's just how you go about finding it. That's what this app can do -- it's picture recognition software. See a piece of furniture you like? Take a picture and let the app find it for you. Maybe, it's something as simple as a coffee mug. The app will search its databases to find it, or something that's similar. Then, you can decide if you want to get it for yourself. It even does price comparisons at different online stores. It also can show you if there are stores near you that sell it, so you can just go pick up the item. It comes with a QR code and barcode scanner and a language translator if that's what you need. CamFind is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (2/28): 5-0 Radio Police Scanner
Our App today is called 5-0 Radio Police Scanner. There's a fascination for some people with first responder scanners. This app lets you get in the middle of what's going on in emergency situations all over the U.S., Canada, Australia, and other countries. It collects and monitors police, firefighter, aircraft, and other emergency radio calls. You can narrow things down to your city and county to hear what's going on in your area. The app also gives you a list of the code words and phrases, in case you don't speak the lingo that first responders use. It also has a social aspect to it, where you can chat with other users of the app. 5-0 Radio Police Scanner is a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases. Proceeds from 5-0 Radio Police Scanner go to various charities, including the Equal Justice Initiative.

Monday (2/27): Sofa Downtime Organizer
Our App today is called Sofa Downtime Organizer. How many times have you been looking forward to spending some downtime, just vegging out on the couch? One of the most frustrating things about it though is, once you get that time, you can't figure out what to do with your downtime. This app can help you organize your chill-time plans. You can get ready early to make your plans. Create lists of different TV shows, or movies, or video games you want to watch or play. When you put together what those things are, you throw them onto the pile, so you can remember what you planned. If you see a preview for a TV show during the week, throw it onto the pile. Same thing with games, albums, and books. Throw 'em on the pile. You can keep track of what you've watched and read. Make your downtime more productive with Sofa: Downtime Organizer. It's a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases for more features.

Friday (2/24): 10 Minute Mail
Don't you hate it when you want to sign up for something, and that service wants you to leave an email address to complete the setup? This app does just what its name says. It gives you a disposable email address that lasts 10 minutes. That's enough time to set something up, get a confirmation email to finish the setup, and never get bugged again by that service if you don't wish to. Now, you can use that address in your real email for those 10 minutes, so you can answer any inquiries. It becomes a real email address, but it self-destructs after 10 minutes. OR you can actually increase that time up to 160 minutes, if 10 isn't enough. That's just the free version. With the paid version, you can get rid of the ads, and use that fake email address for even longer and set up multiple fake emails, if you need to. 10 minute mail is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Wednesday (2/22) Lingvano ASL
Our App today is called Lingvano ASL. There are all kinds of apps that can help you to learn a foreign language. There aren't that many to teach you American Sign Language. It teaches lessons that run as little as 5 to 10 minutes a day. You can learn words and phrases that you would use in real life situations. You'll learn proper grammar and a full vocabulary. It also comes with a sign language dictionary to look up a particular sign for something that you want to say. That vocabulary trainer can help you remember the lessons that you've learned already. Every one of the educators in this app are deaf, and professionally trained to teach ASL. Lingvano ASL is a free app on iTunes and Android. There's a subscription model.

Tuesday (2/21): Bodyguard
Our App today is called Bodyguard. This might be just the app that you need, if you're trying to keep yourself safe from trolls, cyber bullies, or just nasty comments on your social media. This is an app that moderates your social media for you. It's about to find and block 90 percent of any ugly comments. It even works on bad emojis. The app gets rid of those comments, even before you see them. You can block out insults, racism, body shaming, and threats and what degree of protection you want. You don't have to manually delete the haters. There's a version to help protect your kids and your family. The app will send you an email to let you know if someone is being mean to your children. It can help your business against trolls that don't like your company. Bodyguard is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Monday (2/20): Too Good To Go
Some people call them leftovers. Others call them 'dinner'. This is an app that means to put an end to wasted food. It claims that up to 40 percent of the food that's made goes to waste. This lets you buy some of it, at a much lower price. It shows you restaurants and supermarkets that are part of the system. They have leftover food that would be headed for the landfill. You can place an order through the app, pay for it, and collect it when you get the OK. The app shows you what's available and where, and what price you'd have to pay. It says most of the meals may run you $5, tops. And chances are: the meal you're getting is going to be a surprise. Too Good To Go is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for the meals.

Friday (2/17): Pestle
Our App today is called Pestle. Remember what you did with your favorite recipes before you had a smartphone or a computer? You kept them all in a recipe box. Now, you have a storehouse for any recipes. You can use the app to import any recipe that you have, or those that you find on the Internet or anywhere else for that matter. Any recipe becomes a step-by-step guided experience. It has a measuring tool to convert those metric terms into American. It can also help you to scale the recipes, so if the recipe is something for two, you can know how to make it for 12. You can use the app as a meal planner for every breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It also lets you share your findings and plans with other members of the family or your friends. It also has a scanner for handwritten recipes or those in books. You can edit them to your taste. Throw in a grocery store shopping list, and you're good to go. Pestle is a free app on iTunes with in-app purchases.

Thursday (2/16): Freeletics
Our App today is called Freeletics. This is a fitness app for those times when you want some help, but you don't want to go to a gym and pay a personal trainer. The app comes with a digital trainer. If you want to lose weight, put on muscle, work on your core, or improve your cardio, the app can help you in your journey. This app concentrates on HIIT workout. That's high intensity interval training. The digital trainer puts together a plan for you, based on what you want to do. It can also adjust the plan for the conditions where you are. You might not have equipment, or you need to work out quietly without waking up anyone else in the house. You pick a plan, pick a style, and watch your progress. You can be a beginner or a gym rat. Freeletics: HIIT Fitness Coach is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Wednesday (2/15): Asana Voice Cam
Our App today is called Asana Voice Cam. One of the toughest things about putting everyone into a group shot is trying to make sure you get into the right place before the clock counts down to zero. Now, you can set up everyone, including you, and not worry about a timer. This app takes the picture through your voice. You can pose everyone and you all at once. When you're just right, you just say one word and the picture will click. You just have to say SNAP. Simple as that. Say the word and that's it. It's pretty simple and straightforward. Asana Voice Cam is 99 cents on iTunes.

Tuesday (2/14): Love Cards Plus
Our App today is called Love Cards Plus. It's Valentine's Day. If you don't want to do the old-fashioned flowers or candy, this might do. You can find one or more of your favorite photos and turn them into an e-card to share with your significant other. You'll find different kinds of virtual frames, and different color filters. The app lets you use special filters to turn the picture into a work of art. It could be a pencil sketch or some pastels. There are even different kinds of animations, so you can have a little fun with your production. Once you're finished with the editing, you can post it to social media right there in the app. Love Cards Plus is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model because you might want to show your love on other days besides just Valentine's Day.

Monday (2/13): Bark Parental Controls
Our App today is called Bark Parental Controls. This is an app to help parents have a little more information about their kids' online lives. You can monitor what they're seeing online. You can set strict times that they can be online, and you can also block some websites that aren't appropriate for children. The app can monitor texts, email, YouTube, and more than 30 different apps and social media. It can also keep them from accessing different categories of sites. You can prevent kids from going to gambling or other adult-type sites. Help watch out for cyber bullies. Get alerts for troubles that your kids get into. Bark is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Friday (2/10): Mubi
This one is for movie fans. It has a huge selection of films that it will share with you. It's a way to discover new movies that you might not have ever heard of or documentaries. It has films from award winning directors or those that are new to the industry. There's a new film every day. You can stream the films or download them to your device. Every film is picked by movie experts. It has an entire library of movies. But, there are only 30 films available at a time. A new one comes on, another leaves. There's a content piece that gives you more information about the film. There are special spotlight times during different times of the year. Right now, there's a spotlight on Black filmmakers for Black History Month. You can even chat with the Mubi community about film. MUBI: Curated Cinema is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model

Thursday (2/9) Rewind
Our App today is called Rewind. This is an app to take you back in time to a time when you loved music. With this app, you can rewind your phone to a great year between 1960 and 2010 for your favorite songs. It could be 1977 when punk rock started and disco ran the pop charts. Or the 90s when grunge brought Seattle to the rest of the world. Jump back to 1967 when Jimi Hendrix appeared. Or '64 or '65 for the Beatles. The app gives you a little taste of the music of your time, or it'll show you what your parents or grandparents listened to. Discover an entire decade of classic music in one app. It also comes with music news events from every year. Rewind: Music Time Travel is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (2/8) RetroSketch
I think just about everyone had an Etch-A-Sketch at some point in their lives growing up. This app might just take you back to the days where you used those two little knobs to try to make what passes for art. Or just trying to figure out how to write your name. Or using both knobs to try to make something that looked like a circle. Take yourself back to those times with this app. It's just like the original. Left knob draws a line horizontally. Right knob draws up and down. Remember how you would clean the screen to start over? Turn it upside down and shake. That's what you do here. Turn the phone over and shake. This one is for fun and nothing more. RetroSketch is $2 on iTunes.

Tuesday (2/7): Yuka
If you're wondering what food it is you're putting in your body, this app can give you a heads-up. It lets you scan barcodes of different foods to see what's inside them and how they will affect you. When there's something that's not exactly healthy, Yuka can give you some other ideas that might be better for you. There are more than a million different items in the Yuka database. They're based on nutrition, additives, and how organic the items are. It works for more than just food, too. The app can do the same thing for the stuff that you use for your personal care as well. Yuka Food Cosmetic Scanner is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Monday (2/6): Argentum Camera
Your phone has an incredible camera app that can take crisp photos and 4K video. But, there is something that has an artsy feel when you shoot your photos in black and white. This is an award winning app that will shoot incredible photos in black and white. There are 6 different black and white filters available to shoot. You can shoot pictures like an Ansel Adams or other incredible photographers. The app processes your shot in real time. There are also two different kinds of shooting modes. In one, you shoot a single picture. In the other, you can actually do some art by superimposing two shots into one. You also have the option to keep the original photo as well as the black and white processed one. Argentum Camera is a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases.

Friday (2/3): TV Forecast
Our App today is called TV Forecast. One thing about television these days, it is a lot tougher to keep track of the shows that we watch. That's especially true when we're binging our shows. We'll stop in the middle and we forget where we are. And there are so many shows that we're keeping up with. This app can keep track of what you watch. It can help you with the blues that happen when you finish a binge. The app will help you discover new shows that you can get wrapped up in. It'll let you know when there's a new episode of a favorite show ready to see. You can mark your progress to make sure that you don't get lost and rewatch episodes you have already seen or jump ahead. Search for shows that star your favorite actors. TV Forecast is a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases.

Tuesday (1/31): Wally
Our App today is called Wally. This app can help you put your financial house in order. Once you have it, the app can help keep track of your accounts. It can show your spending and help you work up a budget plan. It's all there in a dashboard on the home screen. It can show you your spending patterns dating back a couple of years. You can see exactly where you are, all of your account balances in one place. You can invite other family members or friends into your groups inside the app. When your family is with you, you can set up a family budget and watch each other's spending. It also gives you reminders and notes on your finances. Wally: Smart Personal Finance is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model and in-app purchases.

Monday (1/30): Goldbelly
This is a food delivery app, but it doesn't just do restaurants from here. This one goes a little wider. There are thousands of people who move here every week, and they may want to have their favorite foods again. Now, you can have them delivered to your front door. Goldbelly lets you order from your favorite restaurants in different cities. There's everything from Bagels, Pizza, and Cheesecake from New York to Pecan Pie from Commander's Palace in New Orleans. Deep Dish Pizza from Chicago or Philly Cheesesteaks from Pat's. There's a full list of the restaurants that take part. Have food some of the most famous chefs in the country. You can have the food shipped to you overnight. Goldbelly is a free app on iTunes. You pay for the food and the delivery.

Friday (1/27): ThingstoDuo
Not everyone has the perfect idea for something to do on a certain night. This app can give you ideas about things to do in your hometown, or if you're in a place that you don't know. You can use the app to search through different ideas. Maybe you want a restaurant, or a theatre, or a place to take the family. You can search by the distance from where you are, if you want to go some place that's close by. Get reviews of the places that you're searching for. Some places might even have a discount available through the app. There's even a way to make a decision, if you're stuck between a couple of choices. The app will flip a coin for you. IF you have a business that you want featured, there's a spot on the app that will guide you to add your venue to the menu. ThingstoDuo is a brand new app on iTunes.

Thursday (1/26): Sniffspot
Not everyone has a personal place to walk the dog or let it roam and play in a controlled park. This app can help you sniff out a spot for your dog. It can help you find safe and private dog parks anywhere near when you are. You can rent out the space and let your dog have fun in the outdoors and feel safe that the dog won't go anywhere dangerous. These are private dog parks. They could be fenced-in or indoor dog parks. There are dog water parks or even private beaches. The parks are safe and you can bond with your pup, while it plays. There are pictures of the parks to scroll through and reviews of the best ones. If you have a plot of land that you'd like to rent out as a Sniffspot, you can make some money from other dog owners. Sniffspot private dog parks is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for the park rental.

Wednesday (1/25): J&J Official 7 Minute Workout
Not everyone has a full hour, or even 30 minutes to get a good workout in. But, you don't have to have that much time when you can get what you need in your fitness in as little as just 7 minutes. The library has 22 different workouts. They can be easier or they can be as intense as you need them to be. There are more than 70 different exercises in those workout plans. Each one is designed by a professional in exercise physiology. There's a smart workout that runs through your fitness and how much you want to work out, and it sets something up just for you. There are video tutorials to teach you each one of the workouts in the system. The Official 7 Minute Workout from Johnson and Johnson is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (1/24): Touch Re-Touch
You know you don't take perfect pictures all the time. There's something in the shot that's just in the way. It might be a garbage can or some wires. Maybe there's someone pulling a photobomb at just the wrong time. This app can help you get rid of all those nuisances with the swipe of an editing finger. If there are some kind of untimely blackheads that you want gone, they're gone. You can take out anything or anyone, like an ex- that you just scrubbed out of your life. You don't ever have to see that one again. You don't have to be perfect with your finger, the app can find the lines of the offending objects or persons. Touch Retouch is $4 on iTunes and Android.

Monday (1/23): DMV Driver License Reviewer
When's the last time you had to deal with anything like Driver's Ed? If you're new to Texas or any other state, you can easily learn the rules of the road in that place, as well as road safety. This app can help you with a driver License, motorcycle license, commercial license, and others. This is a good way to study for new drivers and adults. It has the official driving manual for every state in the country. There are videos to learn how to drive properly. It comes with practice tests to help you get ready for the real thing with the written tests at the DPS or DMV, depending on what state you're in. You don't have to worry about paying those expensive fees with driving schools, at least for this. Now, it can't help you with the road test. You're on your own for that. DMV Driver License Reviewer is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Friday (1/20): Resy
Our App today is called Resy. This app can be a big help to you, if you need to make reservations for your favorite restaurants. It's also an app that can help you find a place to grab a bite to eat, based on what kind of food you're looking for. This is ideal for anyone who is visiting a new city, where you don't know the best places. It can also show you different unique places that might not be in the tourist books. You could discover something new in your own hometown. It has more than 5 thousand different restaurants in the database to choose from. You can book your reservations. If there aren't tables available, the app will let you know when there's an opening. The app can also send information about the restaurant to other guests in your party. Resy is a free app on iTunes.

Thursday (1/19): PocketGuard
This is a bill tracking app to give you a little more control of what you owe and when you owe it and get rid of the chaos. It can help with budgeting and putting some of the paycheck away in savings. It comes with a bill tracker to keep a check on what bills need paying on what dates. It also has something you might need when you decide to streamline your streaming services. It can set reminders of when those subscriptions are up, and if you really need to spend that money on something you don't use any longer. The app also has a way to negotiate with your lenders to get lower interest rates, You can use the app to help set any finance goals you have, and maybe lower your debt burden as well. PocketGuard is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model to a premium version.

Wednesday (1/18): Laundry Lens
Our App today is called Laundry Lens. This is a very specialized app for your clothes. Did you ever look at the tags that are attached to your clothes? They have all those symbols on them. This app can translate those symbols into what they really mean. You just have to scan the tag and learn their meanings and why they're there. It helps you to make sure that you're caring for your clothes the way they're supposed to be. There are more than 70 different symbols that show you everything from how to wash them to how to iron them, if they need ironing. Laundry Lens is a free app on iTunes.

Tuesday (1/17): Petzey
Our App today is called Petzey. This is an app for people that have pets, but not necessarily a vet. This app is like a teledoc for your dogs or cats. You can find a vet through video or audio chats about your pets. It comes with different kinds of virtual chats to promote their health and well-being. You just have to put in the particulars about your pet, and find one through the service. IF there are more pressing issues that require you to take your pet to see someone face to face, the app can find a clinic or a hospital for you to take your pet. Petzey visits run just 20 dollars per virtual session. It’s brand new, and it’s a free app on iTunes.

Monday (1/16): Cough Pro
Our App today is called Cough Pro. This is the time of year when every little cough you have is a sign of something worse. Or at least, we think it is. With all the worries about COVID, a cough might be the flu, a cold, or even just something in your throat. This app keeps track of your coughs. How often you're coughing, and what kinds of coughs. It uses A.I. to help try to identify what your cough might be. The app can even let your doctor keep track virtually as well. Cough Pro can identify what kind of cough you have. Then, it keeps track elsewhere on the app. That way you can figure out if you're getting better or worse. You can even use it to watch out for your family or friends. It can keep track of you, if you cough while you're sleeping. Cough Pro by Hyfe has remote monitoring, too. It is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Friday (1/13): Yidio
Our App today is called Yidio. We subscribe to so many different streamers. How do you remember what show that you like is on what streamer? This app is a way to keep track of all of your streaming services in one app. It has a function where you can find that show you started watching and can't remember which streaming service you watched it on. It can give you personalized suggestions for other shows. It also has a daily reminder, so you can see what are the newest shows available. It works with more than a hundred different streaming services, including all of the major ones. Think of it as a TV Guide for streaming shows and movies across a broad band of channels and networks. Yidio is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Thursday (1/12): Houzz
Our App today is called Houzz. If you haven't heard of this app, it's one of the most popular apps to do a little re-designing of your home. You can turn yourself into a regular Joanna Gaines with it. The app has more than 20 million pictures of homes, both inside and outside. All you need to do is pick a room and start designing. There are 10 million things you can buy for every room. There's everything from cabinets to lighting to furniture. And normally, most of them are on sale. The app comes with a Augmented Reality mode that will let you see what your new designs would look like in your space. You can also hire a professional, if it gets to be a bit too much for you to DIY. Houzz is a free app on iTunes and Android. The rest is up to you.

Wednesday (1/11): PayPal Honey
Wednesday's app of the day is called PayPal Honey. You know Paypal as a way to pay for things, but this app is a way to help you shop for things. It can help you find the best discounts and coupons for what you're looking for. It has connections with more than 5,500 stores to get you cash back. It works with everything from Samsung to CVS to Lowes to Reebok. The app will search through more than 4,000 websites to find the best coupons to apply to your purchases automatically. The average person can save more than $125 a year through the app. You're going to be doing the online shopping anyway, you might as well get the best deals and savings through the app. PayPal Honey: Coupons, Rewards is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (1/10): Cookpad
Our App today is called Cookpad. People just get into a rut when they make their meals on a weekly basis. This is a cooking app that has a community feel to it. You can share your favorite recipes with others, and learn something new from others in that community as they share their favorites. It has different kinds of filters. You can filter out ingredients that you don't want to cook with. These are family recipes, not designed by professional chefs. It helps you to use up anything in the pantry that you're trying to figure out what to do with. You can also use the app to learn new cooking techniques that you never learned before. Cookpad is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Monday (1/9): Off The Record
When you get a traffic ticket, you don’t have to just pay it and make it go away. This app can help you fight a speeding ticket or other moving citation that you might get. It has lawyers that are attached to the app to help you in court. And you don’t even have to be in a courtroom to win. You use the app to take a picture of the ticket and answer some questions. Then, the app picks the right attorney for you. You then move forward with that lawyer on your case. The app claims a 97% success rate and it has a money back guarantee if you happen to lose in court. It says winning your case in court can also help to keep your insurance rates low. Off The Record: Ticket Lawyer is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Friday (1/6): Dogo
Our App today is called Dogo. Did you get a new puppy for Christmas? You will want to get that new member of the family trained in the best way possible. This app can help you teach the new dog some new tricks. It has professional trainers designing the programs that you can use. The app comes with more than a hundred different tricks and behaviors that you can teach your dog and they come with video instructions. You can also get professional help from the pros on staff. You can show how well your dog is doing to the instructors. The app can also help you solve any behavior problems that might crop up. It comes with daily recommendations for training. Dogo is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model for the service.

Thursday (1/5): Air Tasker
Our App today is called Air Tasker. Not everyone has someone around the house to get all the "honey do's" done. This app lets you find someone to take care of the tasks that you don't have time for. It's kinda like having your own personal handyman or handywoman around. All you have to do is post the tasks that you need to have done. It could be anything from putting together IKEA furniture, cleaning the house, painting, or catering. Next, you put in the app what your budget would be for the task. Then, you wait for the taskers to send you quotes. You can pay your tasker through the app so everything is secure. If you want to use your talents as a tasker, you can add your name to the list. Tasker is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for the tasks at hand.

Wednesday (1/4): Media Converter
One of the most frustrating things about shooting video on your iPhone is the size of the file that the native camera shoots. Sending files like that in an email is almost impossible. This app is able to convert those files into something smaller through a video compression technique. It also works with converting large audio files. It can convert native iPhone audio files to mp3 or more compressed file formats. It can extract audio files from videos that you shoot or that you import from other sources. You can export video files. It's also a universal video player that can play whatever formatted video files you have. Media Converter is a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases to a professional version and to get rid of ads.

Tuesday (1/3): Beem
Our App today is called Beem. This could be the next generation of video messages. It lets you leave up to a 15-second message, and when the receiver plays that message, it shows up in augmented reality right there in front of you wherever you point your camera. It could be in your living room or in your office. You don't have to worry about avatars. Your message is right there on video in full size from head to toe. It gives you a more intimate feel. Think of it like a hologram message, but it uses AR. This is something more meta than Meta, which will use avatars. The app also lets you chat with that other person live right there on your phone. And it looks like they're standing there right in front of you. This could be the future of chat. Beem: Communication in AR is a free app on iTunes and Google. It has in-app purchases.

Monday (1/2): Ochi
Our App today is called Ochi. This app is there, if you want to block apps and websites from distracting you. It can block that access to iOS apps in order for you stay focused on your tasks. You can filter websites by different categories, like social media or chats. The app also lets you set up a time for how long you want those apps or websites to stay blocked. For example, if you don't want to have Facebook or other social media in the evening before you go to sleep, you can block them for a certain number of hours. If you have work to do, and you don't want other apps disrupting your flow, this app can help. If you try to access the website or app that you blocked, you get a "filter active" notice. It also works across your different devices, and connected computers. Ochi: Block Apps & Websites is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription plan for the pro version.

Friday (12/30): GetYourGuide
Our App today is called GetYourGuide. If you're traveling somewhere, it's good to get your tickets to attractions and events in advance. That way you're not disappointed when you get to your destination, only to find out they're sold out. This app gives you access to the most popular tourist attractions in another city. You get a jumpstart on others who might want to do the same things in the same cities. You just put in where you're going. The app shows you what are the most popular places to go in that city. It also has reviews of those attractions to see if they're worth the cost and trouble to get tickets. You can find the best things to do near you.
GetYourGuide: Tours & Tickets is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (12/29): Airside Digital Identity
Our App today is called Airside Digital Identity. This app lets you secure your identity in one portable place. It's made by the people who dreamed up the "Mobile Passport" app. This app makes it quick and easy to confirm who you are, when you're flying or any place that you need to do this. You can add your passport information, driver license, your COVID vaccine card, or anything else that shows your ID. It works with American Airlines, or car rental companies, or Mobile ID. It works with American's TSA PreCheck, if you have that service available to you. You're using your phone to scan your airline ticket, now you don't have to root around to show your identity at TSA. It's on your phone. Airside Digital Identity is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (12/28): Sniffle
Our App today is called Sniffle. Teladocs became a lot more popular during the pandemic when we couldn't see our family doctor. We could talk to them through Zoom or other video apps. This app lets you deal with real doctors to take care of the little aches and symptoms of non-emergency issues. Those doctors can talk you through things, and prescribe any medication that you might need through the app. It works with your insurance and costs a 10-dollar fee for booking a doctor. Those doctors in the app can deal with anything from pink eye to strep blood pressure problems to acid reflux. They set the rates that they'll charge you or your insurance. Sniffle is a free app on iTunes. You pay for the doctors' visits.

Tuesday (12/27): 7-Second Challenge
Our App today is called 7 Second Challenge. You might be throwing a party for a major event, and you need some party games to play with your guests. This one is something similar to what Ellen would play on her show. You have 7 seconds to complete different kinds of challenges. It could be, you have 7 seconds to touch the head of everyone that’s playing the game. This isn’t Pictionary, or Truth or Dare. These can get really intense. There are hundreds of different things that you can do, and you have 7 seconds to complete them. You can also add your own challenges, so the possibilities are endless. The 7 Second Challenge: Party Game is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases for more challenges and to get rid of the ads.

Friday (12/23): Ada
Our App today is called Ada. Calling Dr. Google. People love to search the Internet for what ails them. This app can help you look at your symptoms and possibly get some assistance in figuring out what's going on with your health. A doctor created this app. You answer some questions about how you're feeling. It could be fevers, headaches, stomach aches, or something more serious. It takes what you say, and puts it through a medical dictionary. Then, the app gives you some possibilities to investigate further or take with you to your doctor. You can also use it to check out family members. It does not diagnose anything, it's only a symptom checker of possibilities. The actual diagnosis should be done by your doctor. Ada is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (12/22): Wysa
Life is stressful. Everyone can use some help or someone to listen to them. People sometimes forget that their mental health is just as important as physical health. And a lot will just put mental health in the background. Wysa lets you deal with what's going on in your mind with the use of a chatbot. It's all very anonymous. It uses three different kinds of therapy and meditation to help your mind de-stress and de-clutter. That chatbot uses artificial intelligence to react to what you tell it. You can use the app to just vent about the challenges in your day. It has a conversation mode to help with loss or worries. It can help with coping techniques. It comes with a self-care kit with hundreds of exercises. You can also book a session with a professional therapist. Wysa is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Wednesday (12/21): Elf Yourself!
Our App today is called Elf Yourself. It's the Christmas season and you might just want to disguise yourself as one of Santa's helpers. This is one of the most popular apps every year for the last 14 years. You can turn yourself into an elf and put yourself into different videos. You can take a live picture of yourself, or grab one from the camera roll. You can then be a dancing elf, and the envy of all the other elves with your elfin moves. The app can bring in up to 5 different faces, so your family can elf themselves and you can all dance together. Pick out the music you want your elf self to dance to. Add a personal greeting to the video and send it out to your family and friends. OR put it on your social media. Think of it as a JibJab for the holidays. The app has elfed more than 2 billion people. Elf Yourself is a free app on iTunes and Android. Some of the dances are free. If you want more, you can pay the elves.

Tuesday (12/20): Message from Santa!
Our App today is called Message from Santa! This app gives you Santa's private cellphone number. You can have Santa call your children as many times as you need him to. All you have to do is give him a few details about your kids. He will also send your children their own personal video messages. You can also make calls to Santa's personal voicemail, like recording your wish list, so he knows exactly what you want. You can even send him text messages to make sure everything is OK. Here's the extra thing. You can also let your kids know that "Santa gets reports about naughty kids all year long" through the app. Message from Santa is a free app on iTunes and Android. It does come with in-app purchases.

Monday (12/19): Tasty
Our App today is called Tasty. Just in time for Christmas, we have a cooking app that can bring you some ideas for your Christmas dinner table. It has more than 4 thousand recipes in the database. You can get instructions with a step by step guide. This app can also teach you how to do certain cooking techniques with video instruction. You can get Christmas recipes by typing Christmas into the search function. And most recipes are written with a certain number of people in mind when it comes to servings. The app will automatically adjust how much you need of something by changing the number of people you’re planning to feed. That means you don’t have to worry about figuring out how much half of a third cup is. One tap, the numbers change for you. Tasty is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Friday (12/16): Dallas Secure
Our App today is called Dallas Secure. This one's for north Texas. The city of Dallas just released this new security app. It can help you keep your personal data away from hackers that want that information. It can keep your phone safe, if you happen to be in a place that has unsecured Wi-Fi networks. It will let you know if there's something wrong, and you can take care of it with a single click. If you see links that are sent to you, and you want to know if they're legit, the app can let you know. It can also look at QR codes that you see, and it can tell if they're tainted with spyware. It can block phishing texts as well. The app is always hunting for possible threats. Dallas Secure is a free app from the city of Dallas. It's on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (12/15): Dream by WOMBO
This is an art tool. It uses virtual reality to come up with something that you dream about. It turns your words into paintings. All you have to do is type in what you're thinking at the moment. Then, decide on what kind of art style that you want the painting to look like. Then the AI goes to work putting your idea on a virtual canvas. There is an entire community of others that are generating their own ideas. You can even come with portraits of famous people in different poses. The only limit is what you can dream up with your imagination. See your words come to life in incredible AI-inspired artwork. Dream by WOMBO is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases and a subscription model for a premium version.

Wednesday (12/14): Wonolo
In these days of high inflation, there are all kinds of people that are looking for a second job, or a side hustle just to make ends meet. This app can help you find some extra work. It comes up with opportunities with daily shift work that are close to where you are. You're able to make your own hours. You don't have to worry about updating your resume or job interviews. It could be anything that a company needs in different kinds of industries. It could be in food and beverage, travel, retail, warehousing, or event services. This app is also a good way to find out if there's something else that you should be doing in your career. The app is also good for companies that don't want to deal with temp agencies and need to find experienced people. Wonolo is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (12/13): Zario - Digital Wellbeing
One more App of the Year candidate. We spend way too much time staring at our phones. The average person admits to spending up to 7 hours looking at the phone. That can get in the way of getting anything done in the real world. You know, like work or school. This app can help you put down the phone and do some fun challenges in that real world. That way, you can build up some habits that you'll keep. This is a psychology-based app to help you stop with the scrolling that you do every day. There are two different kinds of challenges. One of them is called: "Reduce". The other is "Replace". You'll learn how to change things up on your phone that makes it less of a distraction. It helps you with your focus and your attention away from the smartphone. Zario: Digital Wellbeing is a free app on iTunes and Android. It's also one of the apps of the year.

Monday (12/12): Lensa
This is the app that's showing you AI pictures of your friends on your social media. Lensa started out as a picture and video editing app. The AI has made it famous over the last couple of weeks. The app itself is meant to help you make your selfies crisper, and cleaner, and remove the faults in your face. You can use it to get rid of any lines or anything else that annoys you, like bags under your eyes. It lets you blur out the background. Now, the AI feature is called "Magic Avatars" to create those incredible images of your pictures. It can make up to 200 different avatars in different styles. See what you look like as an anime character. Now, this is part of Lensa's paid features, but there's a 7-day free trial so you can generate what you want, then cancel. You just have to remember to cancel it or you could get charged up to 36 dollars. Lensa is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Friday (12/9): BeReal
Continuing our spotlight on the Apps of the Year.
Our App today is called Be Real. This is a social media app. It's a way to disconnect from your online life for just a couple of minutes, and just be part of real life again. When you have the app installed, it will ask you to stop doing what it is you're doing, and just take 2 minutes to take a picture of where you are and what is going on in your world. Everyone on the app gets the same instruction at the same time, so all users will stop to share their lives in the real world. The app lets you take pictures from both cameras at the same time. You then share your moments with your friends on the app and see what's going with their lives and where in the world they are. The app even comes up with special challenges on some days. It lets you share what it's like when you're being real. Be Real is a free app on iTunes and Android. It is the iTunes App of the Year.

Thursday (12/8): Wamble
We continue our spotlight on the Apps of the Year. Our App today is called Wamble. This is an app to bring the world a little closer to you. It brings you information within a mile of you. You can use the app to buy and sell stuff to someone within a mile of you. Find out things going on, or new places to shop, where you don't have to drive a long way to get there. They're all within a mile of you. Wherever you are, find out what's going on within a mile of you. You can even talk to people that are close by. You can showcase your life if you want by sharing what you found within a mile of you. You can also see what other people are doing that might interest you as well. You can also do all of this anonymously. You might even find discounts at stores that are closeby. Wamble is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases. It's one of the Apps of the Year.

Wednesday (12/7): Plant Parent
Continuing our spotlight on the Apps of the Year. Our App today is called Plant Parent. Some people just aren't meant to be parents of humans, or pets for that matter. There are people that should start in the world of parenting with something smaller, like plants. This app is like a plant parenting coach. It helps you learn about the proper care and feeding of your greenery. Or perhaps the right watering times or when to fertilize, or re-pot them. It has a light level to it that shows you where the best place to put plants in your home is. Some need more light, others need less. There's a plant identifier in the app. All you have to do is take a picture of it, and the Plant Parent can tell you. If something goes wrong, the app can help you figure out what you need to do to bring them back to life. Plant Parent is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases. It's one of the Apps of the Year.

Tuesday (12/6): DanceFitme
You might be putting on some weight during the holidays. What better way to take it off than by getting a good workout in and dance your way through it. Zumba classes are popular, but maybe you don't want to be part of a big class. You can put together a 28 day weight loss plan with different workouts to lose weight. It comes with HD videos to dance along to. Keep track of everything that you're doing. You can also find different dance workouts for different parts of your body. And yes, there's Zumba, too. DanceFitme is a free app on Android. It has a subscription model. The iTunes version is coming soon. It's one of the Apps of the Year.

Monday (12/5): Petstar
This is a fun app that can make your pets the stars of their own music videos. You’ve seen AI apps that can make people in photographs sing and nod along to music. This does it with cats or dogs. You just take a picture of your pet. You put markers on the picture where their eyes and mouth are. Then, pick out a song and the AI does all the work. You can see your pet singing along and keeping up with the beat. Take your pick of songs, everything from "Say So" by Doja Cat, "That’s What I Like" by Bruno Mars, or make your pet one of the newest members of BTS. Then, share your masterpiece on your social media. Petstar is one of the Apps of the Year. It comes with pop songs, and more are added all the time. iTunes Google Play

Friday (12/2): Bingie
Cord cutting is everywhere, and when you finish a show that you loved, it can be tough to decide what to binge on next. This is a brand new binge watching viewing guide. It's based on what kinds of shows that you like. Add in a social media aspect to find just the right kind of programs or movies on streaming services. A lot of the recommendations also come from other viewers that liked a particular show. The app says people tend to trust ideas that come straight from their friends and families more than strangers. It also lets you share your great ideas with others about great shows with private chats. Bingie is a free app on iTunes

Thursday (12/1): Locket
This is a widget for your iPhone that turns your phone into a virtual locket for all of your friends and family. The app can show you live photos from your friends on your home screen. The app says it’s a way to get a glimpse into their lives on any given day. When someone in your life takes a photo with the app and sends it to you, it shows up in the widget on your phone, so they can share what’s going on right away. The app also keeps track of the photos that you send, so you can look back on how you’ve shared your lives together. Locket limits you to just 5 people that you can have, so that keeps it small and personal and only to your besties. Locket Widget is one of the iTunes apps of the year and it’s a free app on iTunes.

Tuesday (11/22): Flight Radar
Our App today is called Flight Radar. This app is perfect for travelers who are going somewhere soon, or it's for the merely curious about the planes that are flying the sky above you. You can find out the details about that jet by pointing your phone at it. Where did it come from? Or where is it going? What kind of jet it is. It has history of the jet, such as where it's been before. This app lets you track all kinds of flights around the world. See where the plane is at any moment. It also lets you see what the pilot is looking out at at any time in 3D. You can look for any flight by airline, flight number or airport. The app can teach you about what the air traffic controllers are doing and how much airspace they have to keep track of. It's just fascinating for people who are interested in flight. This is the top flight tracking app around. Flight Radar is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model available, too.

Monday (11/21): Food Network Kitchen
Our App today is called Food Network Kitchen. As we get closer to Thanksgiving Day, more people might want to get some ideas and help for what they’re planning for dinner. This app can help with ideas, not just for Thursday, but for every day of the week. It comes with step-by-step instructions and they come from different chefs that you see on Food Network TV shows. You can also learn new skills in the kitchen. The app has more than 50 live classes every week. You never know who the teacher will be. It comes with more than 80 thousand different recipes. You can save the ones that you consider your favorites. There are video instructions for making the dishes you want. You can also use the app to stream your favorite shows on the network. Food Network Kitchen is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Friday (11/18): Stocard
Our App today is called Stocard. How many reward cards do you have stuffed in your purse or your wallet or even your keyring? This app is a storehouse for all those reward programs, and you can access them instantly through it. It's kind of like a virtual wallet of those cards. You just digitize them with the barcodes and numbers. It only takes a few seconds to digitize all of them. When you get to a store that you use the cards, just open the browser and scan the bar code on your phone. It works with all of them from Kroger to Sam's to Walgreens. There's also a rewards program in the app to give you savings when you go shopping. It also gives you coupons, discounts, flyers, and catalogs to find what you're looking for. Clean out your wallet and keep your cards here. Stocard - Rewards Cards Wallet is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (11/17): Elfster
Our App today is called Elfster. As you can tell by the name, this is a Christmas app. Even better, it's a shopping app. Even better, it's a Secret Santa app. If you have ever tried to coordinate a Secret Santa at your office, you know all the plates that you have to keep spinning to get the program running right. This app can help. You and your co-workers can take part and put in your wish lists to make sure that you get something you might actually want from your Secret Santa. Put in the things you see from your favorite shopping sites. The app helps to invite everyone that you want in the program. You can manage your shopping and gift registries with it. The app also can generate the names and figure out who you're buying for, and who is buying for you. It's versatile. It's a Secret Santa app that can be used for other holidays as well. It's Elfster. Just in time for Christmas. A free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (11/16): Hey Grill Hey
It doesn't matter the weather, hot or cold. Is there ever a bad time for grilling? This app can give you some ideas about what to make for your barbecue grillin' dinners. It comes with thousands of recipes for everything that you'd want on your plate. You can find recipes for smoking or grilling different meats. There's anything from Texas Style Smoked Beef Brisket to Smoked Pork Tender Loin to even a Wood Fired Pizza with Red Pesto. It also updates those recipes every week. The app also lets you know all the ingredients that you need into a grocery list. You can also find some ideas for recipes with the items you have in your refrigerator. The fridge can be an inspiration. There are hundreds of step by step videos to guide you from start to serve. Hey Grill Hey is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Tuesday (11/15): Radio Garden
There are people in the world who just love listening to the radio. I'm one of them. I'm fascinated with what's coming through the speakers. We always tell you that you can find us and other great stations through the Audacy app. But, this app lets you play in a bigger garden. This app brings you the world. When you open the app, you see the Earth from what looks like Google Earth. You can rotate the globe and point it at any area in the world. When you land on a city, you can see what radio stations they have. Point it to Australia, and you can listen to all kinds of stations anywhere from Melbourne to Perth. Spin the globe again to London and hear what's going on in the UK. There are thousands of stations to listen to. Here is what's hot in music in any country. Every green dot is a city with radio stations. Radio Garden is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchase.

Monday (11/14): Mealime
This is a meal planning app, especially when you want to eat healthy. It does the whole step-by-step thing, and gives you guided directions to make your lunches and dinners. The app puts together meal plans that's designed for you, based on what you put in your preferences. It has different kinds of diet plans, like paleo or flex, vegan, or keto. When you get your meal plan of food, the app automatically puts the ingredients that you need into a grocery shopping list for the week. The app gives you the full nutritional values of everything that you eat. Mealime Meal Plans & Recipes is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Friday (11/11): Pure Nature
Sound apps are very popular on the App Store. This one is the sound of nature that you might not get to hear too often, especially if you're cooped up in an office or your home all day long. It has more than a hundred different landscapes that are rendered in 3 dimensions. You can fill your hearing with rain, winds, waves, or even the sound of thunderstorms in the distance. You can use the timer to fall asleep to those sounds and have the app turn itself off. When you get up with the alarm, you can set it to the sounds of birds. This app is designed to help you relax for better rest, or it can help you with your focus to stay on task throughout the day. You can put together a playlist of your favorite sounds and recordings. The app says it's best to listen in headphones to get the full 3-D effect in your ears. Pure Nature -- 3D Soundscapes is a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases.

Thursday (11/10): PlugShare
More and more people are giving up their gas guzzling cars for hybrids or all-electric cars, like Teslas. Charging the car at home or at the office is pretty easy to take care of. But, there are times that you get to a place where you need a charge, and you're not near one of those places. This is a maps app to show you where the nearest charging stations are near where you are. You can set the filters for your type of plug, as well as the charging speed that you need; like Level 1, Level 2, or DC Fast Chargers. It covers just about any place in all of North America. It also lets you know which charging stations are located in places that food that you can buy or bathrooms. You can also help other EV drivers if you find a new station that's not on the map. PlugShare is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Wednesday (11/9): Revive
This one is just a fun app to let you add some animation to your photos. And you can make the people in your photos sing and dance to popular music. It uses artificial intelligence to animate the eyes, mouth, and bodies. Oh, it doesn't matter if you use your photos or some kind of pictures of famous people. That means you can make Abe Lincoln sing Rick Astley or the heads of Mount Rushmore do a Queen song. All you have to do is upload a picture to the app. Then, you pick out a song that you want the A.I. to have the picture sing. Hit the REVIVE button, and watch the magic. It animates the photo. Watch their heads bob along to the song as they sing. Revive is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Tuesday (11/8): Tody
This is an app to help you get some control over some of those household chores. 70% of people say they feel guilty that their home isn't clean enough. This is like an amped-up to do list for the home. You can break it down to the various rooms in the house, and what needs to get cleaned up and taken care of. It helps you to figure out what areas need priority, like the kitchen or the bathrooms. Who can remember all the tasks that you have to do, even if you're in a one bedroom apartment? This app can also help you make a game of cleaning everything. Your family can also sync up the app to compete which one can get the chores done right in the fastest amount of time. Tody is $7 on iTunes and free on Android, but on Android, there are in-app purchases.

Monday (11/7): BlackCam
This is a photo app to give you some artsy looks to your shots. Black Cam shoots black and white photographs. The editing feature lets you shoot with different shades of blacks, whites, and greys. You can see what your final photo looks like when you're looking through the filtering options. Adjust the brightness and contrasts to get just the right look. You can also add other filters to make the picture look a little more grainy. You can then save your photos and export them to your social media. BlackCam Black and White Camera is $1.99 on iTunes and $1.50 on Android.

Friday (11/4): BeCasso
Our App today is called BeCasso. Your photos might look like a work of art to you. But, you could make them look like an actual work of art through this app. You can turn your pictures into a watercolor portrait or maybe an oil painting. There's a cool feature that lets you change your selfie into a piece of sketch art. Change that picture into something that looks like Picasso painted it, or a van Gogh. You can even look see what you'd look like if a comic book artist drew you. It comes with dozens of different types of filters. And if you like what you see, you don't have to just save it to your phone. You could possibly turn your masterpiece into a post card to send to someone else for just 2 bucks. Or you can have it printed on something bigger, like a poster. BeCasso: Photo to Painting App is free on iTunes. It has in-app purchases for a premium model.

Thursday (11/3): iCall
How many times have you wished that you could have recorded a phone call that came in? It could be for a last chance to hear someone's voice, or if you want to take notes about a chat, or if you need proof of a deal that you made. This app lets you record your calls. That way you can have proof of something or a transcript of what's been said. You can record calls that you make or those that come into your phone. All you have to do is bring up the app when a call comes in, hit record, and you're good to go. You can save the calls, or send the files somewhere else. There are laws in different states about whether it's legal to record calls without the other person's permission. iCall Call Recorder is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

Wednesday (11/2): SafeUp
This is a safety app for women and girls. It offers up real-time support from an entire community of users. There are more than 150 thousand people all over the world using the app to protect each other. You can set up different kinds of safety checks. Someone will check up on you to make sure you're ok, if you're in a situation where you don't feel safe. They can come every 5 minutes, 15 minutes, or every 30 minutes. There are women that are trained to help you through phone calls, video chat, or even if you need someone there next to you in person. Every area has a list of trained guardians that you can rely on whenever you need them. If you want to become one of those guardians, you can get trained to do so. Safe UP: Women Safety Guardian is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (11/1) Duolingo Math
Our App today is called Duolingo Math. You might know Duolingo as a great app to learn a foreign language. But, this version is for children to help them with their math skills. The app's makers say 90 percent of people have math anxiety of some kind. It's not just kids that could use a refresher. This app can help you with the basics, or more complicated problems. The app lets you work through math problems without dealing with textbooks. You learn it by doing it. Train your brain to think math. It can help your kids with multiplication to fractions. It works for all grade levels. Adults can use it as a way to know percentages, which is great if you need to tip at a restaurant. Math has all kinds of applications in real life. Duolingo Math is a free app on iTunes.

Monday (10/31) Forest
Our App today is called Forest. This is a productivity app to help you stay focused on your tasks at hand. It can also help you reach your goals. This app works on your phone by making you put down your phone and concentrate on what you need to do. You plant a virtual seed in a forest. As you're working, that seed will grow into a tree. And as you DON'T use your phone, the tree will thrive. If you keep picking it up, your tree withers up and dies. That focus of yours will help you plant more trees and let the forest thrive. You can earn different rewards for your forest, as long as you keep working and don't look at your phone. It also lets you help plant real trees with the group, Trees For The Future. So far, users have planted more than a million real trees. Forest is the number one productivity app in multiple countries. It's $4 on iTunes and free on Android. It has in-app purchases.

Friday (10/28): Cardboard Companion
Our App today is called Cardboard Companion. This app is perfect for anyone who loves to play board games. You can use the app to find new games to play. There are more than 100 thousand different board games available to check out. The app is adding more games every day. There are games that you know, and maybe some you've never seen before and you can now. You can play those board games right there in the app. Try out some board games online, before you decide if you want to spend the money to get the real version. You can also find other board game fans to play together with. The app even can help you put together game nights with others. Build up your digital board game library with the app. Cardboard Companion is a new app. It's free on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (10/27): HiHello Digital Business Card
The old fashioned business card is just that. This app can bring the business card into the 2020s with just your phone. These are business cards that don't take up paper stock. You can have them whenever you need them. Think of it as an extension of your phone contacts. You can create and share those digital business cards or you can scan the old-school business cards that you might get. The digital business card shows up in a unique QR code that you send to someone else in a text, social media or chat. It has all of your details that you would put onto a business card. When you scan a card, the app keeps track of when you met that person, and you can put in your own notes about that person. It even has a way to put up a virtual background for a video chat and it's linked to your business card info. HiHello Digital Business Card is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (10/26)
Our App Wednesday is called Alfred. This app can combine two things that are important to your life. First, what to do with your old cell phones, and second, how to improve security inside your home. You can turn your old smartphones into security cameras with this app. It lets you live-stream video from the house. First, you have to put the app on both phones and pair them. You can use it to talk to anyone at the end of the video stream. Your old smartphone has a motion detector that can trigger the video. The app can also be used as a video baby monitor. You can even use both cameras for extra security. You don't need an expensive in-house camera setup for your protection. Just use your old smartphones that are lying around doing nothing. Alfred Home Security Camera is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Tuesday (10/25): Rakuten
Our App today is called Rakuten. With inflation like it is, it's always a good thing when you can get some money back after you make a purchase. This app pays you to go shopping. It also has deals at close to 4,000 stores. There's everything from Kohls to Target, and even eBay. The app gets paid when it recommends stores to shoppers, then it splits that money with you when you go in. You can cash back when you buy at your favorite stores. The app also can send you coupons for discounts. You might have known this app when it's called Ebates. When you sign up, and buy something for at least $25, it sends you $10 as a welcome to the family. It works on the costs you pay for vacation with TripAdvisor, or Expedia, or other travel sites. It works with restaurants and movies. Rakuten is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Monday (10/24): YouMail
Your phone now has even more protection from spam callers. This app is a triple play of protection with a spam call blocker, robo call blocker, and a voicemail app that lets you put together more than one voicemail message. When spammers call you, the app will tell the call that the number is disconnected. That could take you off the list. It also continues to update to watch out for the most spam calling numbers. It lets you save your voicemails as long as you want them. It comes with visual voicemail, so you can see what the message is before you hear it. You can add a second line, for your work calls, so you don’t confuse them with personal calls. The app also comes with a Virtual Receptionist to help with call screening, so you can send some calls to your assistant or partner. There are a lot of features with YouMail. It’s a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in app purchases.

Friday (10/21): Kitche
Our App today is called Kitche. This is an app that can help you organize your kitchen and your food pantries. It also can help you cut back on wasting food. People will tend to forget what they have in their pantries. This app can keep track, and remind you of your full inventory. It even can come up with recipes that you could use to use up some of the food that you have that you haven't eaten yet. You use the app to scan everything you have on your store receipts. It comes with thousands of different recipes. And you can use the app to help keep track of the food that's past its expiration date. That way, you get to see how much you might be wasting. Kitche is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (10/20): You Need A Budget
Inflation sure seems like it's an out of control freight train at this point. It's now more important than ever to regain some kind of control of your own personal finances. You need to know where your paycheck is going every week. Just like the name says, this is a budgeting app to help you pay your bills, and keep you from losing track. You set goals for the future. The app says the average person who uses the app will save six thousand dollars in just the first year of using it. It shows you any changes to your budget. Something that just comes up that can throw off the delicate balance. When you use the app to help pay down debt, you see how well you're doing and what you're saving by paying it down early. Set some goals and see how close you are to accomplishing them. You Need A Budget is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Wednesday (10/19): Medisafe
How many of you have those daily compartments for your medications? It can be confusing, if you have different meds that you have to take different times of the day. This app can help you to keep to your schedule every day. You won't miss out on taking your pills, or you won't take too much because it won't let you forget that you've already taken them. It's a simple interface, and it can work for your entire family. If you have someone that helps care for you, the app can bring them in, so that person can keep you on track in case you don't listen to the app. It also can show you if your medications don't get along and you need to take them at much different times during the day. The app can also provide you reminders to refill your subscriptions. Medisafe Medication Management is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has an optional subscription model.

Tuesday (10/18): Touch Retouch
You know you don't take perfect pictures all the time. There's something in the shot that's just in the way. It might be a garbage can or some wires. Maybe there's someone pulling a photobomb at just the wrong time. This app can help you get rid of all those nuisances with the swipe of an editing finger. If there are some kind of untimely blackheads that you want gone, they're gone. You can take out anything or anyone, like an ex- that you just scrubbed out of your life. You don't ever have to see that one again. You don't have to be perfect with your finger; the app can find the lines of the offending objects or persons. Touch Retouch is $4 on iTunes and Android.

Monday (10/17): Zumper
Have you tried finding an apartment lately? What about a short-term rental? This app’s claim to fame is that it can find apartments that don’t show up anywhere else. But, it’s not limited to just apartments. That’s what makes this special. You might just need a room to rent. It can find those, too. That’s good if you’re a poor college student. Or perhaps you want to find a vacation rental place. It teams up with companies like VRBO, Booking.com, and others. You put in what you need, like bedrooms, price points, which neighborhoods that you’d like. You can also set up an in-person tour or go virtual with 3-D. The app also helps you facilitate paying the rent. You can pay right through the app. Zumper - Apartment Finder is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (10/12): iScape
It's never too early to start looking at what you can do with your outdoor living space. This helps you develop some ideas thanks to augmented reality. You can take pictures of plants and furniture designs and actually see what they would look like in your backyard or outdoor patio. It lets you see what your vision would look like from your mind to your space. It also lets you buy all the products you want to feature in the app itself. You can share your plans with your landscaping professional to let them know what you're thinking of. The app can also match you with a designer and let you find a professional to help you. iScape is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

Tuesday (10/11): Food Intolerances
Millions of people have different kinds of foods that they just can't eat, or there are ingredients in food that they have to be super careful of. It has an extensive library of a thousand different foods, along with lists of the ingredients inside, so you can decide if it's safe for you to have on your diet. You put the app together in whatever way that you need to. When you have a recipe you want to consider, it will tell you if it's a safe bet for you. If you can have only a little of something that you enjoy, it can calculate how much in a serving to keep you safe. There's anything from fructose intolerance to sugar alcohols. If you have a food allergy to something, you can check a recipe through the app. Come up with a shopping list and take it with you to the store. Food Intolerances is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases for more data and information.

Monday (10/10): Full Court Tennis
Our App today is called Full Court Tennis. This one is for the tennis player who wants to up his or her game. You can only learn so much on your own, or with a local pro. This app gives you lessons from professional coaches and former pros on the tour. You can have one of those professionals take a look at your game and give you tips on how to improve it. There are live video calls available, or you can have virtual lessons. Compare your forehand or backhand against the pros to see where you can improve. There's a full court feed so you can talk about your game with other players on the app. If you're a coach, you can take on students in the app and set your own rates and how often you want to teach. The app has support from pros like John McEnroe or coaching from a grand slam winner Brian Teacher, Johan Kriek, or others. Full Court Tennis is a free app on iTunes. You pay for the lessons, and there's a subscription model.

Friday (10/7): Clario
This is a security app for your phone. It actually does several different security functions to keep you safe. First, it starts with a VPN, a virtual private network. It comes with an ad blocker. It can help protect your identity against hackers. It can watch you against online threats in real-time. It comes with added protection to do your shopping and banking online. The app will quarantine other apps that are dangerous to your online life. It also works to protect your data from thieves. You can talk to their experts all day, all night, all week long. They can give you recommendations to maintain your security and give you assistance if something goes wrong. Clario is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model

Thursday (10/6): Playbook
This is a fitness app where you can work out from home, and have a personal trainer there guiding you on your way. It comes with access to more than 56 thousand workouts. There are more than 500 instructors and trainers to choose from. Pick out whichever type of workout you want to do. It could be strength training, cardio, yoga, or more. The trainers put together new workouts every day. Schedule your classes and stream with an instructor in real-time. There are also hundreds of nutrition and recipe guides in the app. You get wellness guides to help you put fitness through all aspects of your life. Playbook is created by trainers. It is a free app on iTunes. Most of your subscription goes straight to those trainers and instructors.

Wednesday (10/5): iTalki
Our App today is called iTalki. The world is getting smaller and one of the only things that keeps us apart is a lack of a common language. There are a lot of apps that can help you learn a foreign language. This one provides one on one lessons with native speakers of the language you wish to learn. There are more than 150 different languages that you can learn with personalized instruction. You can connect with language teachers almost anywhere in the world. You get personalized lessons from those teachers, and it's all based on how well you can learn. Learn a new language at your own pace. The app connects you with your favorite instructor, and you pay them for the time and their expertise. It can be as little as 8 dollars for a teacher or 4 dollars for a tutor per lesson. iTalki is a free app on iTunes and Android. Again, you pay for the lessons.

Monday (10/3): NBA app
Our App for Monday is called the NBA app. The Dallas Mavericks are just a couple of weeks away from starting the regular season. So, it might be good to get everything in order right away. That way you don’t miss any of the action from Luka and the rest of the team. This is the official app of the NBA. It lets you keep up with any of your favorite teams or all of the teams. It has in-game and post-game stats for every game. It comes with the latest news. You can see press conferences and other events. And if you subscribe to the NBA League Pass, you get more ways to see your favorite teams all season long, on-demand or live as they happen. You can also download the games if you can’t watch them live. You can watch classic games and documentaries if you’re an NBA history fan. NBA: Live Games & Scores is the official app of the NBA. It’s free on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Friday (9/30): Price Pulse
Our App today is called Price Pulse. Amazon Prime Days may have been a few months ago, but you can still find deals everywhere on the site. This app lets you track Amazon prices, as well as the history of the prices of the items that you're tracking. The app will send you notifications when the price drops to a certain level. It can be anything that Amazon sells from groceries to computers to household items. The app will tell you when is the best time to pick up those items, or when the price might drop. It scans millions of different things on Amazon. You can use the barcode scanner at a store to see if you can get a better deal online. Or just use it to price match at the store. Price Pulse is a free app on iTunes.

Thursday (9/29): Photoroom Studio
Our App today is called Photoroom Studio. When you take a picture, chances are you want it to look just the way you want it to. That means you need all the photo editing tools that you can handle. This app can take out anything in the background that you don't want in your photo. That includes everything in the background, if you wish. It uses what it calls Magic Retouch to deal with all those annoyances. The app says you don't just edit pixels, you're editing objects in the shot. It has an artificial intelligence to take you out of one background and put you into another background. It's easy to use and perfect. This is also great for influencers who want to highlight certain pieces of clothing or jewelry for sale. Photoroom Studio is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Wednesday (9/28): Grown By
Our App today is called Grown By. There are people that want the freshest food that they can get. And the freshest food comes from American farmers. This app lets you connect up with local farmers near you. It could be for fresh fruit, veggies, cheese, or anything else straight from the farm. You can put together a shopping list and have your food delivered to a location to pick up. The app supports small farms, and the app comes from those farmers. You can set up a subscription system and work with the same farmers all the time. You can use the app to pick and choose which farmers you want do deal with. Farmers, you can use the app to find new customers. Grown By is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for your food and you help your local farmers.

Tuesday (09/27): Honk
You might not have access to AAA, and you don't want to leave yourself to the mercy of wrecker drivers who might come up on you when you're stranded by the side of the road. This app is kind of like Uber for wrecker drivers. You pick whatever service you need. It could be help for a flat tire. Or you need a tow. Or you're out of gasoline. The app lets you order assistance at a price you can afford. It has access to more than 75 thousand tow trucks and mechanics around the country. You can get help within as little as 15 minutes. You'll know who the driver is and the driver's phone number. The app tells you how much the service will be beforehand, so there are no surprises. You can pay for the service through the app, too. And that means, no price gouging. If you want to join Honk as a driver, you can through the app. HONK - Tow & Roadside OnDemand is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for the services.

Monday (09/26): Slidebox
Our App today is called Slidebox. If you’re like most people, your phone is a mish-mash of pictures. You might have dozens of duplicates, or pictures that are out of focus, or they’re just bad. Whatever the case, they’re out of control. This app can help you organize your photos, and maybe save some space on your hard drive for more photos. Slidebox has a couple of different features. You can go through your pictures and delete the ones you want with one swipe. It helps you to put them into albums #organized. You can swipe between photos that are similar or the same, and delete the ones you don’t want so you only have one shot. It also lets you choose your favorite pictures to access them quickly. Slidebox can make that organization chore not so much of a chore. It’s free on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model, too.

Friday (09/23): SofaScore
Our App today is called SofaScore. Weekends this time of year are always packed with different sports, and lots of scores and statistics. It's tough to keep track of everything. This app can bring all those together in one place. It's especially good if you're in a fantasy football league, or you're just a maniac for stats. It puts together all kinds of player ratings, so you can choose which players to put into play this weekend. It works on 25 different sports around the world, and more than five thousand different leagues. The app also brings sports fans together to talk numbers in a specialized chat setting. Keep an eye on the players, the teams, and full leagues with this one app. SofaScore: Live score app is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases to get rid of ads.

Thursday (09/22): NoonLight
Our App today is called NoonLight. This is a security app, if you're ever feeling uncomfortable in what you think could be a dangerous situation. All you have to do is activate the app, and hold a button while you're in that situation. Don't release it until you're safe at home or your car. Once you do that, you enter a 4 digit PIN. If you're holding the app and let go, and DON'T put in the PIN, help comes running to you. The app will call the police and let them know where you are. If you see something strange, add the info in your timeline, and the app lets the first responders know. It even works, if you have a date with someone you meet on Tinder. One little extra bit of protection for you, in case it goes very badly. If you're in a situation, where you're not in one place, the app will keep up with you via GPS until first responders get to you. Noonlight is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases for a premium version with more features.

Wednesday (9/21): Ibotta
Our App today is called Ibotta. While we're shopping and seeing what inflation has done to the cost of groceries and everything else, every little bit helps to bring some of our money back into our wallets. This is a shopping app that helps you earn cash back. It doesn't matter if you're shopping online or in a store. The app works with thousands of stores and brands, including all the big names, like Walmart, Best Buy, Lowes, Kroger, and the rest. All you have to do is check the app before your shopping excursion and see what offers are up for grabs. Then, you just upload the receipt and get some money back. Pretty simple, actually. It works with grocers, restaurants, and other businesses. There are more than a half million locations to pick from. You can even use it with a Groupon for more savings. Ibotta is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (9/20): Horizon Camera
There is a scourge in our world. That's the scourge of people that shoot videos in portrait mode. That's when you hold the camera vertically. This app can end that atrocity because no matter how you shoot your videos, they come out correctly. The horizontal way. It fills the screen properly without those bars on either side of the screen. You can also add all kinds of filters like you usually would, but the video will be horizontal. You can even turn the camera around, the video stays horizontal. It's all about the gyroscope inside the phone. It supports all different video formats and is just the right thing to do. Horizon Camera is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases for different filter packs.

Monday (9/19): Audible Reality
This is a music enhancement app. You can listen to the music on your phone the old fashioned way, or you can enhance the experience with this app. It describes itself as three dimensional immersive audio. It comes with an AI that can convert just the music into a new audio experience. You can also set whatever vibe you want. You might hear different parts of a song that you may never have discovered before. Each vibe enhances the musicc. Think of it like this, if you change the viewing settings on your TV to wide screen or zoomed in. This is the audio version of that. You won't hear your music the same way again. Audible Reality Vibes is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Friday (9/16): Mathway
Our App today is called Mathway. This is an app to help you help your kids with their homework. It could be a lifesaver for you, especially if you haven't done any kind of math, outside of adding and subtracting for the last few years. This is a super math calculator to deal with algebra problems, trig, or calculus, or other more advanced courses. It even works with chemistry class. All you have to do is take a picture of the problem, and the app can help you through it through step by step instructions. That way you can hopefully explain how to get to the answer and become your kids' hero. It has billions of problems that it's already solved. Mathway Math Problem Solver is a free app on iTunes and Android. There's also a Mathway website that does the same thing. It has in-app purchases.

Thursday (9/15): Alison
It's never too late to keep training your mind with new knowledge. This is a learning app to help you improve yourself. It has thousands of courses that can train you to do something else in your career, if that's what you'd like to do. Finish the courses, and you can actually get certified in that new skill. It has a search function to help you find what you need for a new career. It can be in business, health care, I-T, or foreign languages. Maybe you want something in agriculture or business management or engineering. While you learn in your courses, you can also learn what you need to know about the career path you're seeking. Alison is free online courses with certificates and diplomas to start you on your way. Alison is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (9/14): Sleep Talk Recorder
Our App today is called Sleep Talk Recorder. So many people talk in their sleep, and you might want to know what it is you're saying when you're out like a light. There are some people that will have complete conversations in their dreams, and they'll say what it is they're talking about out loud. It can also tell if you have troubles with something more serious, like snoring or sleep apnea. It picks up on any sound that you make in your sleep. Now, this app can also give you proof positive that your partner is the one who's talking or snoring while sleeping. It kicks on the second that sound starts coming out of you and records the whole thing til you stop. If for some reason, you want to share your sleep chat, you can do that, too, on your social media. Sleep Talk Recorder is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Tuesday (9/13): Filmbox by Photomyne
This is an interesting app for people that have lots of old school type picture negatives, and no way to print them. This app can take those negatives and turn them into digital photos on your camera roll. It's all very professional looking. To use the app, you need a white screen, such as an empty Word document on your desktop or laptop. You hold the negative, push the button and the app does the rest to turn that negative into an actual picture on your phone. It also has voice activation so you don't have to push the button. Just tell it to "GO". The app uses artificial intelligence to find the right colors of the picture and then it enhances that picture to its best tlook.
Filmbox by Photomyne is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Monday (9/12): Bond
This is a personal security app. It has a whole host of services that you can use. It's almost like having your own personal security agent. The app is good for situations that don't rise to the level of calling 9-1-1. It can show you where your family is at all times. IF you're in an area where you might need to draw attention, the app gives you a siren and flashing lights to bring help. It has a one button to call 9-1-1 if you need it. The app has security agents that are available to help you with questions on chat, a video, or a call. It has roadside assistance, a video monitor for when you're feeling less than safe. It will also track your walk, if you're out by yourself. Or you can call a car to take you some place safe. Bond - Personal Security is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription service available, too.

Friday (9/9): Paper Karma
It seems the only thing we seem to get in our mailboxes is junk mail. This app can help you clear it out, and have the Post Office stop delivering so much of it. You just have to take a picture of the offending junk to unsubscribe from those credit card offers, or catalogs that will be filling our mailboxes as we get closer to the holidays. The app identifies the offender from sending more to you. Stop the junk from coming to you, when it's meant for the previous owners or tenants of where you live. You can add any names and addresses to the list. This is one way to keep more junk out of landfills, if it never comes to you in the first place. Paper Karma is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Thursday (9/8): MeowTalk
Our App today is called MeowTalk. This one is for cat owners that say they want to be able to understand what their cats are saying when they meow at them. The app says cats have their own language that they use with their people. Cats really don't meow to each other to converse. MeowTalk can translate cat sounds into about a dozen different things. It could be that they're hungry, or hunting, or they're giving a warning that they're angry. It could be they just want your attention. It has "meow recognition" to translate your cat's thoughts into meanings you can understand. MeowTalk is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model available.

Wednesday (9/7): Sequel
There are so many different streaming services. The average person subscribes to at least 4 services. It's tough to keep track of what's on what service. And it's also difficult to keep track of the shows that you want to see and where they are. Sequel can help with that, as well as movies, games, and books that you might want to see. The app sends you reminders when a new episode or movie is coming out. It'll show you highlights of the shows that you're watching for. It keeps track of which episodes you've seen, and if it's been a while, it can keep you updated on where you are. It's all of your media in one watchlist. You won't miss anything that you're tracking. Sequel is a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases.

Tuesday (9/6): Expiry
So many things we have have some kind of expiration date. It could be the food, spices, medicines, even our streaming subscriptions. This app can help you keep track of when things will start to go bad, or when you need to resubscribe. It comes with certain presets that you can fill in. The app will tell you when those items are near the expiration date. That could be the milk, the eggs, or your fresh fruit. You might have tickets could expire at some point. No one can remember the dates when your streaming subscriptions might automatically renew. This can give you advance notice, if you want to keep that subscription to Hulu or HBO Max. You can also set up the expiration dates for different kinds of offers that you’re thinking about taking. Or when a coupon might expire. Expiry is a free app on Android. There is another version that’s free on iTunes

Friday (9/2) Coupon Cabin
Inflation hits everyone hard, so any chance to save a few bucks is very important to everyone. It says, whatever you're looking for, the app can find some kind of discount or coupon for it. It'll show you promo codes and send you coupons that you can print, or you can download onto the phone. It'll even show you free stuff that you can get. The app is able to get you five times more cash back from certain stores online. Some of the thousan stores that are part of it include: Walmart, Hobby Lobby, CVS, Target, and Walgreens. You might get back a hundred dollars when you spend more than a hundred dollars from stores. You can also share those deals with your friends. Coupon Cabin is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (9/1): Directive Maintenance App
While we're dealing with too much work at the office, there are things that fall through the cracks. People tend to forget the basics of life, like when they should get their engine oil checked, or changing out their toothbrushes. This app can keep all those tasks organized as reminders to do those things. It can keep your maintenance tasks top of mind. You can set up dozens of different tasks to remind you when you should do something important. It comes with reminders to clean your dishwasher, change the batteries in your smoke detectors, or changing out your home's air filters. The app can also keep track of important items, like how much air you need to put into your tires or what kind of oil you take in your car. Directive Maintenance App is a free app on iTunes. It has in app purchases to upgrade to the pro version.

Wednesday (8/31): Novel Effect
We know how important it is for parents to read to their children, in order to help them grow their own love for reading. This app lets you add a little something to your storytelling and reading to your kids. The app follows along with your voice as you read the stories. When you get to a certain point, the app will add music or sound effects to the story. You can hear the voices of the characters when it's their turn to start talking. The app adds new books every week, so you can read new things all the time. There are hundreds of different eBooks available. Or you can read from a real book and the app listens along to provide the background and voices at just the right moments. It's just giving you a little more magic to tell the story. Give the gift of a love of reading with this one. Novel Effect: Read Aloud Books is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases for even more books.

Tuesday (8/30): Pass the Peaz
Families will have their own version of different kinds of recipes, and they don't want those recipes to disappear into time. You can share your recipes with others, and you can also learn from others with their recipes. You can set up a new family cookbook with all the recipes you collect. The app lets you share your recipes on video, by giving out step by step instructions on how to make your specialties. This is an app for preservation of recipes handed down from generation to generation. The app says this is all about families. It's about sharing what makes your favorite recipes special to you. It's not meant for professional chefs or Food Network stars. Pass The Peaz is a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases.

Monday (8/29): YouCam Perfect
Not everyone can look perfect in pictures all the time. This is a photo editing app to let you take out any imperfections that you see in your pictures. It has the ability to take out any blemishes that you might have on your face or anywhere else. It can make your teeth a little whiter, if that’s what you want. You can add animation effects to your pictures and turn them into mini-videos. Take out any objects in the background that just don’t seem to belong. Come up with some creative collages from several pictures. Brush away imperfections. YouCam Perfect: Photo Editor is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Friday (8/26): True Caller
It sure seems like we're getting slammed with more spam calls and fake text messages from spammers. This is one more tool in your phone to find out what they are. It helps you to identify those spammers and block them before you even answer them with a color coded identification system. It does the same thing with scam texts. It has a caller ID function that lets you put in any number to see if there's any actual information about a caller. It has a search function to help you find numbers in your contact list quickly. It takes what your phone does already and amplifies it. It can protect you from spammers. You can also help the app ID spam calls when you get them, add them to the database. True Caller is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has an optional subscription model for more features.

Thursday (8/25): Earth 3D World Atlas
Our App today is called Earth 3D World Atlas. This app is just what the name says it is. It's a world atlas that's in three dimensions. You can see the wonders of the world through this app. It has more than 26 hundred different objects to search through. Check out more than 500 wonders that make up the world. See the greatest monuments, both manmade and natural. You can see different people and how they live and their customs. See the different animals that roam the world in their natural habitats. Investigate the different plant life. You can even use the app to look to the heavens to see the stars and constellations. Earth 3D World Atlas is three bucks on iTunes, Android, MacOS, and Windows. It has in-app purchases.

Wednesday (8/24): Stigma
Our App today is called Stigma. This could be a very important app if you're having issues with your mental health. This app is a way to let you know that you're not alone. It's there to try to make it a normal thing to be able to talk about whatever is on your mind. It's a private support system-type app. A safe space. It has video stories of others who have gone through the same things. You can save the videos that really speak to you. There's a search function to find whatever is going on for you. Anything from anxiety to eating disorders. You can also ask for HOPE from someone through an audio or video message or a simple text message. You can also offer HOPE to others that might be going through the same things you are. The STIGMA App looks to end the stigma over mental health. It's new, and it's a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (8/23): Tripit
Summers aren't the only time for vacations. This app can help you organize your trips, after you book flights, hotels, and transportation. Just put the details into the app, and it adds it to your calendar. It can also share those plans with your family, colleagues, or whomever you choose. You don't have to go searching through emails to remind yourself what time your flight is, or where you're staying, or which rental car agency you booked with. It's a central hub for your boarding passes, any QR codes, or other travel plans. You can also put any reminders in, such as the need for vaccinations where you're going. The app can even tell you if you can get a refund, because an airfare price dropped. TripIt: Travel Planner is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases for the pro version.

Monday (8/22): iHomework 2
School's back from summer and the kids are getting back to the grind of doing studies from home. This app can help your kids keep everything straight, when they have homework in all kinds of classes. It's an organizer that can keep track of everything that your kids bring home. It can add any information to the assignments that they have. It has a calendar feature to organize the schedules and keep you updated on quizzes and tests. You can see what classes you have coming up in a course planner to figure out your work schedule. It also lets you keep track of grades throughout the semester. It has a messaging section, so you can chat with other users of the app. Share assignments with them to help them with their organization. iHomework 2 is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model to let you do your homework from any computer

Friday (8/19): Tab - Simple Bill Splitter
It can be one of those awkward times when you’re out to lunch or dinner with a group of people and it comes time to pay the bill. Sure, one person can be super nice and pick up the check. But, more likely than not, you’ll end up splitting the bill and you have to figure out who had the salad and who had the lobster. You take a picture of the bill and touch the items that you had. The app figures out what your part of the bill is, and that includes the tip. You can do the same for other people, and let them know what they owe. If you want to pay for someone else, you can do that, too. It also gives you a history for your other bills. Tab - The simple bill splitter is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (8/18): Serial Reader
You say you don’t have time to read a lot of books, especially if those books are massive, like 600 pages worth. You can miss out on all the classics in literature. This app lets you read those classic novels in bite-sized chunks. It has more than 850 books a little at a time. It could be War and Peace, Wuthering Heights, or classic Sherlock Holmes mysteries. You get a new chunk of the book delivered to you every single day. It takes a max of about 20 minutes a day, so you can catch up in your spare time. You can read Frankenstein in less than a month, a little at a time. It’s a great way to pass the time when you’re looking for something to do. You can even adjust the viewer so the fonts are just the right size and you don’t have to squint at small print. Serial Reader - Classic Books is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Wednesday (8/17): Master Class
Our App today is called Master Class. What would it be like to be tutored by some of the greatest minds in the world? You can learn new things by going to class with experts in their field. And these are experts that are also famous experts in their field. You can learn cooking from someone like Gordon Ramsay. Master Class has more than 150 different instructors. It keeps adding new ones all the time. You can learn about leadership from former President George W. Bush. Alicia Keys or John Legend teach songwriting. Acting classes from Helen Mirren and Samuel L. Jackson. You can learn drumming from a Beatle, Ringo Starr. Two former Secretaries of State, Condoleezza Rice and Madeleine Albright teach diplomacy. You can learn poetry from America’s Poet Amanda Gorman or voice from Mariah Carey. Learn from the masters in Master Class. It’s a free app on iTunes and Android. It’s a subscription service for unlimited classes.

Tuesday (8/16): SuperCook
You might look in the food pantry or the frig and need some kind of inspiration for what you see inside. This app can help you put together some great dishes through the ingredients that you have. That's even if you have items that you wouldn't think would go together. There could be thousands of different recipes that you might not have thought of. You don't have to throw away something that's about to expire because you don't know what to do with it. The app keeps you from making a run to the grocery store for something else. Once you put in what you have, that includes all the spices and oils, or anything else, it shows you how many recipes you can make. It has more than 11 million different recipes in the database. SuperCook is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Monday (8/15): Master Class
What would it be like to be tutored by some of the greatest minds in the world? You can learn new things by going to class with experts in their field. And these are experts that are also famous experts in their field. You can learn cooking from someone like Gordon Ramsay. Master Class has more than 150 different instructors. It keeps adding new ones all the time. You can learn about leadership from former President George W. Bush. Alicia Keys or John Legend teach songwriting. Acting classes from Helen Mirren and Samuel L. Jackson. You can learn drumming from a Beatle, Ringo Starr. Two former Secretaries of State, Condoleezza Rice and Madeleine Albright teach diplomacy. You can learn poetry from America’s Poet Amanda Gorman or voice from Mariah Carey. Learn from the masters in Master Class. It’s a free app on iTunes and Android. It’s a subscription service for unlimited classes.

Friday (8/12): Housecraft
Our App today is called Housecraft. One of the toughest things to do when you’re out furniture shopping. You don’t know what a certain couch or chair will look like in your living room. Or if that dining room table will have enough space in the dining room. This is an augmented reality app that can help you with visualization. It uses your camera to take a picture of a piece of furniture. Then, you can superimpose it into the space where you’d want to put it. See how it fits. It can be furniture or plants. The AR shows it to you in 3-D style. You can plan your home. And you can resize it to make it fit that space. Housecraft is a free app on iTunes.

Thursday (8/11): Hands 2 Paws
Our App today is called Hands 2 Paws. Shelters all over the country are looking for new homes for dogs. This app might be able to help you find just the right animal to fill out your family. It asks a few simple questions about the kinds of dogs that you might be looking for. Do you want a pure breed? Or maybe you want to give a new home to a rescue. It also will find out what your comfort level is when it comes to a pet that sheds. It puts all your answers into an algorithm that will connect you up with the perfect breed for you. It can also show you which breeds are close to where you are. The app also shows you different training schedules for your new puppy. Hands2Paws is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (8/10): Leaf Snap
Our App today is called Leaf Snap. This is an app for people that want to identify and care for different plants. You might see some kind of wildflower in a field, or perhaps something at a plant shop. The app can help you identify what it is you're looking at. All you need to do is take a picture of the plant, and the app can ID what it is that you're looking at. It works with plants, flowers, even trees. If it's a plant, it can identify it. The app can handle around 90 percent of all the species in the world. It also has different kinds of ideas and plans for you to take care of the plants in your home. You can also keep track with a plant journal in the app, everything from words to pictures. Put together a summary of the plants in your collection and keep a running list of all the tasks in a calendar. Leaf Snap is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Tuesday (8/9): Honey
Our App today is called Honey. Inflation is hitting everyone hard. You want to take every chance that you get in order to save some money when you go shopping. Honey can help you find coupons on what you’re looking for at more than four thousand different sites. It will apply those coupons when you’re ready to check out from those sites. The app also has the ability to get you cash back from some of the things that you’re buying. In some cases, you might get double cash back. The app says the average person saves more than $125 a year with it. It also finds different kinds of deals on just about everything you want. If there are promo codes available, the app will find them. It has more than 30,000 sites for codes. PayPal Honey: Coupons, Rewards is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Monday (8/8): Speeko
Up to 75 percent of people say one of their biggest fears is public speaking. This app might be able to help you deal with that one. It's an app that can help you speak with all the confidence you need for a presentation in front of a lot of people or even doing interviews with others. It teaches the techniques that you'll need to be able to relate your expertise with others and with confidence. It has a voice recorder that you can use to practice your speeches. The app also gives you all the feedback that you need to learn from the experience and deliver better techniques. It'll let you know if you're talking too fast or too slow. Do you have authority and power in your voice? And it can help you get rid of those fillers: you know, like, umm, ahh, as you gather your thoughts. Practice in your own space, so you can do it by yourself. Speeko is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

Friday (8/5): EmSafe
Our App today is called EmSafe. If you travel anywhere outside your home city, it can be tough to find help if you get into an emergency situation. This is a travel app that can keep you safe if you're traveling anywhere in the world. It's a way to make sure that you have access to any first responders. There are contacts for police, fire, and paramedics in more than 200 locations around the world. You just have to touch a button to get to anyone in an emergency. You can find the nearest hospital to where you are. There's even a segment that gives you step-by-step instructions if you need to perform CPR on someone. It has updated emergency numbers and support for other nations. EmSafe - Emergency Travel App is a free app on iTunes.

Thursday (8/4): Flighty
Our App today is called Flighty. This is a flight tracking app for you, if you're flying out of town on vacation or if you travel for work. It's a pretty big issue lately when you see that your flight is delayed, or worse, canceled. This app will let you know about any flight delays or cancellations early. You can track the plane that you're supposed to fly out on, hours before it arrives at the airport. It has live streaming data and real-time flight plans for flights. It gives you advisories from the FAA about those flights. You can check out flights that are coming in and going out near you. If your flight is going to be delayed or canceled, it can give you alternate flights to get you where you want to go. It has automated assistants to help you if you want to check in for a flight or if you have a tight connection to get to the next flight. It also works if you are meeting someone at the airport, find out about that flight coming in or going out. Flighty is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

Wednesday (8/3): Brickit
Our App today is called Brickit. This is an app for Lego fans. Or the parents of kids with lots and lots of Lego bricks. They come in all shapes and sizes, and your kids or you can figure out incredible things to make out of them. But, if you need some ideas about what to do with all of them, this is the app for you. Take your Lego bricks and spread them out. Then, you take a picture of all the bricks, and the app does the rest. It can identify all of them, count them up for an inventory of your bricks. Then, it gives you ideas about what you can build with the bricks that you have. If you see something that you want to put together in the ideas, the app shows you instructions on how to build it. If you're looking for one particular-sized brick, you can see where it is in your pile. Brickit is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Tuesday (8/2): Couch to 5K
There’s never an easy time to start a fitness program, when you have never been involved in something like that. This app can help motivate you into getting off the couch and beginning something that will lead you into running an entire 5K. It takes just 30 minutes, 3 times a week for 9 weeks to get from the start to accomplish your goal. The app provides you with a coach to help you all along the way. You can hear them throughout the process. The app also gives you a music player, so you can listen to your favorite music all along your route. It plots out the distance and your pace, and gives you the best routes to take. It keeps track of your progress. The first few weeks build you up. Once you get halfway through, you’ll be surprised what you’re able to accomplish as you move forward to running that 5K. Couch to 5K is 5 bucks on iTunes and Android.

Monday (8/1): Paint By Number Creator
This is an app that can turn your pictures into your own works of art through something as simple as a paint by numbers kit. The app takes your photos and converts them into a canvas that you can virtually paint on your phone or tablet. Or you can print out the paint by number on a sheet of paper and use real paints or colored pencils to do the job. You can also take a photo of something you see, and use the app to create the canvas. All the colors in the shot will translate into numbers and you just have fun painting or coloring.  If you paint on the phone or tablet, you can print out your finished piece after. Paint By Number Creator is $5 on iTunes and Android.

Monday (7/25): Craft IQ
Our App today is called The Craft IQ. When you’re hosting a party at home, you might want something besides a case in a cooler to serve to your guests. This app can help you measure up your specialty cocktails. For example, you don’t have to guess what a dash is. You just put your recipes into the app along with how many people you’re serving and it will break down everything you need to make the perfect pitcher of margaritas. It also has its own recipes, if you want to try something different. It comes up with the calculations that you need to make sure that each drink is equal to the others. If you need some fresh ideas, just put in the ingredients that you have, it’ll show you some unique concoctions. Keep track of everything in your bar. The Craft IQ is 2 bucks on iTunes and Android.

Friday (7/22): Wakeout
This one is a former iPhone App of the Year for iTunes. It’s a workout app that lets you get some movement in, in just a few seconds. You can do these Wakeout exercises just about anywhere in your home. It can be in front of your desk or on your couch. It comes with more than a thousand different exercises. Each one is a minute long, with four movements. The app comes with a timer to keep you honest on your time. It also can remind you to take a break from the drudgery at the office to move around a bit. There are also wakeouts to help you sleep at night. There’s also a kids’ version as well. Wakeout is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model. The kids’ version is $5.

Thursday (7/21): RTRO
Our App today is called RTRO. Our phones have such incredible technology inside of them allowing us to shoot 4K video. But, there are fans of the more old-school, lower-tech look of photos or videos. RTRO is one of those old-school-looking cameras that downgrades the pictures to look like you took them with an old-style Instamatic or other retro-type cameras. The colors might not be as crisp as modern pictures, but these have a certain vibe to them. It can also create looks from the 60s or 70s in your videos. You can record in slow motion with the effects that you want. Shoot up to 60 seconds in a retro-type video. You can even do some retro editing to your other pictures on the camera roll. RTRO is $5 on iTunes. It also has in-app purchases for more filters.

Wednesday (7/20): Swimply
As the summer heats up, you might be looking for a place to cool off. Not everyone has the luxury of owning a pool or having an apartment complex that has a swimming pool. Now, you can rent a private pool for a day, a pool party, or a family event. You rent them by the hour and not have to worry about dealing with the chemicals or maintaining the pool. IF you own a pool, you can set the rules and make some money by renting it out to others. You can also decide which renters you’re willing to give access to your pool. The app has thousands of pools and locations all over the country. You can search through and find which ones look like they’ll best serve your needs. The app also has other rec spaces available for rent, such as tennis courts, basketball courts, or even home studios. Swimply is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for the pool.

Tuesday (7/19): Night Sky
Our App today is called Night Sky. People rediscovered their passion for the stars, thanks to those photos from the Webb telescope. When you live in big cities, it can be a problem to see what's in the sky above you even on the clearest of nights. Light pollution doesn’t affect this app. It can turn your phone into a planetarium. All you have to do is point the phone to the sky, and it will show you what’s out there. It’ll identify stars, planets, and constellations. It can even show you what satellites are in orbit around the Earth. You don’t even have to wait until the night. The stars are always there, day or night. You can just point your phone at the ceiling to identify what’s out there. There’s also a way to tag your favorite stars, so you can keep track of where they are at any time. Night Sky is a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases.

Monday (7/18): Khan Academy
Summer vacation doesn’t have to bring an end to your kids’ learning. Or maybe you want to jumpstart your brain on the basics in order to help your kids. This app is all about teaching. It breaks down lessons by the classes you might learn in different grades. You can learn anything from math to biology. There are even more challenging classes that you can read up and learn from. It has thousands of courses. There are video instructions and articles. This isn’t just for children. Adults can learn more challenging material as well. You can even test yourself to see how well you know what you learned. How many of you look at your kids’ homework and say, “I’ll make dinner” instead? Khan Academy has been around for a while, teaching all the way. It’s a free app on iTunes and Android.

Friday (7/15): Hover
Our App today is called Hover. There are times when we need to get some major or minor renovations to the outside of your house. But, how many of us know the exact dimensions of that area? This one uses your phone’s camera to measure the size of your roof or other areas of the exterior, down to the inch. All you have to do is take 8 different shots of the exterior. It turns those photos into a 3D model. Then, you can get more information on home repairs, like fixing the roof. The app lets you get an accurate count on how many shingles you’ll need to replace the ones on the roof. You can also find out how much you’ll need to spend on shingles, gutters, or windows. Hover – Measurements in 3D can save you thousands in costs. It's a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (7/14): Find Up Your Car With AR
When you go shopping in this heat, you don’t want to waste a lot of time hunting for your car in the parking lot. This app can help you track down your ride by using 3-D augmented reality. You set the location of where you parked, and when you’re ready to find your car, this app shows you where to go. You really can’t miss it, because there’s a big red arrow that shows you which direction to go. All you have to do is follow the arrow. This doesn’t just work for looking for a car. If you’re a large building, and you want to get to a certain meeting spot, don’t get lost. Follow the arrow. Find Up Your Car With AR is a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases.

Wednesday (7/13): Eat With
This is another app for your summer vacation. This app is for people that want to avoid all the touristy places when they go someplace new to grab a bite to eat. You can find where the locals eat, that’s off the beaten path. Immerse yourself in the local cuisine. It has places to try out in more than 130 different countries. The app has hosts all over the world to give you advice. All you have to do is put in the places where your travels will take you. Each city has different hosts that can offer advice on the best. You can message those hosts to get their ideas. The app can even show you places where you can learn to cook the specialties of a particular part of the world. This is an app for dining experiences. And if you think you know the best places in your hometowns, you can become a host yourself. EatWith is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (7/12): Keepa
Our App today is called Keepa. We’re in the middle of Amazon Prime Days, where so much stuff is on sale. But, Amazon does have sales on what it sells all year long. Prices will drop for a while, then go back up. This app helps you to keep track of the items that you want to possibly buy throughout the year. There’s a product finder if you’re not sure what it is that you want.  It actually keeps track of a couple of billion different things on Amazon, so it’s a good bet that it follows the shopping trend of what you want. It will give you alerts when the item you want drops to a certain price. You can also look at the pricing history of that item, to see when it’s gone on sale before and for how long. There’s no limit to the number of items you can watch. Keepa can be found on iTunes and Android.

Monday (7/11): Wanderlog
It’s summer vacation time again. And this app can help you to plan the perfect trip. You can put together itineraries for anything from a simple weekend getaway to a full on vacation for an entire group. It can help you organize all your flights and reservations at hotels and restaurants. You can see all the interesting places to see in one spot, and plot out the most efficient way to see what you want to see. Plan your roadies on different travel maps. It can show you the smartest way to get from one place to the next. You can also add different options for places to stop. Import any reservations that you make into one central location. Add any notes that you want or any website links for tourist attractions. Everything is there in one place. Wanderlog - Travel Planner is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Friday (7/8): 3D Anatomy
Our App today is called 3D Anatomy. Is there anything more fascinating than the human body? This app can teach you just about as much as a Gray's Anatomy textbook can. It's a three dimensional app to give you a complete perspective of the body. Turn the models around to get the full effect of whatever it is you're exploring. You can see how muscles work in the body and virtually peel away the layers to see what's underneath. See and identify all the bones in the body. It has an audio function so you can learn how to pronounce all the systems, organs, muscles, and bones. There are different views from skeletal to the nervous system. See 3D images of how your eyes and ears work. You can even test yourself with different quizzes. 3D Anatomy is a learning module. It's 3 bucks on iTunes.

Thursday (7/7): PunchLab: Home Boxing Workouts
This app does just what the name says. It can train you in different styles of fighting type workouts. You can work up that sweat with different kinds of drills, and learn different types of fighting sports. There's everything from boxing, MMA, kickboxing, and others. The app starts with the basics of how to throw punches and defenses. There are hundreds of different kinds of exercises on video. You follow your coach's instructions in the app. It comes with a timer to measure your strikes. It'll show you your statistics for punches and connections. This has everything from cardio, conditioning, strength exercise, and more. You've heard of Hiit workouts? This is Hiit AND hit. PunchLab: Home Boxing Workouts is a free app on iTunes and Android. You can learn some for free. The rest is a subscription model.

Wednesday (7/6): Imperfect Foods
Not everything you buy at the grocery store is perfect. You might get a can of something that has a little dent in it. Maybe the eggs are medium when they're supposed to be extra large or large. Normally, the imperfect food is just thrown away, if someone catches it before it gets to the shelves. You don't have to allow food waste like that. This is a food delivery app to have food delivered straight to your door. It sends you fruits and vegetables that are perfectly healthy, but not accepted by stores. You get them for a substantial discount than what you'd pay at the store. All the food is sustainably sourced. You can get different meats and fish and coffee that might be thrown away because the stores don't want them. Imperfect Foods is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for the food, and you save on the food.

Tuesday (7/5): PaintMee 2
This is a fun app that turns your pictures into different kinds of art work. Have you ever imagined what you would look like as the brushstrokes of a painting? The app takes a photo in your camera roll and converts into true art. You select the picture, and the style of painting that you wish to use. There are almost a hundred different of samples to choose from. There's everything from an ink splatter to sketches, even wood carvings. You can see what you would look like as a wood bust. Every time you use the app with one picture, each picture comes out differently, just like it would if a different artist painted it. When you get good at this app, you can even create your own style with the fine tuning section. PaintMee 2 is $3 on iTunes. It has in-app purchases.

Monday (7/4): American History App: Timeline
Our App today is called American History App: Timeline. On this Independence Day, we celebrate our country's birthday 246 years ago. This app takes a look at our nation's history dating back to Columbus. It has a collection of photographs, videos, sounds, and articles. You can learn more about American history than you ever learned in high school. It comes with more than 500 photos and paintings. You can see every war that the US has been through from the War for Independence to the War on Terror. There are dozens of videos to watch. You can learn about all the people that made a difference in our history. It starts from Colonial times through today. You can learn about everything from the Boston Tea Party to the Moon landing. American History App: Timeline is 5 dollars on iTunes. It's an American birthday gift to you.

Friday (7/1): Slowly
Our App today is called Slowly. We live in a world where we have instant everything, including instant communication. Sometimes, you want to slow it all down and craft something. This app can take letter writing and bring it back to old school. Remember the time that you would meet pen pals anywhere in the world? You could meet people and learn new experiences through old-fashioned letter writing. When someone writes you a letter, you actually have to wait for it to be delivered to you. It all depends on how far you live from your friend. The app connects you with others that share your common interests or languages. It’s just a way to begin new friendships in an old way. But, you can start out anonymous, so you can learn about other people slowly.  SLOWLY - Make Global Friends is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Thursday (6/30): Temp Mail
It can be a pain when someone wants you to give your email address, and you don’t want to give it out. This is true if you want to get past some registrations that require some form of email address. For example, if you don’t want to use a real email for a store loyalty card. This app can let you set up a temporary one. You can use it to receive emails and attachments for a period of time. That way you can avoid certain spam and junk mails, and protect your privacy for a bit longer. Delete the email you get forever. If you get the advanced version that you pay for, you can set up your own custom email names. Temp Mail - Temporary Email is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Wednesday (6/29): Zutobi
Our App today is called Zutobi. This is a driving test app. Maybe you just moved to Texas and need to study the rules of the road here. Perhaps, you have a teen driver that’s ready to get behind the wheel. This app can help. It has more than 500 questions for driving tests in each of the 50 states. You can also look at each state’s DMV handbook of the rules of their roads. The app provides tests for you to practice on, before you take the real thing. It also has different kinds of safe driving tips. You can also use the app to find and fix what you’re weakest at when it comes to driving laws. The app also has pictures to help, if you learn better with them. Zutobi is a free app on iTunes and Android. It says it can help you ace your driver’s test. It has in-app purchases.

Tuesday (6/28): Vetster
Our App today is called Vetster 24-7. This is the time for families to take off for summer vacation and they will probably want to take their pets with them on the road trip. This app can keep you connected with vet help wherever you go. There are veterinarians available 24-7 through the app. You can get care online through video chats. It’s also a less traumatic way for your pet, who doesn’t have to go onto a sterile table. Your pet can be with you at home, or wherever you’re staying. These vets can deal with simpler issues, like limping, worms, excessive scratching, or other things. Use the app to set up appointments for that video chat. If there are serious issues, you can use the app to book in-person appointments as well. Vetster: 24/7 Online Vets is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for the vet appointments.

Monday (6/27): NGL
This is one of the most popular chat apps online right now. Sometimes you just need help and advice from your friends. Or you need to bestow your own help and advice to your friends. But, in either case, you want to be anonymous. This app lets you send and receive anonymous messages from your online friends on Instagram. You can use it to see and share any responses from those friends. It lets you share what you really think about things, and you don’t have to deal with judgment from those in your circle. You might be willing to be more honest, if no one knows that it’s you. Get any kinds of anonymous messages, or questions, or advice, or even compliments, if you want. NGL stands for Not Gonna Lie. It is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Friday (6/24): Side Chef
This is a cooking app that help anyone from beginners to more experienced chefs. It comes with 18 thousand different recipes, and a daily inspiration page to give you ideas about what to prepare for that day’s meals. It can also inspire you to eat more healthy foods. You can also make changes to suit your particular diet needs. Avoid foods that you’re allergic to. It comes with a search function, so you can come up with recipes with certain ingredients. It helps you with your grocery list, so you can have those groceries delivered to you through Amazon or Walmart. If you’re new to the kitchen, you can learn how to cook with step-by-step recipes and videos. If you have smart appliances, you can use the app to control them, too. Side Chef is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Thursday (6/23): Quizlet
Just because the kids are on their summer break, that doesn’t mean their learning has to take a break. This app is a learning assistant with artificial intelligence and flashcards. There are 60 million people that are using the app to help with their education. It’s the flashcards that are the secret. They can help you prepare for any tests or classes. Quizlet comes with a Learn mode to get you class ready when there’s a test coming up. There’s a Write mode to help with your memory. You can also practice your skills in the Match mode. The app also can teach you foreign languages in the same flash card mode. There are cards in history, math, science, and many other courses. You can even make up your own card sets. Quizlet is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Wednesday (6/22): Fooducate
Our App today is called Fooducate. Studies have found that most people are very poor at their diet. We think we’re eating healthy, but we’re really not. This app can help you build better habits when it comes to what you eat and drink during a typical day. You can learn a lot about your food. You can figure out how healthy your meals are every day. The app can help with the quality of the calories you eat. Check out your sugar intake. You can set your plan with how much weight you want to lose. Manage your carbs, lower your cholesterol, and other health factors. It also comes with 50,000 healthy recipes. You can scan the barcodes on your food to see information about nutrition and ingredients that you might not notice otherwise. Fooducate is food education. It’s a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Tuesday (6/21): Driver Seat
Our App today is called You in the Driver Seat. It can be a nightmare scenario for parents when they let their teenager drive the family car for the first time or at any time. You want to make sure that they’re driving safely and not distracted by anything. This app comes from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute. It monitors the activity of a driver in the car, and it doesn’t just have to be a younger driver. The app provides incentives for you to drive safely. You start with 100 points, and then lose points for speeding or distractions, like cell phones. When you get enough points, you can turn them in for gift cards from different companies like Chick-Fil-A, Amazon, and Starbucks. The app will also send you random gifts once you hit certain levels of safe driving. For teen drivers, there’s a contest page, where you and your school can compete against others for points. You in the Driver Seat is a free app on iTunes.

Monday (6/20): PXL
Our App today is called PXL. This is a fun app that can turn your photos into a work of mosaic art. Select one picture. And the app uses other photos in your camera roll to make up that mosaic. You might just call it “picture in picture” technology. Your other photos make up the color palette. What’s fun about this is, you can take your finished product and zoom in on it. See what pictures make up your final mosaic. It’s an ultimate photo collage. One picture out of many. It also lets you print that new artwork out of the patchwork of other pictures. You never knew your old photos could be repurposed like this. PXL is a free app on iTunes.

Friday (6/17): Garden Tags
Our App today is called Garden Tags. This is an app for gardeners of all kinds. You might have all the abilities of an expert. Or you might be at the place where you could kill fake plants. This app starts from the beginning. You can use the app and your camera to identify different kinds of plants. That can help you tell the real plants from the weeds in the yard.  It has more than 20,000 plants in the database with all the info that you need. The app gives you step-by-step instructions on the care and feeding of your plants thanks to the thousands of experts and gardeners on standby. You can also use the app to get some inspiration about what to do with your garden. It also gives you schedules for the proper times to prune your plants. GardenTags – Plant ID & Care is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Thursday (6/16): Lookout
Our App today is called Lookout. As much as you’d like to think otherwise, our smartphones are not immune from hackers. This app can help keep those hackers away, so you can rest a little easier knowing that your phone is safe. Lookout can provide that security and it can help keep your identity safe on any of your smartphones. The app looks through your system to look for anything that’s not supposed to be there. It digs deep into the root structure of the operating system. If you lose your phone, you can trigger it to find out exactly where the phone is located. You can make the phone sound like an alarm to alert you or anyone else to the thief. Even if the battery goes low, the app saves your phone’s last location to help you find it. It also comes with theft alerts, a way to wipe your phone, and identity theft insurance. Lookout Mobile Security is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Wednesday (6/15): History Hit
Our App today is called History Hit. This one is for people who love history. You might like the History Channel on your television. This app takes you a little further into the history archives. It’s a different kind of history channel. It comes with more than 1600 different documentaries to explore. It has its own original programming available. Pick your favorite time period. Anything from ancient times to the 20th century. The app brings in new shows every week. You can hear about great events in the world from world-renowned historians. The app also lets you download any of the programs, so you can watch them whenever it’s convenient and if you don’t have an internet connection. Learn about anything from the Myths of the Titanic to the biggest outlaws in the world. There are history podcasts you can listen to through the app. History Hit is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Tuesday (6/14): Shop
Our App today is called Shop. Not everyone can take the time to get to the mall to get what they need. This app is a one-stop place to shop, just like the name says. You can find your favorite brands all in one place. You can also find out when your favorite things might be on sale or restocked, in case you missed out the last time. There are collections of those brands that you like, so you can look through them and maybe find something special. It also gives you recommendations to find another brand that you might not know about. It’s like having your own personal shopping assistant. It’s great for finding gifts for other people as well. You can use the app to buy what you want through its secure server. It also lets you track your purchases. Shop: All your favorite brands is a free app on iTunes.

Monday (6/13): Upside
Our App today is Upside. Gas prices are out of control right now. This app can help cut back on some of the cost of filling up the tank. It works with gas stations, enough to get back up to a quarter for every gallon you pump. It works with more than 25,000 gas stations around the country. We’re talking about big-name stations, too. There’s something cool about getting something back. This app doesn’t just work with gas stations. It also works with more than 1,500 restaurants, like fast food places and pizza joints, like Papa John’s. You can earn rewards from grocery stores, too. You get rewards and so do the businesses where you shop. The app has paid out more than $100 million in cash back, and another $200 million to the businesses. Upside: Gas & Food is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Friday (6/10): Flush
Our App today is called Flush. Fact of life. Sometimes, you just gotta go. It’s true if you’re out and about, and you’re not near your home. This app is just what it sounds like. It finds places that have bathrooms that you can use. The app covers 200 thousand of them in the database at last count, and it adds more all the time. It works for cities all around the world, not just here in the US. There’s information about restrooms that are accessible for the disabled. You can get step by step directions to find the closest one to you. There’s even a place in the app that lets you review the bathrooms that you seek out. You can also help add to the database, if you find one that’s not listed. Flush - Toilet Finder & Map is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (6/9): Backtrack
This app might be my favorite one of the year so far. It is for people who love music from any time in the last 60 years. People love nostalgia. The app provides YouTube music videos for any time between 1951 and 2015. It's a personal playlist of your favorite songs. You can save up to 50 tracks, so the music party can go on. Just enter your birth year, and the app puts together the list of songs from that year or later. It generates the music that you grew up to. Usually, it's around 10 to 20 years from the year of your birth. You know, your formative years. You can also have the music play on Spotify. Backtrack - Music Nostalgia is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (6/8): Basket
Our App today is called Basket. Inflation is hitting us all in just about every aspect of our lives. That includes buying the food that we need at the grocery store. This app can help you find the best prices for the things on your shopping list. It looks at stores around you to do some comparison shopping of everyday things you need. It can find items that are on sale, or have coupons attached to them. It even looks for deals at grocery stores online. In some cases, the app says it can save you up to 60 percent on your groceries. This is a community that lets others know when things are on sale and finds deals everywhere. It’s like a Waze for the Walmart. And it works with Walmart, Costco, Kroger, Target, and others. It’s one of the biggest savings communities around and you can join in. Basket is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (6/7): Sleep Cycle
Our App today is called Sleep Cycle. This is an app that’s more than just an alarm clock to wake you up in the morning. It IS that, but there’s more to it. This app actually checks out your sleep patterns. It listens for when you’re talking in your sleep, snoring, or any other sound that comes out of your mouth while you rest. It can even record it if you want to hear what you sound like when you're out. The app determines those sleep patterns so it’s able to start waking you when you’re in a cycle of your lightest sleep. That way it doesn’t wake you in deep sleep, where it might be too jarring in the morning. It also gives you an analysis of your sleep. You can also hear different comforting sounds to help you fall asleep at night. All you have to do is put your phone on the nightstand near you and let it work. Sleep Cycle is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Monday (6/6): Qello
Remember concerts? When’s the last time you went to see live performances of your favorite artists?  The pandemic had put us all into a ‘concert drought’ for months.   Now, you can get your fill of whatever shows you want to see. You can see concerts that you never got to see but always wanted to. The app gives you the best seat in the house to see everyone from Queen to Metallica to Paul McCartney to Beyoncé. It’s the largest collection of full length shows. There are thousands of tracks from different live performances from all decades in all genres. There are also documentaries you can choose from to watch. The app also comes with programs from the vaults at MTV. Remember when they used to play videos? Forbes calls it the Netflix of concert films. Qello Concerts is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Friday (6/3): Sworkit
Our App today is called Sworkit. This is one of the top-rated fitness apps in the app store. It’s an app that isn’t obsessed with you being in the gym all the time. It understands that you have a life, and fitness is just a part of it. You can work out at home and improve your fitness levels at a controlled pace. It can help you with whatever your fitness goals. It could be to lose weight, gain muscle, or help with your flexibility. You can also decide how long you have to work out. It can be anything from five minutes to a full hour-long session. It’s meant for beginners or people just getting back into a routine. It has more than 400 different workouts and 800 exercise programs. It works for adults and children. Sworkit Fitness & Workout App is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Thursday (6/2): Pray Anti-Theft
This is an app that you need in case someone steals your phone or it disappears. It also lets you keep your privacy safe. The app will track your missing phone by GPS. If a thief tries to put your phone on silent, it will just ring and ring. The app also uses both cameras to take quiet pictures of the thieves and sends them to you. You can also hide the fact that you have the app, so they can’t turn it off. It sends you all the evidence that the police would need to catch the thief. If that person tries to access your files, the Access Denied sign goes up. You can lock your phone, get your data, and then wipe the phone. Prey Find My Phone Tracker GPS is a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases.

Wednesday (6/01): Hootsuite
There are times you have the perfect post or photo that you want to put onto all of your social media. It’s a bit of a pain to have to copy and paste it one at a time. Now, you can post to all your socials through one app. The app lets you schedule all your posts to all your accounts. That’s everything from Instagram to Facebook, Twitter to TikTok. You can upload any photos, or videos, or GIFs. Write and edit your posts, so you don’t have to worry about spelling or grammar errors and have to delete from Twitter. It also gives you a centralized platform to look at all of your messages on all your accounts. You can also check out any likes that you get for your posts. Hootsuite - Social Media Tools. It’s a central hub for your social media. It’s a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Tuesday (5/31): Taste
Our App today is called Taste. This app has nothing to do with food of any kind. It’s an app that can help you find shows to watch on TV, streaming services, or at the movies. You can rate movies and shows to show what your taste is. If you can’t decide what to watch today, this app helps you find other people who might have similar tastes in multimedia. They can provide suggestions and ideas for what you should stream next after you finish one series. It can even help you connect with some of your friends to watch your favorites together. The app has 100 thousand different movie ratings and reviews written every day. It’s almost a Tinder for movies and TV since you can swipe right or left on movies or shows. Taste is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Monday (5/30): Hey Grill Hey
Our App today is called Hey Grill Hey. Memorial Day is considered the unofficial start of the grilling season. This app can give you some recipes for you to try out on your grill. It comes with more than 400 different things to try. You might get inspired to get your barbecue on. You can find Texas Smoked Beef Brisket, Dr. Pepper Beef Jerky, or Smoked Mac & Cheese. It’s also updated with new recipes every week, so you can find something new all summer long. There are recipe videos to give you step-by-step instructions. If you find something you want to try, click on it. And you can get a shopping list to take with you to the grocery store to get all the ingredients. You can also find something to make using the food in your refrigerator or pantry. Hey Grill Hey Best BBQ Recipes is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Friday (5/27): Better Sleep
Our App today is called Better Sleep. Sometimes, you might need some help getting a good night’s sleep. The answer to a restful night could be just the right sounds. It has all kinds of white noise and relaxing music and sounds to lull you to sleep. It comes with a sleep tracker, a sleep recorder, and meditations. Those features are meant to work together to help you figure out what’s going on. More than 90 percent of the app’s users say it helped them sleep better after just a week. The sleep recorder will show you how much you’re snoring at night, which can disrupt your rest. It comes with more than 300 sounds and music, and more than 250 different meditations. It’ll even read bedtime stories to you as well if that helps. Better Sleep is a free app on iTunes and Android with a subscription model.

Thursday (5/26): CallHound
Have you been getting flooded with spam calls lately? They seem to be out of control right now. This app can help you protect your phone from them. It can block any of those calls that are thought to be spam. It will warn you if there’s a legit call coming from someone that’s not in your address book. You can set up rules to teach the Hound to recognize more spammers. You create as many rules as you want to. If there’s a spam call coming in that’s on your list, it’s blocked totally and you don’t even have to see it. It can be listed as a spam call or an unwanted call, if it’s someone you really don’t want to talk to. An unwanted call gives you the choice, if you want to answer it. CallHound is a free app on Apple and Android.

Wednesday (5/25): DC Comply
Our App today is called DC Comply. It’s a fact of life. There are couples that get divorced and have to figure out how to co-parent their children. That means dealing with child support. This app can help you keep track of those payments and other expenses that come with parenting. You can work together with your ex- to make sure you reimburse each other for those costs that come with raising children separately, but together.  It lets you pay each other what’s owed through the app, if that’s more convenient and easier than trying to take care of things face to face. It tracks all your receipts and keeps financial records. You can send off any co-pays for medical expenses that you share. The child support is always tabulated, and it can even be deducted through autopay. You can take care of recurring bills as well, like lessons or coaching. There’s also a dispute function. DC Comply is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (5/24): DeleteMe
Our App today is called DeleteMe. People are getting more interested in having their personal information taken down from the Internet as much as possible. This app can help. It can remove your data from companies like Spokeo, Intellius, Been Verified, or dozens of others. The app takes away the information from data brokers. They used your data to make money by selling it to third-party apps. When you submit your information to DeleteMe, their experts scour the web to get that info taken away. It works to keep those data brokers away from you consistently. It sends you a full report of everything that it’s been able to do. The app continues to remove personal information every 3 months. DeleteMe is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

Friday (5/20): Fitbotic
Our App today is called Fitbotic. This is an exercise robot app that can help track your fitness journey. It’s like having your own personal trainer to guide you and give you feedback on how you’re doing with different kinds of workouts. You get to worry about your form, and not worry about counting reps or sets.  The difference with this app is that it’s more for the beginner or someone who isn’t ready yet for the intensity of working with a trainer. Oh, there’s one more thing about it. The more you use Fitbotic, the more rewards and points you can gather to use to get stuff from the Fitbotic store. It could be fitness equipment or you can just get cash. Fitbotic says it’s a workout companion, not a trainer. It’s a new free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Thursday (5/19): Instawork
Our App today is called Instawork. The gig life is real-life these days. People have taken on side hustles to make a little extra something on top of their regular paychecks. Others are living job to job. This app can help you find shifts at different places all over the country. You can find part-time jobs as they become available. This is a clearinghouse app to look for anything from bartending jobs to working in a warehouse for a time. Some of the gigs can bring in 25 bucks an hour, and you don’t have to commit to anything full-time. You work your own schedule if it fits with what the employer needs. Maybe you want to do deliveries, they’re in there. You don’t have to worry about getting stiffed on your checks either, because you get paid through the app itself. You can earn rewards like cash bonuses as well. It’s also a good networking tool, in case you might want to find and connect with someone at a job you like. Instawork: Find Local Shifts is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Monday (5/16): Grammarly
A report came out last week that one of the biggest mistakes that people make on their resumes is bad grammar. This app can help you get rid of that problem. This is a keyboard app for your phone or tablet. As you’re writing anything anywhere, the app can help you with proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation. It can also help you find synonyms for words, so you don’t repeat yourself. It can help you cut back on your sentences if they’re just getting too long and wordy. We all know people like that. It gives you suggestions in real time to help you right away. It has an autocorrect feature. The app can even make predictions about what emojis you might want to use in a message. It can help with writing papers or long form pieces. Grammarly - Grammar Keyboard is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Grammarly - Grammar Keyboard is a free app on iTunes and Android.  It has in-app purchases.

Friday (5/13): Skyview Lite
Our App today is called Skyview Lite. This is an app for anyone who loves the idea of stargazing. It’s tough to do when you might be living inside any big city, because of light pollution. This app brings the stars to your smartphone or tablet. All you have to do is point it to the skies to see what’s up there in the heavens. And you don’t have to have a telescope in order to find out what’s above you. The app will show you the stars, constellations, and anything else you point your phone at. It can also teach you lessons about the stars in the sky. You might even be looking at the International Space Station. Oh, this is cool. It doesn’t have to be dark to know what’s in the sky overhead. The stars are there even in the daylight and you can point your camera to see what’s out there while the sun is shining. The app can even tell you what stars appeared in the sky on any night in the past. Skyview Lite is a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases.

Thursday (5/12): Safe Me
Our phones are computers, just like the ones at home or at work. That means they’re at risk from hackers and those that want to steal your identity. But, most people think they’re safe with their phones. This app can show you just how safe you really are. It checks out everything in your phone to make sure you’re not at risk for any kinds of foul play. It has different sorts of learning courses for you to find out when you might be at risk. And it looks through all the parts of your phone, including the apps to give you a safety score. It can be anywhere from a 0 to a 5. Then, it gives you recommendations to secure your phone to make sure you’re safe from cyberattacks. Safe Me is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (5/11): Trivia Crack
Our App today is called Trivia Crack. Sometimes, you just need to get away from the stresses of the real world for a while. This app lets you play trivia games by yourself or against your friends anywhere in the world. The app has hundreds of thousands of questions in all kinds of different categories. There’s everything from TV and movies to science fiction. You can even come up with your own questions in the Trivia Crack Factory. Use the trivia questions to learn something. The game works on your smartphones, your watch, or your smart speaker. You can even play the game on your own Twitch channel, by hosting your own game with your followers. Trivia Crack is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Tuesday (5/10): Weather Pro
Our App today is called Weather Pro. If you're staying in town, we have you covered here at KRLD. But, when you’re planning to take a trip out of town, you’ll want to know what kind of weather you’re traveling into. You hope for sunny skies and prepare for rain and storms. This app gives you all the info you need for just about anywhere on the planet. It monitors and gives weather reports for two million locations. It can give you seven-day forecasts, broken down into three-hour chunks. Everything you need from temps, winds, the chance of rain, and the UV index to let you know what sunscreen you need. It also can give you whatever weather alerts you need for where you’re going as much as 3 days in advance. There’s a weather radar for all the locations. Weather Pro is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Monday (5/9): Packpoint
Summer vacations are coming, and you want to prepare properly for travel. This app can help you pack for whatever trips you have planned. You just have to tell the app where you’re going, how long you’re going to be there, and what’s the weather like. You also decide on your wardrobe based on what activities you have planned. Figure out how many of everything you need from your closet. It’s not just clothes that it recommends. It gives you a checklist of other things, like your laptop, cellphone, chargers and cords, and business cards. The app builds your list and you can go from there in making sure that you don’t forget anything on your trip. You can also share the packing list suggestions for everyone else on your trip. Packpoint is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Friday (5/6): Pet First Aid
Our App today is called Pet First Aid. This is an app from the American Red Cross. It can be one of the scariest things in your home. Something has happened to your dog or cat, and you have no idea what it is or what to do to help. What happens if a car hits your dog or another dog attacks? This app helps with advice from vets for all kinds of pet emergencies. It gives step-by-step instructions to help you through the emergency through text, video, and pictures. It also helps if your pet is dealing with some kind of another emergency, like an allergic reaction to something. You can lookout for early warning signs of trouble to prevent something from getting worse before it’s too late. It can help you find the nearest emergency vet hospital. Pet First Aid from the Red Cross is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (5/5): Gemini Photos
Our App today is called Gemini Photos. How many pictures do you have cluttering up the hard drive on your phone? What about the ones that are duplicates, or fuzzy, or just not flattering? This app can help you get rid of the bad ones and keep just the good. You can go through your camera roll and pick the ones you want. It gives you suggestions about which shots are the best. No closed eyes or bad smiles, or blurry pictures. You can get rid of any screenshots that you don’t need any longer. Or pictures of text that you took. Get rid of exact copies, so you only keep one. All you have to do is swipe one way to keep the shot, swipe down if you don’t. That’s it. It also can keep looking when you take pictures to keep the bad ones out and the good ones in. Gemini Photos: Gallery Cleaner is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

Wednesday (5/4): WeRescue
This is an app to help you through the process of finding the perfect rescue pet that fits your lifestyle. They have information on everything from dogs and cats to horses and barnyard animals. You can find if a place has a certain breed of animal that you’re looking for. It has databases on hundreds of thousands of pets that are looking for their new families. You don’t have to be limited to shelters around your area. They have pets in shelters and foster rescues. Search for other areas of the country, if you wish to find something particular. The app also lets you share pictures of the pets in your social media. Maybe you can help a pet find a new home just by doing that. WeRescue is also the official pet adoption app for the Clear The Shelter events. WeRescue is a free app on iTunes. It has in app purchases.

Tuesday (5/3): Smule
This is an app to let you perform karaoke songs alone or with your friends on the same app. It comes with more than 10 million songs and the lyrics for you to sing along to. It even lets you sing along with the recordings of actual recording artists. You can record yourself on the mic through audio or video. It also comes with studio effects to make your karaoke experience seem like you’re in a big-time professional recording studio. You can add video effects, too like a music video. That would be perfect for social media. You can also use the app to record scenes from movies that don’t have anything to do with music. The songbook already has 10 million songs, and it adds more every day. Smule: Karaoke Singing App is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Monday (5/2): Psych
This is one of the many games that Ellen likes to play. The app calls itself, ‘trivia meets Cards Against Humanity’. There are different categories where you’re supposed to come up with the best answers to trivia questions, but your job is to trick your friends into thinking you know what you’re talking about. One person has the right answer, and everyone has to figure out which one is that. If you’re good at the game, you’ll make it sound like yours is right when it’s actually a wrong answer. There are different categories, such as Movie Bluff or Word Up. Or The Truth Comes Out, where you have to tell a truth about someone in your group of friends, while the others come up with the best fake answers. Psych is a bit like Balderdash. It’s a free app on Apple and Android. You have to pay for extra question decks.

Friday (4/29): Masker Aid
This app lets you do a little more with emojis and your photos. It can put emojis on the faces of everyone, or just certain people, in your pictures. You might want to do it just for a bit of fun. Or maybe you don’t want someone to see your kids’ faces, for example. The app automatically detects faces on any picture. It will then hide the faces with some kind of emojis of your choosing. Maybe, someone in your office doesn’t want his or her face showing in your picture. It also takes out any metadata so the person on the other end of the message can’t try to figure out who’s hiding. Once you finish with your emoji covers, you can send out or post the picture wherever you wish. Masker Aid is a free app on iTunes. It has an in-app purchase so you can pick from more emojis.

Thursday (4/28): Flewber
People are now starting to be more comfortable with flying again, now that the pandemic isn’t as big of a crisis. One thing about flying is dealing with so many people, and security lines, and parking issues. This app is a way to get private jet service, like an air taxi. It connects you with private jets that have space available and are going where you need to go. When you fly private, you don’t deal with TSA checkpoints or the crowds at the big airports. There are more airports around than just DFW and Love. You can book the same day you need to go. Pick your flight and show up 15 minutes before takeoff. You pick where you need to go, bid for the flight, and you’re off. Flewber. It’s like Uber for flights. It’s a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (4/27): Wakeout
Our App today is called Wakeout. This is a fitness app for people that are a little too busy to devote a long time to working out. It helps if you’re still working remotely from home. It’s also good if you want to use what you have around you to get a good sweat on. The app shows you that you only need around 30 seconds, into a microburst of exercise. It comes with more than a thousand different exercises and more than 270 workouts. You can do the exercises in your bed, or at your desk, or even if you’re catching up on your Netflix queue. Use your cushions as resistance or do pushups on your desk. It comes with stretches to get all the cobwebs out. Wakeout is a free app on iTunes. It comes with a 7 day free trial. Then, there's a subscription model.

Tuesday (4/26): GifWrapped
Gifs are still a popular way of communicating in messages and posts on social media. Now, if you use certain gifs a lot, you can collect them in one place and not have to keep searching for them. The app lets you put as many gifs as you like into one place. You keep them in iCloud or Dropbox or Google Drive, or any cloudbased service, so you can find them on any device.  You can move your favorite gifs, drag and drop them wherever you want to. It has a search function to find even more to add to your collection. The app lets you import your own gifs from your burst photos or Live Photos with your iPhone. Gif Wrapped is a free app on iTunes. It has in app purchases to upgrade to a version with more features.

Monday (4/25): Foap
This is an app that lets you become a professional photographer. Seriously. All you have to do is upload some of your best pictures or videos to the app, and you might have something that a well known brand wants to buy. It has deals with everything from Bank of America to Pepsi. Or a picture you take could end up on sites like Getty Images. That way, others can buy your pictures. If you’re more of a do-it-yourself person, you can put up your photos into your own portfolio. It has millions of photographers that could see your shots. They can give you feedback and you can do the same for others. Foap pays commissions of 50 percent of what it makes on your pictures. Foap is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Friday (4/22): Upkept
There are so many things you have to keep track of in your home. This app can help you keep up with maintenance schedules for just about everything inside and outside the house. All you do is add all your appliances, A/C and cooling systems, info about your foundation, plumbing, electrical, everything. The app gives you a timetable to make sure it all has a schedule for maintenance and upkeep. You can make your appointments with professionals as the reminders come in. It will let you know about how much that maintenance will cost, so you can save up for it. And if you want to do your own DIY projects, the app can help to guide you with ‘how-to’s’. Upkept is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Thursday (4/21): Merlin Bird ID
Our App today is called Merlin Bird ID. It’s spring and the birds are back in the neighborhood. You might be able to ID the robins, the crows, or the blue jays. But, there could be a strange-looking bird and you have no idea what it is. This app can help you figure out what kind of bird you’re looking at. There are four different ways. In one, you answer five questions about a bird. Or, you can upload a picture to the app. Or, if you record the bird’s call, the app can figure out what it is. It uses artificial intelligence to figure out the answer just from pictures or sound. The app has a database of 80 thousand bird pictures and sounds. It can tell you what kind of birds might be in your area, based on where you are and what time of year it is. The app is great for amateur bird watchers or those with more experience. Merlin Bird ID is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (4/20): Checkout 51
Our App today is called Checkout 51. This app lets you make some money by doing what you need to do anyway. It’s a Cash Back app that does just that. You just do your shopping for groceries, gas, and other things. The app will give you back up to 25 cents a gallon when you fill the tank. It works with all the big-named stations. There are 5000 stations that are taking part. You have four hours to fill your tank, once you get the gas station offers on the app. The app also has promotional savings and cash-back offers. All you do is buy what you need at the store and upload a picture of your receipt, and that’s it. The app puts up new offers on Thursdays. They could be everyday staples or household goods. The app has a prescription card so you can save on your meds, too. Checkout 51 is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (4/19): Informed Delivery
Our App today is called Informed Delivery. This is one of the most popular apps from the post office. You can get a sneak peek at what the mail looks like before it actually shows up in your mailbox. This app comes as part of the US Postal Service app. Informed Delivery sends you a black and white photo of the mail. If you’re expecting an important check, you’ll know ahead of time. It could show you how many birthday cards are coming. That’s just a segment of the full app. It will help you find a particular ZIP Code if you need to know where to send something. You can keep track of shipments through Priority Mail or certified mail. It’ll help you find the closest Post Office to where you are at any moment. You can also schedule pickups for the next day. The USPS Mobile app with Informed Delivery is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Monday (4/18): Depello
This is an app to turn your pictures into subtle works of art. It’s a photo editor that converts the photos in your phone into black and white. You can choose one color from the original photo to stand out in the black and white picture. You don’t have to worry about drawing any lines. You just tap a section of the original photo to grab that color to put it in. You can have a photo of a favorite plant with a single blue flower in it. Or you have a photo of a bowl of fruit and one apple is green. Take a picture of the back of your car and the brake lights have the red color and that’s it. Depello - Color Splash Photos is a free app on iTunes. It has in app purchases.

Friday (4/15): Mercari
There are a lot of shopping apps for you to buy and sell your stuff. There’s really no limit to what you can find or put up for sale. The app has more than 150 thousand different items that you can search through. You can put up your listing in just a couple of minutes. It’s actually free to list your own stuff. If you make a sale, the app takes 10 percent of the tale as a commission. If you’re looking to buy something, you can get it for a huge discount, up to 70 percent. There’s a security feature to this app. You never have to meet up with anyone. Everything ships and it ships for free. There are no face-to-face exchanges. Mercari: The Selling App is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (4/14): Acorns
It’s tough for some people to remember to invest in their future. This app helps you a little at a time, starting with your spare change. You can load your change automatically with a feature called RoundUps. You can also save as little as 3 dollars a month into the RoundUps section. The app also lets you set up investment accounts for everyone in the family. It also has a section set aside if you want to have Bitcoin in your portfolio. The app has options to invest in an IRA with either a traditional plan or a Roth IRA. It comes with an Acorns checking account that’s available for you. If you need work, there’s a Job Finder section in the app. You can even add more money to your account through a shopping rewards program with more than 12,000 brands. Acorns is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (4/13): 1Question
Our App today is called 1Question. Parents can get a little more control over how much their kids are online or sitting in front of a screen with this app. Your child can earn screen time by answering school questions. The app comes up with questions for children between the ages of 5 and 12. It’s used to help with their learning and development. You know the kids are going to want to be able to be on their screens as much as they can. You download the parents’ version of the app on your phone. Then, you put the child’s version on your child’s phone or tablet. The questions that your child has to answer could be any kind of math questions from simple addition to geometry. If your child gets the answers right, the app unlocks certain apps that they can use on their phones. 1Question is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Tuesday (4/12): Sudshare
Our App today is called Sudshare. Last week, we talked about some of the worst chores that we have to do. One of those has to be the laundry. This app can help you get the washing done, by letting someone else do it for you. You sign up, tap the app, and that someone will take care of your laundry for $1 pound. The app’s owners guarantee that your clothes will be protected against damage or loss. The Sudshare people will wash, dry, fluff, and fold and have your laundry back to you by the next day. You give them any specific requests and they’ll take care of you.  Now, if you’re looking to make some extra money, and you like doing laundry, you can join the team and become a “Sudster”. Sudshare is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for the work at a dollar a pound.

Monday (4/11): Bento
There is no shortage of tasks, chores, jobs, and stuff that we need to do every day. All those to-do chores can fill up your schedule. This app helps you to take care of those chores a little at a time. It’s a bento box of tasks. You do fewer chores, but you take care of more meaningful tasks. The app limits you to just 3 things. You pack your bento with a large task, a medium one, and a small one. That way you can prioritize them. Brainstorm what you need to do to fill the box. You’re encouraged to maybe take care of the biggest one first. Or you can start with the smallest one. You set a timer to get each task done. The app starts to count it down to get the job finished. It might be something as simple as look for sunlight to be apart of for a few minutes or doing your taxes. It’s all about helping your work flow. Bento is $6 on iTunes. Android is coming soon.

Friday (4/8): NatureID
This is an app to help you with your plants and greenery. It has more than 10 thousand different kinds of plants in its database, so you can take a picture of a plant that you see and identify it. There's an encyclopedia of plant life. That way you can learn which plants are best to fit your lifestyle. Some may need more attention, others need less. The app also has a function that can help you figure out if there's something wrong with your plants at home The app can help you ID what's wrong, how bad it is, and what you can do about it. It can also work with you on the best ways to take care of your plants and keep them healthy. It has a full section for the care, feeding, and watering of your plants. NatureID: Plant Identification is a free app on iTunes. It has in app purchases.

Tuesday (4/3): PlayFitt
Fitness doesn’t have to be a chore all the time. This app can make getting fit like playing a game. It automatically counts everything you do, from steps to squats to pushups. The app also challenges you to keep from burning out. It says you should do smaller amounts of work, but you do them more often. It wants you to train, not strain. You put your phone in a pocket, so it can keep moving. It also has a social aspect to it, so others on the app can encourage you and nudge you if you need it. The app has more than 125 thousand people using it every day. It can help you reach certain goals a little at a time. PlayFitt is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

Monday (4/2): Hushed
There are times when you just don’t want to share your personal phone number with others. It could be because you run a home-based business, or you just met someone that doesn’t deserve to have the real digits yet. This app gives you a second phone number for your phone. It has the full capabilities, like talking and texting. You can get local numbers from over 300 area codes from anywhere in the US or Canada. The Hushed number never shows your real number on any Caller ID. It’s just another layer of privacy. That’s good enough if you’re making a sale on Facebook Marketplace or eBay, and you don’t want your regular number in the mix of the conversation. It’s also good if you’re traveling, and don’t want anyone to rack up long-distance charges. You can have a local number as your second line wherever you go. Hushed - 2nd Phone Number is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Friday (4/1): Skillshare
Our App today is called Skillshare. This has been a time when a lot of us have wanted to learn new things. This is an online group that has all kinds of different classes. You can learn just about anything that you want. Maybe you want to learn painting, photography, or anything else in the creative space. And you can learn from different masters in their fields. You can create any kind of project that you can think of. It comes with more than 20,000 different classes. Pick a category and go exploring to see the videos. Choose something and you can learn something anywhere you are. Skillshare is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Thursday (3/31): X-Earth
Our App today is called X-Earth. This is a way to explore different cities in the world through your phone or tablet. It uses augmented reality to look at different places in cities to learn more about everything from individual buildings and other areas. It uses your GPS to point out businesses that are of interest through its search. For example, if you scan a hotel building it brings up reviews of the place as well as photos and a contact number for you to call. Same for restaurants, and other points of interest. This is a new app and it’s adding more cities to the databases every day. X-Earth is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (3/30): Songbot
Our App today is called Songbot. This is an app to help you find your favorite music artist or musical style. It searches every radio station in the world for a particular song or singer that you want to hear at that time you’re searching. You just have to type a name of a song or artist into the search function. The app then looks at every station and connects you to it. It looks at more than 90 thousand stations to see if any of them are playing your artist or song right then. It could be a specialty station anywhere in the world or online. The app will also point you to the most played songs on radio stations around the world during the previous two days. You can also find stations that are playing obscure types of music. Maybe, you want to find a station that plays Christmas music all the time or all heavy metal.
Songbot is $2 on iTunes.

Tuesday (3/29): Williams™ Pinball
Remember the good old days of dropping quarters into pinball machines to try to get high scores, extra balls, and free games? This app brings that nostalgia to your phone or tablet. Williams is just about the biggest name in classic pinball machines. You can relive those years without the need to get a roll of quarters. It has all kinds of tables to challenge you. The app has titles like “Attack from Mars”, “Fish Tales”, or “The Party Zone”. Each table has a different theme and different ways to light up the score. There are daily challenges and competitions. You can play multiplayer games against people from all over the world online. There are even contests that have real prize money that you can win. The app adds new tables all the time. Williams™ Pinball is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Monday (3/28): BiCam
Sometimes, you want to be able to be on camera while you’re recording videos of something else with the other camera on your phone. You might want to take someone a tour of a place that you’re seeing for the first time, and you want your viewers to see your reaction at the same time. This app lets you record videos with both cameras on your phone at once. You can also take photos using both cameras at the same time. It comes with a 30-X zoom to get in close to your subject. It lets you switch back and forth between both cameras to have one shot larger than the other. It’s like having a TV camera switcher at your fingertips. Shoot in vertical or horizontal modes. BiCam is a free app on iTunes.

Friday (3/25): Glint Finder
What’s the old phrase? Just because you’re paranoid, that doesn’t mean everyone is NOT out to get you. You might think that there are hidden cameras around you. Your phone can figure out if there actually are. Use the app to scan any place that might have a camera. It could be a smoke detector, lamp, stuffed animal, mirror. Your smart TV might have a camera that watches what you watch. The app looks for the glint, or reflection of a camera lens to tell you how many possible devices there are, and you can figure out what to do next about it. It’ll even show you the IP address they’re connected to. Glint Finder + Hidden Camera is a free app on iPhone and Android. It has a subscription model.

Thursday (3/24): Qustodio
A lot of parents don’t have a clue what their kids are doing with their cellphones. They might be doing the right things, or they could be going places where they shouldn’t. This app gives parents a little more control of that situation. It’s meant as a way to decide how much screen time a child should be allowed to have. You install it on both your phone and your child’s phone. You can manage the amount of time your child is online. The app lets you monitor the websites they go to, and what they search for online. You can block entire categories of sites, like adult sites chat sites, gambling, or even games if you need to. You can monitor what they’re watching on YouTube. You can keep track of where your kids are at the moment, and if they’re in a place where they’re not supposed to be with a Family Locator function. Supervise their social media. Qustodio Parental Control App with a Q. It’s a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model for more features.

Wednesday (3/23): MLB TV
We finally get to have Major League Baseball back now that the lockout is over. This is the official app of the Major Leagues. It’s a way to watch your favorite teams all season long with the MLB TV subscription. You can watch a big league game every day. You can see every game where your team is on the road. It has highlights in the game.  It has all the radio broadcasts for every team. The app has a Film Room with millions of videos that you can watch in Major League archives. Get breaking news about your favorite teams, and have pitch by pitch rundowns if the game is blacked out in your city. Baseball is a game of statistics, and this app fills you with all the stats you can handle.  MLB.TV is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for the subscriptions for video and audio.

Tuesday (3/22): Gas Guru
Gas prices continue to drain a lot of wallets and bank accounts. We are doing something now that we haven’t done for years. We are driving to different stations, on the hunt for the best price we can get. This app can save you some of the trouble. The app has maps with gas stations listed, and what you’ll pay at the pumps there. You can also sort through the stations near you by how far you want to drive and the best prices. You can also find out a little more about the gas station. There’s a section where you can correct some of the information, if it’s wrong or the prices have changed. It even shows you if there are discounts or car washes available. Gas Guru: Cheap Gas Prices is an app from the Yellow Pages. It’s free on iTunes and Android.

Monday (3/21): Hear Here
More people say they’re choosing road trips, when they go on vacation.  This app can tell you about the places that you’re visiting when you’re on the road.  Kevin Costner worked with a team of experts to put this app together.  It uses your GPS to tell you interesting stories about the people and places that you’re driving through.  It’s similar to audio tours that you get at museums. Only the museum is the open road.  Each story only runs about 3 minutes so you can learn something while you’re driving or riding.  It can tell you how a town got its name or what’s the story about that mountain you’re seeing.  It has almost 9 thousand stories in the app.  You can choose the kinds of stories you get.  History, culture, music, sports, or special interests.  Hear Here is constantly growing in content.  It’s free on iTunes.  It has a subscription model.

Friday (3/11): Puppr
Our App today is called Puppr. You might have adopted a new member of the family lately. But, is your new puppy properly trained yet? This app can help save you money from hiring a professional just to do the basics. Maybe, you can do it at home. The app has step-by-step video instructions for the basic obedience commands like "sit" or "stay." You can also learn how to teach more advanced commands. The app helps to stop bad behavior, like jumping on other people or nipping at them. It comes with more than a hundred different lessons. There are masterclasses to learn more about things like training on a leash. It comes with chat sessions, so you can talk with professionals, track the puppy's progress and even get some proper shopping tips for your puppy. Puppr is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Thursday (3/10): No Filter
Our App today is called No Filter. You might go someplace on vacation, you want to take some incredible pictures of that place and you don’t have a clue what to take pictures of. This app can help you find and discover places in a city or town that are the best places for your photos. Look on the map of a city, and it’ll show you exactly where you can find some great places. You can also see photos that other people have taken from that same spot. The app also tells you what settings you’ll need on your camera for just the right lighting and scene-setting. It can inspire you to try to get as good, or an even better shot of a place. The app lets you save the places that you like and keep track of where you might want to go again. You can follow some of the other photographers that are part of the community. Upload your own photos to share with other members of the app. NoFilter - Photo Spots is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (3/9): Mealtime
It can be hard to decide what to make for dinner every day. This app is an easy way for anyone to put together meal plans, so you don’t have to worry about last minute decisions about your meals. The app comes with recipe ideas that you can make in less than a half hour. Those ideas also come with step-by-step instructions on how to make the meals. It gives you a meal plan every week with lots of different ideas. You can pick from different kinds of specialized diets, everything from vegan to keto, paleo to flex. It also helps with finding all the ingredients in the store. Because once you pick the meals, you get a shopping list. It also helps prevent you wasting food. Mealtime is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription option for a pro version.

Tuesday (3/8): Stepbet
If you like to walk for your exercise, and you have a gambling spirit, you can walk your way into some money. This app helps you set up goals to reach a certain level of steps. Here’s the thing, you bet on yourself with your money that you can reach those goals. It connects up with your step counting source, like your watch or a Fitbit. You just have to find one of the betting games, and start the process to get into the pot. Then, start walking or workout and keep active every week. If you hit your goals, you win a chunk of the pot. There’s nothing like cash to motivate you to keep moving. You can decide how to get your steps in. It could be as simple as taking the stairs instead of the elevator at the office. Stepbet is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Monday (3/7): Gas Buddy
Have you taken a look at gas prices lately? A lot of people are doing something they haven’t had to do for years. They’re comparison shopping when they need to fill their tanks. This app is a way to find the least expensive gas wherever you are. It’s a crowd sourced way of shopping. Other people find gas for less, and they let others know where the station is. Think of it as a “Waze For Your Tank”. The app also lets you get gas rewards for every gallon that you pump. You can also use the app to keep track of your gas use. You can get a Gas Buddy gas card to help you save when you fill up. Up to 25 cents a gallon. Gas Buddy is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Friday (3/4): Scholly
Now is the time that people are looking to the fall semester for school. We all know how expensive college is, and there are thousands of different kinds of scholarships that you can apply for. You just have to know where to look. This app helps you on the way. It has already found 100 million dollars in scholarships for students. The app matches students up with the scholarships that are available. It also can keep you straight with what the deadlines are to get your applications in. Now, the app also has other tools to help you once you do get into a school, like a math problem solver and a writing assistant to help with term papers. Scholly: College Scholarships is a free app on iTunes and Android, it has a subscription model.

Thursday (3/3): Teleprompter
This is an app for anyone who wants to shoot videos on their front facing camera, but doesn’t want to have to ad-lib the whole way through. TV anchors use teleprompters every day. They’re looking at the camera and their scripts are flowing right by, so it looks like they’re talking straight to you. This app lets you put one on your screen. Shoot your videos, say what you need to say, and record whatever it is you want to. No one needs to be the wiser that you’re reading what you’re saying. Make sure that you don’t forget any of the facts you’re trying to tell your audience. Write and edit all the scripts that you want. You can adjust the speed that the script will scroll up to match your reading style and speed. Change the font size to whatever is easiest for you to read. Teleprompter Premium is a free app on iTunes with in app purchases. It’s $10 on Android.

Wednesday (3/2): StoryZ
Pictures don’t have to just sit there to be stared at. You can do something with them to give them a little more interest. This app lets you have a little motion and movement into your still pictures. A little animation here, a little video special effect there. You can make a video out of the photo with that animation. Make the water ripple in the background. Make the air swirl around your headshot. Add floating snowflakes to your winter shots. Turn them into those videos or maybe animated GIFs.  The effects are amazing when they come to life. You really need to see it in action. StoryZ Photo Motion is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in app purchases.

Tuesday (3/1): Let's Roam
This is an app that lets you learn more about your town or another city through a scavenger hunt. The app has games and offers for more than 400 cities around the country. You can explore landmarks that the app’s makers have put together for you to have fun. You can do a scavenger hunt, or go on ghost tours, or just some fun bar hopping events. These challenges are great for yourself, your family, or maybe even as a corporate bonding experience. They even have date night scavenger hunts available. There are some outdoor experiences, so bring some comfy shoes and sunscreen. OR you can explore indoors at your own house. Let's Roam: Scavenger Hunts is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for the tickets to roam.

Monday (2/28): Unlined
This is an app to help you deal with unwanted telephone calls. It can block them and you never have to actually see that they’re calling. The app takes a look at the numbers that are dialing in. IF they’re in your contacts, the calls get through. What’s unique about this is it also looks at any phone numbers if you put them into your calendar. Those calls can get through, in case you need to make a change or reconfirm an appointment. The app will block strange calls, or it can send them straight to voicemail for you to figure out what to do with them. Or it can schedule a callback. Or you can take the call. The app also lets you set up a list of Known or trusted callers that might not be in your contacts. Unlined is a free app on iTunes. It’s coming soon to Android.

Friday (2/25): Prequel
Our App today is called Prequel. You might have seen some of your friends on social media. They’re turning their pictures into what look like cartoons. They’re using this app. Prequel lets you do that and all sorts of other things to your photos. It has more than 800 different effects, filters, and templates to add to your pictures and videos. That includes the animation one. You can turn your pictures into 3D moving shots. The app also lets you put music into your videos, stickers, or text. The app lets you make your videos look like videos from the 80s or 90s. Add other special effects. Add more colors to your pictures, if they’re washed out. PREQUEL: Aesthetic Pic Editor is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Thursday (2/24): Day One
This is an app that can help you start something to help you remember every day of your life. A lot of people love the act of journaling, so they can remember all the big events and small events that happen every day in their lives. Writing a journal takes a lot of commitment, and this app can help make that commitment a bit easier. You can write your thoughts in the app. Or you can use voice to text. The app has a simple design. There’s a way to write different journals. Maybe you want one for home, and one for work. The app also backs up your day by day writings, and you don’t have to worry about strangers seeing your innermost thoughts. You can also add photos and videos to enhance your journal. When you make it a day by day habit, it’ll show you things you wrote On This Day in previous years. Day One Journal: Private Diary is a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases for more features.

Wednesday (2/23): Pepper The App
This app is a social media cooking app. So many people want to be able to share their favorite recipes with their friends, or your friends might have recipes that you’ve tasted and now you want to know how to make them. The app lets you build your own cookbook in the app profile. You can share your knowledge with your followers. The app lets you search for something to make through certain ingredients, or dietary restrictions. You can find the perfect keto meal or vegan dish. You also get to review your friends’ recipes, or help them improve their dishes. Search the community for professional chefs to learn some other tricks of the trade. Your favorite recipes can become the center of cooking attention. Pepper The App is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (2/22): Beem
This could be the next generation for video messages. It’s a brand new app that lets you leave up to a 15 second message, and when the receiver plays that message, it shows up in augmented reality right there in front of you wherever you point your camera. It could be in your living room or in your office. You don’t have to worry about avatars. Your message is right there on video in full size from head to toe. It gives you a more intimate feel. Think of it like a hologram message, but it uses AR. This is something more meta than Meta, which will use avatars. The app also lets you chat with that other person live right there on your phone. And it looks like they’re standing there right in front of you. This could be the future for chat. Beem is new. It’s a free app on iTunes and Google. It has in app purchases.

Monday (2/21): Die With Me
This is a chat app. You can meet all kinds of people with this app, and you all have one thing in common. You’re all there, because your phone is dying. Your battery is running on less than 5 percent, and so is everyone else in the chat room. That doesn’t give you much time to get to know someone, so you better get the conversation going quickly. You never know how long that 5 percent will last. The app lets you create your own personal nickname, in case you find your way back with a dying battery. The chats might not last long, so you have to get out of the conversation what you can. Die With Me is 99 cents on iTunes and Android. You can make an in app purchase to get online when your battery is 10 percent. That means longer chats.

Friday (2/18): Civilisations AR
This is an app to bring world history to your phone through augmented reality. There’s a show on the BBC called Civilisations that takes a look at the world through art and culture. You can learn about everything from ancient Egypt to the Renaissance and how they still have an effect on modern times. You can take an up close look at dozens of artifacts. There are audio guides, so you can hear the history behind those artifacts. You can also use a special X-Ray feature to see what’s really inside what you’re looking at. You might see ancient hieroglyphics and have no idea what they say. There’s a translator section that can tell you just what to expect. Civilisations AR is a free app on iTunes.

Thursday (2/17): Cookt
This is an app that can be a storehouse for all the cookbooks that you want to keep in one place. There are thousands of recipes available. It’s also an interactive way of making your favorite recipes from those cookbooks. The app helps you with the math when you want to make a recipe, but don’t need to have a lot of food leftover, if you’re cooking for one, for example. You can find your favorite cookbooks, bookmark your favorite recipes. It has a cook-along mode, you can have perfect timing to serve all the dishes at the same time. You don’t have to wait for one item on the menu to finish while the other food gets cold. It has a shopping list function to make it easier to find all the ingredients you need. Cookt: Interactive Cookbooks For The Modern Chef is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases for the cookbooks you pick.

Wednesday (2/16): Photo Scan
Our App today is called Photo Scan. This is one of my personal favorites for scanning photos and turning them digital. Basically, you take a picture of the picture and the editing software cleans it up for you. You can enhance any faded parts, get rid of the glare. The app also can detect the edges of the photos, so you don’t have any wasted space in the pictures. The app takes several scans of your photos and puts together the best parts into just the right shot. It also orients your pictures, so they’re the right side up, no matter which direction they are when you scan them. When you’re done, you have digital copies and you can save them into Google Photos, so you have them for good. Photo Scan by Google Photos is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (2/15): Bedtime Clock: Parents & Kids
Our App today is called Bedtime Clock: Parents & Kids. Yes, the phone has an alarm clock that a lot of us every day. It’ll wake you up and that’s all good. This app takes it up a notch or three. This app doesn’t just have to be for you. It can be used by the whole family, parents, and kids. The app has a sound machine to help you get to rest at night and drown out all the noise you don’t want to hear. The alarm function doesn’t have to be a loud beeping sound. You can awaken a little more quietly. And when you wake up, it’ll tell you the weather forecast so you can plan your day. There are animated backgrounds like a fireplace for the cold night. Set the alarm for quick naps. You can also use the clock to tell the kids to keep quiet until you’re ready to get up. Bedtime Clock: Parents & Kids is one alarm clock for the whole family. It’s free on iTunes. It has in-app purchases for more functions in the pro version.

Monday (2/14): Gif Me!
Camera. GIF’s and emojis are the way the world speaks now. They enhance the conversation that you write in text messages or on social media. Now, you don’t have to depend on other people’s creations when you want to add some extra punch to your messages. The app lets you take a video that you shoot on your camera. You can import pictures or video files from the camera roll. It lets you add filers, frames, or text to the GIF that you’re making. Once you’re finished, share your GIF’s for whatever you need or on your socials. Gif Me! Camera is $2 on iTunes and $1.50 on Android.

Friday (2/11): HONK
You might not have access to AAA, and you don’t want to leave yourself to the mercy of wrecker drivers who might come up on you when you’re stranded by the side of the road. This app is kind of like Uber for wrecker drivers. You pick whatever service you need. It could be help for a flat tire. Or you need a tow. Or you’re out of gas. The app lets you order assistance at a price you can afford. It has access to more than 75 thousand tow trucks and mechanics around the country. You can get help within as little as 15 minutes. You’ll know who the driver is and the driver’s phone number. The app tells you how much the service will be beforehand, so there are no surprises. You can pay for the service through the app, too. And that means, no price gouging. If you want to join Honk as a driver, you can through the app. HONK - Tow & Roadside OnDemand is a free app on iTunes. You pay for the services

Thursday (2/10): Caset
Remember, back in the day, when you used to put your favorite songs together onto one cassette to make a mixtape. This app lets you revisit those times. You can put together files of your favorite songs, and share them with your friends anywhere in the world. You can also collaborate on your mixtapes with your friends, so you can see what music they pick and they can see your favorites. Put them altogether on the same file so everyone has input. Then, you can vote on your reactions to their songs. The app comes with a gallery where you can see templates of other mixtapes. You can also add music videos, if you wish. When you’re done, you can all listen to your collaboration. Caset - Make Mixtapes Together is a free app on iTunes. It has a monthly or yearly subscription for a pro version.

Wednesday (2/9): Ochi
This app is there, if you want to block apps and websites from distracting you. It can block that access to iOS apps in order for you stay focused on your tasks. You can filter websites by different categories, like social media or chats. The app also lets you set up a time for how long you want those apps or websites to stay blocked. For example, if you don’t want to have Facebook or other social media in the evening before you go to sleep, you can block them for a certain number of hours. If you have work to do, and you don’t want other apps disrupting your flow, this app can help. If you try to access the website or app that you blocked, you get a “filter active” notice. It also works across your different devices, and connected computers. Ochi: Block Apps & Websites is brand new. It’s a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription plan for the pro version.

Tuesday (2/8): Udemy
Our App today is called Udemy. Learning doesn’t have to stop with a diploma or degree. This app will take you to school to learn something beyond what your degree says. It can take you to class through online learning. If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about computer science, there are a lot of classes in coding, or design, or online photography. Develop your marketing skills, or learn all about arts, music, health, and fitness. It has different classes from experts all over the world. There are more than 183 thousand different video courses, and it’s adding new content every month. And if you want to share your knowledge, you can become an instructor for the app. Udemy is a free app on iTunes and Android. There is a subscription model to pay for the courses.

Monday (2/7): 2022 Winter Olympics
The 2022 Winter Olympics have started, and there’s a way to follow along. You can get medal results as they’re going on, even though Beijing is 14 hours ahead of us. There’s all the news you need and you can see live updates from the Games. Check out the schedule of the days’ events. You can follow along with your favorite athletes. There are games you can play, like trivia or a FanZone game. There are videos and pictures that are unique to the app. You can get notified when your favorite athletes and sports are back competing. The Olympics app is free on iTunes and Android.

Friday (2/4): Nexar
Our App today is called Nexar. This is an app that you start when you mount your iPhone on your dash. It says it’s the first smart dashcam app. It will record anything dangerous that it sees through your front windshield. Any kind of hazardous driving, like hard braking or car wrecks. It also looks at dangerous intersections and warns you of them. It records all different kinds of events and then saves them offsite from your phone. It even has 360 Collision Protection, to show you all kinds of wrecks anywhere around. And it comes with Emergency Contact Alerts to get help from 911 if you’re in a crash. The app is a kind of car profiler that watches the other guys just as you would. It can even help you find where you parked your car in a crowded lot. Nexar is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Thursday (2/3): Heard That
Our App today is called Heard That. When you’re in a crowded room with a lot of other people, it can be tough to hear a conversation that you’re a part of. This app can help cut through all the clutter and the din of that noise-filled environment. The app uses the microphone in your smartphone to amplify the talk you want to hear.  You just put in your headphones or earbuds and point the top of the phone toward the person you’re trying to hear. It will focus only on that, and take out the other extraneous noises. It can also help people with hearing aids listen to a conversation more closely as well. Now, the app doesn’t replace hearing aids, it’s more of a help to them. Heard That is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (2/2): Ted
Our App today is called Ted. Ted Talks have been around for a few years. They’re a way to hear from experts in all kinds of fields and disciplines. You can hear how they became successful, get guidance on how you can apply what they teach into your own lives. The app shows Ted Talk videos and translates them into more than a hundred languages. It also shows you recommendations that are personalized to your interests.  You can see the newest Ted Talks as they’re released. You can search out the videos on any topic. The newest ones on the list deal with “Dealing with Emotions and Money” or “A different understanding of American patriotism”. You can look through almost four thousand different Ted Talks on your phone or streaming on your tablet. Ted is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (2/1): Letterboxd
Our App today is called Letterboxd. This is a social media network for people who love movies. It can help you keep track of your favorite films, and then share them with your friends on the app. It’ll show you what’s coming out at the theatres. You can get suggestions from other people in your circle. The app shows you information about films, such as the cast and crews, or reviews. You can rate and review films you’ve seen and keep a running log of your favorite films and why you liked them. You can become a movie critic and share your thoughts with your friends. Letterboxd is a free app on iTunes and Android. You can also spend some money to subscribe to a pro version for even more features.

Monday (1/31): Lucid
You are never too old to learn. This app is a way for you to learn a different way. It’s a visual way of knowledge. It will teach you anything from history and business to science, philosophy, or finance. The app doesn’t just use words to teach. It uses visual cues to teach and help you learn. You might forget what words say, but seeing the knowledge in pictures can be easier to retain. Lucid says this visual approach can help you commit knowledge to your memory. It also helps you to focus on that knowledge and topics to understand them more easily. It’s seeing the lessons in pictures, not just words on a page. The app also has quizzes to make sure you do remember what it is you’re learning about. Lucid is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

Friday (1/28): Scribd
Our App today is called Scribd. There are different kinds of services that let you read books through audio or magazines. This app combines them all into one service. It's a digital library that gives you access to dozens of magazines and books. You can read eBooks or listen to audiobooks. There are magazines and research papers. You can even find sheet music if you're a musician. There are books available in any category that you can think of. And those include best sellers. You can read any of 60 million documents, like government reports or study guides. There are articles from The Atlantic, or People, Fortune, Time, Entertainment Weekly, or Popular Science. There are no limits to what you can read with your account. Scribd is a free app on iTunes and Android. There's a $10 a month subscription after a 30-day free trial.

Thursday (1/27): Television Time
We have access to more television programming now than anyone has ever had in the history of TV. We have broadcast channels, cable networks, streaming TV, and YouTube. For most people, there are too many choices and not enough time to watch everything we might be interested in. This app is a TV tracker. It’ll help you keep track of your favorite shows. And it can give you suggestions for new shows you might want to explore. The app will send you notifications about your favorite shows and when they’re coming out with new episodes. You can also find out more about your favorite shows with info about the cast. Television Time will keep you in control and on track. It’s $3 on iTunes.

Wednesday (1/26): Foodvisor
Our App today is called Foodvisor. This is a nutrition app to keep you on the straight and not too narrow. It helps you to build what kind of nutrition roadmap is good for your life. It’ll help with guided plans, that go along with whatever it is you do for movement to burn calories. People love to take pictures of their food to put them on social media. Now, you can take the same photo to find out if the meal on your plate is balanced enough nutrition for you. The app can show you in real-time how many calories you’ve burned throughout the day. The app has advisors that are registered dietitians. It’ll help you keep track of your goals and how close you are to achieving them. It has thousands of recipes that are meant to keep you going. And you can have one on one coaching from nutritionists as well. Foodvisor is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Tuesday (1/25): Bark Parental Controls
Our App today is called Bark Parental Controls. This is an app to help parents have a little more information about their kids’ online lives. You can monitor what they’re seeing online. You can set strict times that they can be online, and you can also block some websites that aren’t appropriate for children. The app can monitor texts, email, YouTube, and more than 30 different apps and social media. It can also keep them from accessing different categories of sites. You can prevent kids from going to gambling or other adult-type sites. Help watch out for cyberbullies. Get alerts for troubles that your kids get into. Bark is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Monday (1/24): Diskuss
veryone needs a little help once in a while, especially in the middle of a pandemic. This is an app to let you find someone to help you with mental health issues. You don’t have to go sit on a couch. You can sit on your own couch and talk to a professional to help you get through these trying times. It comes with live video chats with psychiatrists, psychologists, and other pros. Or you can talk to someone on an audio call instead. All you have to do is book an appointment and you’re set. Their counselors are available 24-7 and every day of the year. You also don’t have to commit to anything long term. This can be a one time conversation, or you can work up something that lasts longer. Diskuss is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for the sessions.

Friday (1/21): Asana Voice Cam
Our App today is called Asana Voice Cam. One of the toughest things about putting everyone into a group shot is trying to make sure you get into the right place before the clock counts down to zero. Now, you can set up everyone, including you, and not worry about a timer. This app takes the picture through your voice. You can pose everyone and you all at once. When you’re just right, you just say one word and the picture will click. You just have to say SNAP. Simple as that. Say the word and that’s it. It’s pretty simple and straightforward. Asana Voice Cam is 99 cents on iTunes.

Thursday (1/20): Locket
Our App today is called Locket. This is a widget for your iPhone that turns your phone into a virtual locket for all of your friends and family. The app can show you live photos from your friends on your home screen. The app says it’s a way to get a glimpse into their lives on any given day. When someone in your life takes a photo with the app and sends it to you, it shows up in the widget on your phone, so they can share what’s going on right away. The app also keeps track of the photos that you send, so you can look back on how you’ve shared your lives together. Locket limits you to just 5 people that you can have, so that keeps it small and personal and only to your besties. Locket Widget is new and it’s a free app on iTunes.

Wednesday (1/19): Apollo360-VR
It’s been more than 50 years since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon. This app is a virtual reality tour of that place. You can see what they saw among all that grey dust, rocks, and dirt. The app uses panoramic photos from all six of the Apollo moon missions from Apollo 11 through 17. It also comes with sound from those missions between the astronauts and Mission Control in Houston. It even comes with a widget that lets you experience the Moon in a complete virtual reality setting with Google Goggles. Remember those cardboard boxes with the lenses? Only 12 men have walked on the Moon. Now, you can feel like they did. Apollo360-VR is $3 on iTunes.

Tuesday (1/18): MoneyWiz
This app can help you keep all of your accounts organized in one place. It can keep track of your bank balances, loans, credit cards, along with you goals. You can put together a real budget, and manage your money. It has connections with more than 40 thousand banks around the world. You can work with your finances offline, and the app will sync everything up. This app even works with crypto currency, if that’s where your money mind is. It has a tutorials section, so you can also learn about money management with real people on the other end of the conversation. Get all the reports you need about where your money is going. Reconcile your bank statements and never be off by a penny again. The app just added 100 new features in the newest version. MoneyWiz 2022 Personal Finance is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

Monday (1/17): Hyfe
This is the time of year when every little cough you have is the sign of something worse. Or at least, we think it is. With all the worries about COVID, a cough might be the flu, a cold, or even just something in your throat. This app keeps track of your coughs. How often you’re coughing, what kinds of coughs. It uses A.I. to help try to identify what your cough might be. The app can even let your doctor keep track virtually as well. Hyfe can identify what kind of cough you have. Then, it keeps track elsewhere on the app. That way you can figure out if you’re getting better or worse. You can even use it to watch out for your family or friends. It can keep track of you, if you cough while you’re sleeping. Hyfe has remote monitoring, too. Hyfe is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Friday (1/14): Hotel Tonight
Our App today is called Hotel Tonight. Sometimes, you don’t have time to plan a full vacation and all the hotel rooms that you’ll need when you get there. This app is for people who need to book a hotel room that night. The app says it gets deep discounts for those empty rooms that would just stay empty during non-busy times. It works with all kinds of different places anywhere in the country or around the world. It can book you in this night, or as much as 100 days in advance. You can choose from a basic room to something more hip, to a little luxury and get a discount. It also has a loyalty program you can join to get more discounts. The app even has a concierge service to get you something extra that you might have forgotten or reservations at a restaurant. It works on last-minute deals. Hotel Tonight is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (1/13): EZPT
Our App today is called EZPT. When you’re injured, you might need physical therapy. When you want to get in shape, you might work out. This app combines both of them into the best of both worlds. It’s a movement coach with artificial intelligence. It can help you with your physical therapy to make sure you’re doing the exercises you need to do correctly. If you’re just working out, it can do the same thing. Make sure you’re doing your exercises right. The app lets you know. You just set up your phone to watch you. Get in the frame of the shot, and get some real-time coaching. It has balance tracking, joint tracking, and step-by-step instructions. It can also help you work out, so you don’t need the app for physical therapy, because you don’t get injured. EZPT - AI Movement Coach is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

Wednesday (1/12): Camera Front Back
Our App today is called Camera Front Back. This is an app that lets you make use of both of the cameras on your phone at the same time. You know how frustrating it can be to look for the button to switch between the front-facing camera and the back camera. You can shoot videos of your vacation or a wedding or your pets or any other event in your life and show your reactions to them at the same time. It’s a great way to narrate your life while you shoot it. It’s Picture in Picture video. You can be in a small box or shoot the video half and half. Camera Front Back is 99 cents on iTunes.

Tuesday (1/11): Fakespot
Our App today is called Fakespot. When you shop online, you probably search reviews of a product, before you make the final decision about buying it. One of the most frustrating things is dealing with all the fake reviews that show up to skew the results. It’s tough to tell which are real reviews and which ones are made up by 'bots or people who work for the retailer. This is a browser app that helps you figure out which reviews are legit and which are out-and-out lies. It works on a grading scale. It could be anything on Amazon, Etsy, Facebook, or even smaller box stores. You can make an actually informed decision about buying something with this kind of information. Fakespot is a free app on iTunes, Android, Safari, and for your desktop browser

Monday (1/10): Yuca
If you’re wondering what food it is you’re putting in your body, this app can give you a heads up. It lets you scan barcodes of different foods to see what’s inside them and how they will affect you. When there’s something that’s not exactly healthy, Yuka can give you some other ideas that might be better for you. There are more than a million different items in the Yuka database. They’re based on nutrition, additives, and how organic the items are. It works for more than just food, too. The app can do the same thing for the stuff that you use for your personal care as well. Yuka Food Cosmetic Scanner is a free app on iTunes and Android.  It has a subscription model.

Wednesday (1/5): Blendeo
You see them all the time, and they can be some of the coolest videos online. They’re the time lapse videos that compress a long period of time into something much shorter. Yes, the iPhone has a time lapse function, but it doesn’t work all that well. This app even works with the videos you already have in your camera roll. The app lets you capture video for up to 5 minutes. Something like a sunset, for example or moving clouds. You can have the app give you light trails, like you see in time lapse videos of big cities. Or it has something called Motion Blur. It works with videos, or you can use the app to take long exposure pictures. Blend away and make a little work of art with your phone. Blendeo is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.  

Tuesday (1/4): Adobe Scan
Remember the days when you had to use a flatbed scanner in order to save a bunch of documents into PDF format? That way you could edit them on your desktop or laptop and send them off electronically. This app does it right there on your phone. It turns your phone into a scanner and lets you organize and save your important documents into PDFs. You can also use the scanner to turn those papers into photos, just like you would with your camera. Only this has text recognition, so you can search through the documents with your phone’s search function. You can even use this scanner to get a few touchups done on the photos in your camera roll. Take what you scan into your desktop computer and add notes. Adobe Scan: PDF Scanner & OCR is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Monday (1/03/2022): Zero: Fasting & Health Tracker
You might have set a New Year’s resolution of getting your diet together. This app can help you through what’s called “Intermittent Fasting”. You use the app to keep track of when you eat and what you eat. It comes up with different plans so you can know when you can eat, and when you need to fast. It helps you reach common sense goals for losing weight, and you don’t have to give up the foods that you like. It doesn’t matter which of the big name diets you follow. It could be keto, low carb, the Mediterranean, or any other. Zero has a timer that you use to set your goals and stay on track. You just eat what you eat during a specific window of time, then you stay away from the kitchen or snacks. Zero: Fasting & Health Tracker is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Friday (12/31): Narchie
Our App today is called Narchie. This app is for people who are looking to do a bit of redecorating for their homes or apartments. You can buy furnishings, or you can sell them. The app can connect you together. With the app, you set up a profile that lets you put in your shopping list. What it is that you’re looking for to fill your home. Then, there’s an Explore page to show you what you might like based on your wishes and likes. You can look for something special, some kind of style, or maybe someone in particular that’s a seller. You can find anything from modern furnishings to antiques. And, if you’re a designer, or just someone who wants to sell stuff from their own home, you can set yourself up as a vendor. Narchie is a free app on iTunes.

Thursday (12/30): Make Me A Cocktail
Any prospective bartenders out there? This app can get teach you how to make any of more than 3500 different cocktails, each with a different recipe. This is for those that need a little inspiration, just in time for New Year’s. Do you know how to make a Bramble Margarita or a Ruby Thursday? You will with this app. Pick your favorite mixers and alcohols, and you will find something that you’ve never tried before. Or you might find just the right way to make some of your favorite drinks. It even lets you add some other ingredients that you might not expect to put into a drink, like eggs. It has a different cocktail of the day that you can try. Make Me A Cocktail is a free app on iTunes.

Wednesday (12/29): Just Press Record
You can record just about anything with just the touch of a red button through this app. Just one tap to start the recording. One tap to pause it, and one tap to resume the recording. There’s also no time limit to how much you want to record. The app also lets you listen back to what you recorded. You can also speed it up so you don’t have to listen in real time. The app also will provide you with transcriptions of what you record. That way you can search the transcriptions by specific words. It comes with an audio editor, so you can get rid of some of the sounds that you don’t want in the recording. You can also share your recordings with others. Now, you don’t have to depend on the microphone that comes with the iPhone. You can use a more professional microphone through the lightning port and get better quality sound. Just Press Record is $5 on iTunes.

Tuesday (12/28): Out Of Milk
Just like the title says, this is an app for when you have to go to the store. It’s a shopping list to help you remember everything you need when you go shopping. It breaks down with three different categories. The Shopping List, the Pantry List, and the To Do List.  You can sort through the necessary stuff that you need in the pantry. You can always know what you have in there. The app lets you scan your food through the barcodes on the packages.  The Shopping List can remember the items that you put in it, for the next time that you need to refill what you’ve run out of. You can share your list with others, in case you decide to “divide and conquer” in the grocery store. Out of Milk - Shopping List is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Monday (12/27): Star Walk 2
If you got a new phone or tablet for Christmas, this app might be a good one to start with. It allows you to see the night sky, even if there’s light pollution coming from the big city lights. It lets you see and identify stars, planets, comets, and full constellations through the app. It uses the GPS in the phone to figure out the positions of the stars, so it can show you what is in the sky above you. The app can show you the constellations in 3D models. It has an augmented reality mode to teach you more about the stars. You can find out about objects way out in the deep sky, like meteor showers or star clusters. Now, you don’t have to point it just above your head. It works in any direction that you point your camera. Star Walk 2: The Night Sky Map is a buck on iTunes and Android.

Friday (12/17): Dumpling Grocery
During the pandemic, you might have discovered the wonders that are online grocery shopping sites, like Instacart or personal shopping at Walmart or Kroger Delivery. Dumpling gives you a little more control over your grocery shopping, because you don’t have to stick to just one store. This is a personal shopper that you hire to do your shopping at any local store. You don’t have to worry about any loyalty cards or memberships. The shopper you hire will provide all the discounts you need. You put together your list. You find a shopper in your area that you like. Or you can have someone recommend a shopper for you. That shopper isn’t a store employee. It’s an independent contractor. Or, you can use the app to become a personal shopper and start your own delivery business. Dumpling Grocery is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for the groceries and the shopper.

Thursday (12/16): Cülür
Adult coloring books have become a “thing” over the last few years. Remember what it used to be like as a kid, when you could just have fun coloring pictures and staying in the lines. You turned a black and white drawing into a color work of art. This app will let you have an almost limitless amount of pictures to color or paint. That’s because it can turn the photos in your phone into a Color By Number sheet. Then, you can fill in the lines with the proper colored pencils or crayons or paints. You can adjust the difficulty to make it more of a challenge, or keep it easy. It works with all kinds of pictures, and transforms them in seconds. Cülür is a $3 on iTunes.

Wednesday (12/15): eBooks: American Red Cross
It's nice to know something like CPR that the American Red Cross can teach you. But, what if you wanted full training in just about everything else in the Red Cross playbook. This is an eBook reader that has all sorts of different training manuals that you can read and learn from. There's everything from learning about substance abuse to CPR. You can focus on the most important parts of the written words on the page. The app lets you take your own notes and place your bookmarks wherever you wish. There's a search function to direct you to the place where you want to read. These training manuals give you the step-by-step teaching, with quizzes and videos. eBooks: American Red Cross is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (12/14): LucidPix
This app can give your regular photos a little extra pop. It can turn your old 2 dimension pictures into something that looks like 3D. You can use any of more than 50 different 3D effects to go with your photos. You can add other pieces of art, like stickers or logos or text on top It also lets you share your photos on social media. Or, since this is a thing right now. You can turn them into NFT’s to do with what you want. If you wish, the app will also turn your artwork into animated GIFs or short videos. The app also lets you see what other people have posted with their masterpieces. LucidPix 3D Photo Creator is all about 3D images and NFT’s. It’s a free app on iTunes and Android.

Monday (12/13): Ada – Check Your Health
Calling Dr. Google. People love to search the Internet for what ails them. This app can help you look at your symptoms and possibly get some assistance in figuring out what’s going on with your health. This app is created by a doctor. You answer some questions about how you’re feeling. It could be fevers, headaches, stomach aches, or something more serious. It takes what you say, and puts it through a medical dictionary. Then, the app gives you some possibilities to investigate further or take with you to your doctor. You can also use it to check out family members. It does not diagnose anything, it’s only a symptom checker of possibilities. The actual diagnosis should be done by your doctor. Ada is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Friday (12/10): Be Real
This is a social media app. It’s a way to disconnect from your online life for just a couple of minutes, and just be part of real life again. When you have the app installed, it will ask you to stop doing what it is you’re doing, and just take 2 minutes to take a picture of where you are and what is going on in your world. Everyone on the app gets the same instruction at the same time, so all users will stop to share their lives in the real world. The app lets you take pictures from both cameras at the same time. You then share your moments with your friends on the app and see what’s going with their lives and where in the world they are. The app even comes up with special challenges on some days. It lets you share what it’s like when you’re being real. Be Real is a free app on iTunes and Android. 

Thursday (12/9): Back In Time
This app will do just what the title says. It will let you go back in time to learn about the history of the world. All you have to do is pick a period of history and zoom in to find more information about that time. There are pictures and a timeline to show you how events unfolded. It also gives a social and historical context to see how an event affected the rest of the world. Here’s the thing. The app looks at all of history as a single day, 24 hours from the Big Bang at midnight on that day. Then, you can pick a time to see what happened during the course of the day over the countless centuries. It might be the first insects or the creation of the steam engine. You can go back in time through your iPhone or iPad. It’s $4 for iPhone or $8 for the iPad.

Wednesday (12/8): Rent The Runway
There are parties coming up, and you don’t have anything to wear, right? This app can help you or your wife or daughter or girlfriend find just the right thing. And you don’t have to pay a lot of money, because you’re only renting the outfits. It has a monthly subscription model where you get to choose from thousands of different items that you can just rent. You can get up to 16 different items for a month, 4 at a time. If you find something that you really like and you want to buy it, you can. It’s a “try before you buy” operation. There’s designer clothes, and they come at discounted costs, too. The app learns your tastes and you only get what you might like. Buy them or ship them back after you wear them. Rent The Runway is a free app on iTunes. Perfect for New Year’s Eve or Christmas parties.

Tuesday (12/7): Off The Menu
This is a special app that only works in Dallas and a couple of areas in southern California. It’s a club, where you can try all sorts of new cuisine from different restaurants throughout the DFW area. When you sign up, you get one item every day at a restaurant. All you have to do is show the app, and they’ll serve you up. This is a great way to find out about new restaurants that you might not have tried before. This is perfect for foodies that are looking for new places. New restaurant options for the week are pushed to the app every Saturday. You really get to see how many options you have, and get you out of your comfort zone where you eat at the same places all the time. Off The Menu is a free app on iTunes. You pay $20 a month for the subscription.

Monday (12/6): DAZN Live Sports Streaming
This is a way for sports nuts to keep up on their favorite sports, when they’re not near a television. DAZN has a contract with the NFL that allows it to show every NFL game through the Super Bowl. You can also watch Premier League soccer from Europe, as well as other champions leagues in men’s and women’s soccer. There’s a way to watch all the games from MLS. There are pro boxing matches with fight nights. It lets you watch baseball through MLB Network. It has contracts with professional tennis to see the WTA tournaments all season. There’s FIBA international basketball. It’s a treasure trove of sports right there on your phone or tablet. DAZN is a free app on iTunes and Android. It comes with a subscription model.

Friday (12/3): Flio
We might be doing a bit of traveling over the next few weeks. For some people, it’s their first time flying in a long time. That’s stressful enough. This app can bring some calm to your flight experience. It provides all kinds of information from the status of your flight. You can find out if it’s on time or delayed, or canceled. You can also find out more about the airports where you’re flying to, especially if you have to have a layover for any length of time. There are guides to the restaurants and shops. You can even set up your parking at the airport. You can also use the app to see if you can get into the airport lounge and what that might cost you. It has information on more than 5000 airports around the world. Flio is a free app on iTunes and Android. 

Thursday (12/2): Home Workout No Equipment
We’ve had a few days to process Thanksgiving, and we might want to avoid the pounds that we’ll probably put on over the next few weeks. This app is just what the title says. It lets you get a workout in, and you don’t need any fancy equipment. All the resistance comes from your own body weight. It has different workouts for each different muscle groups. There are warmup and stretching routines. You can work your abs, chest, arms, legs, and all other parts of the body. This is also a strength training app. It also comes with a plan that is designed for what you want to accomplish and a daily progress report to keep track. There’s a map tracker, in case you want to go running. Home Workout No Equipment is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model for more features.

Wednesday (12/1): Magnifying Glass & Flash Light
Everybody needs help with the small print at some time. Your age doesn’t matter. Sometimes, the letters are just too small. This app will magnify what you’re looking at. It also brightens what you’re seeing, by activating the flashlight. The app is like a lighted magnifying glass. It’s great if you’re in a dimly lit restaurant and you’re having a rough time reading the menu. The app magnifies what you’re looking at up to 6 times crystal clear. You can even take a photo of what you’re looking at if you don’t want to disturb others around you with the light. Magnifying Glass & Flash Light is 99 cents on iTunes.

Tuesday (11/30): Balance: Meditation & Sleep
This is a relaxation app to help you calm yourself through a stress filled day. It comes with a personalized program of meditation exercises. You just have to answer a series of questions about what you want to accomplish through your exercises. It has a library filled with thousands of meditation files. They come together in 10 day groups, that can help with your focus, cut stress, and help you to relax. There are different types of meditations, like sleep sounds and breathing exercises. It can come in bite-sized chunks, or waves of vibrations. This app adapts to your needs. Balance: Meditation & Sleep is a free app on iTunes and Android. It’s also the Google App of the Year for 2021. It has a subscription model with the first year free.

Monday (11/29): Cyber Monday 2021 Deals & Ads
It might be a bit tough to find what you want to give for gifts on this Cyber Monday. This app could give you a head start on finding the gifts you want from the cyber sites you shop. It has info on the best buys anywhere from Best Buy to Amazon to Walmart.  You can find the deals before anyone else can grab them up. Now, this app is called Cyber Monday, but you don’t just have to use it today. It’s good for finding deals every day of the year. You just tell the app what you’re looking for, and it sends you to best places to shop today and any other day. It looks through the biggest online shops or brick and mortar stores. It also comes with a barcode scanner and QR Code reader to let you comparison shop when you go into a store. Cyber Monday 2021 Deals & Ads is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Friday (11/26): Any.Do
Our App today is called Any.Do. This is an app for the disorganized, or the organized. It's an organization to keep your life centered on the tasks at hand without worrying about your schedule. You set up the appointments that you have. It syncs with all your devices. It provides reminders about what you have coming up on your calendar. Set up your meetings and follow ups. That's just what the free version does. There's also a pro version that does even more like your gift or grocery shopping. It's like your own personal assistant in your phone. Any.Do is a free app on iTunes and Android. It does have a subscription model in the pro version.

Wednesday (11/24): Flipp
Black Friday shopping is coming soon, even if you’ve already started your Christmas shopping. This is an app that can help you sort through all the weekly ad circulars that come out for retailers all over the country. It has connections with more than two thousand stores, including all the big names like Walmart. You don’t need to look for a Sunday paper to see the deals of the week. They come straight to you. That includes coupons for the grocery store that people still love. It has a search function, so if you’re looking for something specific, the app can guide you toward the store that has it. You can also put certain things on a watch list to see when the price comes down to the lowest it’s going to get. You can also use it as a shopping list at your favorite store. Flipp is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (11/23): Flight Radar
This app is perfect for travelers who are going somewhere soon, or it’s for the merely curious about the planes that are flying the sky above you. You can find out the details about that jet by pointing your phone at it. Where did it come from? Or where is it going? What kind of jet it is. It has history of the jet, such as where it’s been before. This app lets you track all kinds of flights around the world. See where the plane is at any moment. It also lets you see what the pilot is looking out at at any time in 3D. You can look for any flight by airline, flight number or airport. The app can teach you about what the air traffic controllers are doing and how much airspace they have to keep track of. It’s just fascinating for people who are interested in flight. This is the top flight tracking app around. Flight Radar is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model available, too.

Monday (11/22): Food Network Kitchen
As we get closer to Thanksgiving Day, more people might want to get some ideas and help for what they’re planning for dinner. This app can help with ideas, not just for Thursday, but for every day of the week. It comes with step by step instructions and they come from different chefs that you see on Food Network TV shows. You can also learn new skills in the kitchen. The app has more than 50 live classes every week. You never know who the teacher will be. It comes with more than 80 thousand different recipes. You can save the ones that you consider your favorites. There are video instructions for making the dishes you want. You can also use the app to stream your favorite shows on the network. Food Network Kitchen is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has free sections and a subscription model.

Friday (11/19): Crowdfire
You might have the perfect post to post to your social media accounts, but you don’t have time to post it to ALL of your social media accounts. This app can help. It’s a social media manager. You have access to your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and dozens of other accounts from this one place. Post your thoughts or your pictures or videos in the app, it will send those posts out at whatever time you want them to go live. You can share your favorite pages that you see on the Internet with just a couple of clicks. The app can also curate any likes and responses from all your social media, so you don’t have to take care of them on each different site. It also lets you how your posts are doing with analytics to see how it’s performing. And you can see how your social life is growing with more followers. Crowdfire is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model for a pro version.  

Thursday (11/18): 1Blocker
This is an app to help keep your web surfing a little more safe. 1Blocker blocks any trackers who are following where you’re going online. It blocks ads and banners that get in the way. It also stop any other things that might impose themselves on your free access, like tracking cookies or scripts that track you on Safari. It can also stop any social media from putting widgets that you might accidentally click on. It can block adult sites, so your kids can’t get to them. It doesn’t make any changes to the sites you visit, it only filters out the bad stuff. Since 1Blocker is working in the background, your favorite sites may open up to 5 times faster. The app itself isn’t a tracking app so it doesn’t follow you. You can also choose to whitelist any trusted sites that you know that need your access in order to work. 1Blocker: Ad Blocker & Privacy is a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases.

Wednesday (11/17): Mixtapes
Let’s go back to the 80’s. During those times, people would put together their favorite songs and edit them together to form one long cassette of favorite music. This app takes you back to those days, but it puts together those mixes based on the types of music you want on them. It takes the tunes that you have in your music library and assembles them through its own magic automatically. It can put together several different mixtapes and you can switch among them real easily. You set the parameters of what you want on each mixtape. It comes with a family friendly section, so you can edit out any adult type music you might have in your playlist. Mixtapes is a free app on iTunes. It works perfectly fine like that, or you can upgrade to the pro version to get rid of the ads and make more mixes.  

Tuesday (11/16): Atlas Obscura Travel Guide
Every place has some kind of tourist attraction. This app can show you some of the more obscure places in your hometown, or anywhere that you want to go visit. It could be an obscure bridge, a building, or something you wouldn’t expect. The database has more than 22 thousand different kinds of curious attractions all over. You can use the app to find out what makes each attraction that curious. Sometimes, the stories behind them are better than seeing the actual place. You can look up things on the app in different categories, like architecture, history, or natural wonders. You can even add to the collection if you find something obscure. Atlas Obscura Travel Guide is a free app on iTunes.  

Monday (11/15): The Walk: Fitness Tracker Game
This is an app to turn your daily walks into something a little more exciting. This is an espionage type game that uses your steps as a challenge. It starts with an explosion. You have the only package that can save the entire planet. But, you have to walk different places to move the plot forward. All you have to do is walk. The app and the game track your progress. You have to avoid getting picked up by enemy agents or even the police in the game. You have to solve a mystery about the explosion and what their next plan is. It comes with 65 different episodes to it and a few hundred miles of walking. This is the long game, so you don’t have to do it all at once. The Walk works with you and your fitness level. The Walk: Fitness Tracker Game is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Friday (11/12): Boxed
Not everyone has a membership card to Sam’s or Costco. But, everyone might enjoy the ability to buy a 36 pack of paper towels or 5 pounds of macadamia nuts. Boxed is a way to be part of that bulk buying business, and you don’t even have to leave your home to play along. This app is a bulk buying service that delivers to your front door. You can go shopping whenever you want for whatever you want. Place the order and it comes straight to you, with free shipping. There’s also no membership fee to go shopping. It also has prices that will save you some money, and you can save your time, because you don’t have to fight for parking to get into the Costco.  Boxed is a free app on iTunes and Android. You, of course, pay for your stuff.

Thursday (11/11): SLOWLY - Connect to the World!
There’s a lost art, thanks to the Internet, email, and instant messaging. That art is the art of writing letters to pen pals. This app can recreate that feeling without taking pen to paper. Sure, you can do that, but we DO live in the 21st century. This app brings back the days of pen pals, where you could send letters to someone around the world, and get letters in return. Only they show up on your phone. It’s almost like a dating app, but this is only for writing letters to friends. You put together your profile in the app and some interests. When you’re matched up with someone, you can take your time. Craft a letter to send to your pen pal. When you’re ready to send your letter, you send it. But, it doesn’t arrive right away. It can take hours or even possibly, days. That’s what the mail system is like. It’s old school in high tech. SLOWLY - Connect to the World! It’s a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in app purchases.

Wednesday (11/10): Listenable: Learn with Audio
 It’s never too late to learn something new. This app can teach you new things in 5 minutes. It has all kinds of courses that are taught by experts in all fields. You can learn lessons in personal development, psychology, how to be an entrepreneur, parenting, and other topics. You don’t even need to do anything else, except listen. It comes with an audio catalog of hundreds of different lessons. If you can’t listen right away, you can download the lessons. It’s like a podcast app of teaching tools. Learn how to handle difficult people or tricks to clear thinking. Listenable: Learn with Audio is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

Tuesday (11/9): Magic Eraser Background Editor
There are so many things that can get in the way of a good photo. It could be a phone line, a trash can, maybe even your ex-. You can wipe them all way with this photo editor. You can take out pieces of the background, or the whole thing and put your picture of you in front of something else. It can even break down everything and take out anything that’s the same color of the offending item. You can use the auto erase tool to take out whatever you wish. It also works if you want to insert yourself in a different setting for a composite picture in a brochure or a logo. Save your finished product and send it out. Magic Eraser Background Editor is a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases.

Monday (11/8): Deliveries
We’re in the middle of Christmas shopping season. Yes, even though it’s early. This is an app that help you stay on top of your package deliveries from your online shopping. The app lets you know exactly when those packages are headed for your front door, so you can be there to get them right away. The general screen shows all of your orders and how many days they are away. Click on one, and you can narrow things down to the time. It’ll show where the package is right at the moment, so you can keep track. It comes with an app for your Apple Watch, so you don’t have to keep opening the app on your phone. It works with all the big delivery services and Amazon, Apple, and other online companies. Deliveries: a package tracker is just that. And it’s a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

Friday (11/5): Stocard
How many reward cards do you have stuffed in your purse or your wallet or even your keyring? This app is a storehouse for all those reward programs, and you can access them instantly through it. It’s kind of like a virtual wallet of those cards. You just digitize them with the barcodes and numbers. It only takes a few seconds to digitize all of them. When you get to a store that you use the cards, just open the browser and scan the bar code on your phone. It works with all of them from Kroger to Sam’s to Walgreens. There’s also a rewards program in the app to give you savings when you go shopping. It also gives you coupons, discounts, flyers, and catalogs to find what you’re looking for. Clean out your wallet and keep your cards here.  Stocard - Rewards Cards Wallet is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (11/4): Onion Browser
This is an app that can free you of ads and privacy robbers on the Internet. It’s a powerful web browser that provide a little more safety and privacy. You might have heard of Tor. It fights against those spies through its own encrypted network. It stops trackers from following you online or spying on what you’re looking at online. It’s also another safety net, if you’re working through public Wi-Fi networks. The app clears out any cookies that you might encounter, so you don’t leave any trace of you behind.  You have a little more control over your day to day activities online. Onion browser from Tor is a free app on iTunes and Android

Wednesday (11/3): Litterer
Is there anything worse than watching someone throw a bag of trash out of their car windows. All you can do is silently judge them, or scream at them in your car and they can’t hear you anyway. Besides, they wouldn’t care about your ranting. Now, you can do something. TexDOT came out with this app that lets you report litterbugs. This app connects you to the state’s official anonymous Report A Litterer program. Tell them what kind of car they drove, which person did it, what they tossed, and where. Then TexDOT takes care of the rest, and you keep your hands clean and you won’t have to lose your voice. You can type in the details or use the voice submission. Remember, you Don’t Mess With Texas. And you don’t let others do it either. Litterer is a new free app on iTunes.

Tuesday (11/2): Hiya: Spam Phone Call Blocker
They’re the scourge of everything good about cellphones. You get a call out of the blue, and you have no idea if it’s a legit call or someone who wants to waste your time. This app gives you alerts when it’s a spam caller or a robocaller. It’s able to show the true caller ID of the person or robot that’s calling you. It can identify and block those scammers for you. It can also do it automatically. It also can stop the spoofing that some companies use, when they call from the same area code as you, so you might be more likely to answer the call. The app also has a reverse search to look up who owns a particular phone number. Hiya: Spam Phone Call Blocker is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.  

Monday (11/1): My Wow: Event Video Maker
Our App today is called My Wow: Event Video Maker. Our photos are our memories. Now, they don’t have to be just still pictures. You can turn them into moving pictures. You can convert those photos into highlight films that you can share. It’s pretty simple, too. You just pick out which photos that you want to go into your film. You can also add videos to enhance them. The app lets you make films that run anywhere from 15 to 60 seconds. That’s perfect TikTok length, too. You just label the film what you want to name it. Put the photos and videos in, and watch the app do its thing. Then, you can share your memories in one sitting instead of just swiping through different still shots. My Wow: Event Video Maker is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model to let you enhance your videos with music.

Friday (10/29): FitOn
This is a fitness app to help you with your workouts at home. It comes with all kinds of fitness videos and workout plans. You’ll be working out with celebrity trainers of all kinds. You might get to train with Julianne Hough or Gabrielle Union. There’s everything from cardio and strength training to HIIT workouts and yoga. The app will help you put together a personalized plan to hit your fitness goals. You can get your workout in in 10 minutes or a full hour. It also comes with a chance to relax and slow down with meditations. The app can also help you with your sleep at night. There are also hundreds of recipes to help you with your diet to support your workouts. FitOn Workouts & Fitness Plans is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model for a Pro version for more features.

Thursday (10/28): Kitchen Stories
This is an app for all kinds of foodies and newbies in the kitchen. It’s also good for experts that need some new inspiration for what to make. Every day, the app delivers new recipes for you. It also provides the step by step instructions on how to make the dishes that are featured. There are tutorial videos to show you how to make the dishes. It comes with thousands of recipes in the files. It can teach you the basics in the kitchen or more skilled techniques. It can also give you recipe ideas, based on your dietary needs. The app also comes with a measurement converter, so you don’t have to deal with the math involved, if you want to make something for 2, and the recipe shows you how to make it for 6. When you find something you want to make, the app also generates the shopping list to get all the ingredients you need. And if you have some recipes of your own that you want to share, you can do that, too. Kitchen Stories: tasty recipes in a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Wednesday (10/27): Information Superhighway
This is an app that is just something to distract you from all the realities of the world. The only thing it does is show you random articles that come from Wikipedia. There are no ads, and no colors to distract you from just the words. Again, these are just random articles. It could be anything the Chicago Fire to a biography of Dennis Rodman, or the greatest hits of the Rolling Stones. It comes with almost an infinite amount of articles. You never know what will come up next. If you’re not interested in what comes up, just scroll past it. You might actually learn something from that random scrolling. This app doesn’t use up a lot of data, because there aren’t any pictures. It’s just reading. Information Superhighway is a free app on iTunes.

Tuesday (10/26): Puppr
This is an app for dog owners or soon-to-be dog owners. It’s an app to train your dog. The app uses video training to help you teach the basics to your puppy. It has more than a hundred lessons on video. There are master classes in other topics. You also have access to chat with the trainers, so you can get your questions answered. It’s good for both new puppies or older dogs that need some extra help. You can learn to train your dog against bad habits, like jumping on people or barking too much. There are classes in walking on leashes. You can even learn how to teach your dogs how to do tricks. Puppr is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Monday (10/25): Just Watch
Since we’re watching so much television through streaming services, this is a way to keep up with everything that’s on those services. It’s like a TV Guide for streaming, only today we call them search engines. It has information on more than 60 thousand shows and films, and where you can see them. It can break down into 37 different categories of the types that you want to see. It looks at more than a hundred streaming services. The app updates the information every day. You can also find out what services are offering the least expensive rentals or deals to buy certain movies and shows online. It also works with movie theatres. You’ll be able to find showtimes, and buy your tickets to see those films. Just Watch is a free app on iTunes and Android.  

Friday (10/22): Sofa: Downtime Organizer
How many times have you been looking forward to spending some downtime, just vegging out on the couch? One of the most frustrating things about it though is, once you get that time, you can’t figure out what to do with your downtime. This app can help you organize your chill-time plans. You can get ready early to make your plans. Create lists of different TV shows, or movies, or video games you want to watch or play. When you put together what those things are, you throw them onto the pile, so you can remember what you planned. If you see a preview for a TV show during the week, throw it onto the pile. Same thing with games, albums, and books. Throw ‘em on the pile. You can keep track of what you’ve watched and read. Make your downtime more productive with Sofa: Downtime Organizer. It’s a free app on iTunes.  It has in app purchases for more features.

Thursday (10/21): Shopkick
It’s getting close to the time when people will be looking for gifts for the holidays. You can use this app by just shopping for anything. All you do is do what you do when you go into a store. When you’re finished, you scan your receipts and barcodes of certain things, and you earn rewards. In fact, there are some stores that give you rewards by just walking into them. It also works when you do your shopping in more than 80 online stores, like Amazon or eBay. The rewards come in the form of gift cards to different stores. It works with everything from Walmart, Nike, Best Buy, Game Stop and lots of others. You can also earn rewards online just by watching videos in the app itself. Shopkick is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (10/20): Be My Eyes
This is an app that lets you help others who might not be able to see. Or it's good for the blind who need help maneuvering through the tech world. Basically, you volunteer to be someone's eyes for them to help them with basic tasks that a sighted person can do. For example, with the app, you can tell someone what their food's expiration date is. Or let them know what button controls what on a remote control. You can help someone find matching clothes. It uses live video from the phone so they can show you what they need. Maybe you can provide help with measurements for a recipe in the kitchen. There's really no limit to what you can do, when you're providing the eyes. You can volunteer to help on the app, or you can sign up to get some aid when you need it. Be My Eyes is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (10/19): Glympse
This is a tracking app that can let others know where you are at any given time. You just send a notice to your friends and family, if you’re out and about and need a little extra safety. You can also send a request for others in your circle to share their locations through private groups. This is especially good if you want your family to know where you are at all times on a risky trip, or if you need to feel safe somewhere on a hike or a bike ride. Or it could be a way to find out when your spouse is coming home from work. It even works when you’re in a crowded stadium and need to find your friends. The app also can help send first responders, if you need someone quickly. Glympse is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Monday (10/18): Rogervoice
This is an app that lets you have a written log of any phone conversation that you have. It gives you a transcription of everything you chat about. This is ideal for people that have issues with their hearing, or if you just want to have something to remember the call. It uses voice recognition to let you read what you say. It works when you’re in the middle of the call to let you read what’s been said. If you’re having trouble speaking, you can type what you want to say, and the app will say it for you. It works for phone calls coming in, going out, or voice messages. Rogervoice is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.   

Friday (10/15): Roomie Remote
How many remotes do you have to control everything in your house? You might have 3 or 4 for your TV alone. This app can help you get rid of all of those, and you can control everything with your phone. It can give you control of your smart TV’s from just about every brand. It works with all kinds of satellite and cable boxes, as well as streaming sticks like Roku and Amazon Firestick. It also works with your SmartHome devices for your lights and thermostats. It has a voice control so you can just tell your devices what you want them to do. It is able to work with your fancy sound systems, like Sonos to control the audio. It comes with personalized TV listings. And it can work your DVR’s.  Roomie Remote is a free app on iTunes, it has a subscription model.  

Thursday (10/14): GetUpside Cashback: Gas & Food
When you’re going shopping, it’s nice to be able to get something back. The difference with the app is, you get rewards and so do the businesses where you shop. It works with gas stations, enough to get back up to a quarter for every gallon you pump. It works with more than 25 thousand gas stations around the country. We’re talking big name stations, too. It also works with more than 15 hundred restaurants, like fast food places and pizza joints, like Papa John’s. You can earn rewards from grocery stores, too. The app has paid out more than 100 million dollars in cash back, and another 200 million to the businesses. GetUpside Cashback: Gas & Food is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (10/13): Robokiller
Spam calls are the worst. So are robocalls. Or telemarketers. Or bill collectors. This app can get rid of just about all of them, and your phone will be quiet for a change. Robokiller has a database of almost 1 and a half billion calls. It can also learn how your phone is used for certain calls, so it can stop them before they even start to ring. When those robocalls come in, they go straight to an answer bot, just to waste their time. You have the control of how powerful you want the app to be. The app learns which calls are legit and should be let through for you to make the final decision about answering. It also has an optional call screener that lets the caller announce who’s calling before it rings your phone. Robokiller is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Tuesday (10/12): The Spicery
So many of us have spice racks that are filled with jars of random spices. Or they’re just filling a cabinet or two in your kitchen. This app can help you keep track of your spices, so you don’t buy more cumin or oregano than you need. You also might have a bunch of spices in your cabinet that you have no idea what to do with. This app also has a database to show you how to use the spices that you have. It can also identify the spices that you see in the stores. And, if you’re missing something in your spice rack, the app can show you alternatives. It also has a database of recipes that can use the spices that you have in your kitchen. The Spicery is $4 on iTunes.

Monday (10/11): Frame Grabber
There are times when you are shooting a video, when one thing just grabs you. There’s something in the video that would make a great photograph. How do you grab that right frame to turn it into that picture? This app lets you take one frame and convert it into a photograph. Whatever the perfect moment is. You can look frame by frame to see where it is and what it is. You can use the video function on your camera to record yourself, and find the perfect selfie. The app converts the video frame into a picture in full resolution, fine-tune it, and then you can export the photo into your social media or have it printed. Frame Grabber is a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases.

Friday (10/8): Ink Hunter
There are tattoo people and there are non-tattoo people. Then, there are those that are more “tattoo curious”. This app lets you see what you would look like with a particular tattoo anywhere on your body. It uses augmented reality to superimpose a piece of body art over your arms, legs, anywhere. You can use the tattoos they have in their gallery, or find something of your own to put into the app. You can search the Internet for other designs. The app puts it onto your body part on the phone. You can adjust the size of the tattoo to see if it looks larger or smaller. Once you get to what you want, save your design and even share it with your tattoo artist. It’s also good for the artists themselves to help their clients find the best place for their ink. Ink Hunter is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (10/7): Sky Guide
The stars at night. They might be big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas. But, in the big cities, you might not get to see them too often because of the light pollution. This app can cut through the glare to show you what’s right above you in the heavens. You just point your phone in a direction day or night, and you can identify and star or planet or constellation. It even can ID satellites. You can find out if you’re seeing Mars or the Space Station. It can tell you when the station is going to be back around. You can find out where the Moon might be later in the night. It comes with augmented reality graphics to show you what you’re seeing in the sky. The app can help you plan your night to see something cosmic in the future. It has a zoom feature to take you deeper into the night. Sky Guide is a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases to a professional version.

Wednesday (10/6): Rev Voice Recorder
There are times when you just might want to record a telephone call. It could be for transcripts, or an interview, or for whatever reason. It’s not always easy to do since it’s not part of a phone’s internal workings. This one is a simple way to record calls with one step. It also doesn’t have any limits to the length of time that you record the call. You just have to hit the Start Recording button at the bottom of the screen. Once you’re finished with the recording, the call is saved on your phone and you can save it to Dropbox or email it. You can also use the app to have humans transcribe the conversation. That’s where it makes its money. It can be done in less than a day. Rev Voice Recorder is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in app purchases.

Tuesday (10/5): My Sudo
This app can help protect your privacy online. It can separate your real life from your online life. You can use it to talk, or text, or send emails, or buy stuff and not have the other side glom onto your personal info. You use the app to set up Sudo profiles of what you’re willing to share. Each one has a phone number, email address, and a way to communicate with others. You can have up to 9 different Sudos, each with a different number and email. That can keep the snoopies out of your real life. You can actually use it to set up video and voice calls. It also has a private browser that can block trackers. My Sudo is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Monday (10/4): Smart Cleaner
Our phones will fill up with gunk, no matter how hard we try to keep them free of clutter. This app will give your iPhone a good thorough cleaning inside.  It can clean up the mess that comes with your contacts list. How many dupes do you have there?  You can remove contacts or you can merge those duplicates into one contact. It can take the contacts that have pieces missing. The app can go through your photos to get rid of the duplicates inside. It’ll also get rid of any selfies that you decide are just not good enough. When you get to your videos, the app can delete all the huge ones that are taking up hard drive space. Smart Cleaner is a free app on iTunes.  It has in app purchases to unlock all the features.

Friday (10/1): Uptime
Life moves quickly and we might not have the time to read all the best books that you want to read. This app brings your favorite books or documentaries to you and you can catch them in 5 minutes or less. It has the works of more than a thousand authors cut down to bite sized chunks. These are hacks from different courses that can help you read about ideas and knowledge in 5 minutes.  You can become smarter in those 5 minutes with visual stories that are much easier to remember. Or you can listen or actually read the hacks with just a tap of a switch. Read anything from how to be happier to becoming an intelligent investor. And once you had more than 5 minutes, you can sit down and read the entire book. Uptime: 5 minute Book Summaries is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.  

Thursday (9/30): BetterMe: Health Coaching
A lot of people learned how to take care of their own fitness plans during the pandemic, but some people need some extra help. This app can give you that help with personalized workout and food plans. All you have to do is fill out your profile with your goals. It has workout plans for any fitness level, from beginner to expert. You can do the exercises at your home or in a gym setting. It comes with more than 800 different workouts to help you reach your desires. It has 1 on 1 coaching advice that’s available right there on the app. The whole program also starts with your mindset. You can also read articles on how to keep your thoughts together to get your mind ready and then your body. There’s a calorie tracker for your food. BetterMe: Health Coaching is a free app on iTunes and Android. There are in app purchases.

Wednesday (9/29): Prisma
This app lets you turn your photos into actual works of art. You can sprinkle in watercolor or oil painting effects to those pictures. It has hundreds of different art styles that you can pick from. You can make your photos look like classical artwork. Or you can turn them into something more modern or contemporary or anything in between. The app comes out with new filters every single day for you to work with. If you like what you see, share it with your friends and the Prisma community. Prisma is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Tuesday (9/28): Lookout
As much as you’d like to think otherwise, our smartphones are not immune from hackers. This app can help keep those hackers away, so you can rest a little easier knowing that your phone is safe. Lookout can provide that security and it can help keep your identity safe on any of your smartphones. The app looks through your system to look for anything that’s not supposed to be there. It digs deep into the root structure of the operating system. If you lose your phone, you can trigger it to find out exactly where the phone is located. You can make the phone sound an alarm to alert you or anyone else to the thief. Even if the battery goes low, the app saves your phone’s last location to help you find it. It also comes with theft alerts, a way to wipe your phone, and identity theft insurance. Lookout Mobile Security is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in app purchases.

Monday (9/27): Jumbo
These are times when we are more concerned for what we’ve put on social media. There could be photos or posts that we put up years ago, that we might not want any prospective employers finding out about. Jumbo can help you clean up your social media profiles. It scans through your apps to give you directions about increasing the security. That’s Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others. It’ll put limits on how their ads track you, and can keep those sites from selling your data. You can also delete old and embarrassing posts or pictures. It can help you remove your Alexa searches and voice recordings. Jumbo Privacy + Security is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in app purchases.

Friday (9/17): New York Times Cooking
When you need an app to help you find creative recipes and creative ways to cook, this might be it. It has thousands of different recipes to choose from. You can pick from ingredients that you have, to types of meals you wish to cook, to different diet restrictions that you might have. You can save your personal favorite recipes into your own virtual recipe box. When you’re cooking from the app, the app won’t go black after a certain time limit. It stays on screen as long as you need it. It’ll help with your grocery shopping to find all the items you need to make your dishes. It comes with video guides to teach you cooking techniques. The app has a community where people share their own ideas to change up certain recipes. You can add your own expertise to it, too. New York Times Cooking is a free app on iTunes Android with a subscription model.

Thursday (9/16): Seek
There’s an entire world out there that lives outside the concrete jungle. This app will help you identify different kinds of plants and animals just from the pictures you take of them. You just have to point the camera and the app searches the database to give you all the information that you need to learn about them. It works with a database with millions of species. What’s cool about this app is, you can take it out with your family and do some exploring from your backyard to a hiking trail. You can make it into a game and earn different badges for finding birds, plants, and even fungi.  There are challenges you can take on every month. It works with the team from National Geographic. Seek by iNaturalist is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (9/15): Kontxt Voice
Some people get so many spam calls, it’s tough to tell if that call coming in is legit or just another scammer. This app can be a go-between for you with those callers. The app can figure out if a caller is an actual person, or a robo-dialer. It can tell if the call is something real or just another spammer. It uses an AI to act as a phone screening service. You set up your own personal greeting through the app, and while it plays the app does its thing. It can tell the difference between a person and a robot caller. Then you can decide, if you want to answer the call or reject it into the phone call ether where it belongs. It also can make the caller do a 2-factor authentication to prove that the caller is a person. Kontxt Voice is a free app on Android.  

Tuesday (9/14): Wondrium
This app is there when you’re in the mood to learn something. It has thousands of educational videos that can teach you different topics on everything from yoga to chess to engineering courses. You might have known this app as The Great Courses Plus. You can learn through these online courses through videos and documentaries. It can be anything from Cooking Basics to Martin Luther King, Jr. There’s something for everyone. It has all different levels of learning from beginner to expert. You can even use the app to learn several different languages.  It’s adding new courses and topics all the time. Wondrium is a free app on iTunes, Android, Roku, and Apple TV. It has a subscription model.

Monday (9/13): The Postage
No one wants to think about what we all have to face someday. This app is to help you with your estate, and your estate plans. You can take control of where you would want everything to be when you’re not here any longer. It has a safe place to store your most important papers and passwords to your accounts. It gives you access to estate planning services. You can even tell your loved ones any last words that you might have. The app will send them out in the event… You can save your papers by just taking a picture of them and sending them to The Postage. You can store any memories, like photos or videos to be shared when you want them to be shared. The app takes you step by step through paperwork that you will need to have your wishes taken care of. It also has funeral planning services. The Postage: Plan Your Estate is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has an extra subscription plan.  

Friday (9/10): Soosee - Allergy & Vegan Scan
So many people have different kinds of food allergies that they have to be really careful of what foods they take in. Or perhaps, you are totally vegan and don’t want any animal products in the foods that you eat. This app lets you run a scan on the ingredients in different foods. It warns you, if something you want to buy has something that you can’t have. It comes with 30 different categories of items to protect you. The app will highlight words that might cause you some concern about your health and safety. You might not want to take all the time, scanning the ingredients list, especially if it’s a long list. You can avoid products with gluten, or maybe there’s something that might be hazardous, if you’re pregnant. It also scans for additives that aren’t good for your health. Soosee - Allergy & Vegan Scan is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (9/9): Socratic
This is an app for learning. Maybe you’re stuck in your studies. It could be math, or science, or history. This app can help with a Google A.I. It’ll help with the school work that your kids need. You can use it to give them a hand and a direction to go in how to figure something out. You just have to ask the question or take a picture of the problem, and the app finds the best ways to find the answers. It might be a video on YouTube or a website to help out. It doesn’t just give you answers, it shows you how to figure it out.  You learn the concepts behind how to find the answers. It comes with study guides to give you more help so you can move forward. Socratic is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (9/8): Camo
So many of us have had to learn how to use webcams through Zoom, Facetime, and all kinds of video streaming apps. This one can make you stand out when you have to go back on camera. This app can take your phone’s webcam or the one on your desktop and improve the way you look. It makes you look like you’re in front of a professional webcam. You don’t need some fancy expensive camera to do the job and you don’t have to put up with a lousy looking image. Professionals are using this app for their presentations. You can use it to find just the right effects to put in the background. It helps you find just the right lens on your phone. You have the same control that you would with that pricey camera. High quality professional looking video with this app. Camo — webcam for Mac and PC is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (9/7): NFL
The 2021 season starts this week with a full slate of games. This app will keep you on top of everything going on in pro football with your favorite teams and your favorite players. It gives you access to the NFL Network 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You get up to the minutes and stats on all the games. You can watch local and all the primetime games of the season. Through the app, you can also see all the playoffs and Super Bowl. It gives you access to NFL Game Pass where you can watch every game all season for all the teams. You can also listen to your favorite team’s radio calls from the broadcasters you follow. It also has all the NFL news you could watch and special shows. The NFL app is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for the Game Pass for the season.

Monday (9/6): McClockface
Our App today is called McClockface. Oh sure, you can keep the default clock on your phone and it works just fine. But, if you want something a little more creative, this app might do. It has around a dozen widgets that you can add to your screen. It can show you how much of the day or year is left through percentages. You can put the time on a license plate. That’s kind of interesting. It has a kind of Back to the Future look available. Or you can see it as a blueprint. There are different color schemes to pick from through different time zones. You might never look at time the same way again. This one is just fun. McClockface is a new app. It’s $2 on iTunes.

Friday (9/3): 100 Office Workouts
Now that a lot of people are back at the office, there’s really not much extra time to get that workout in that you might want. This app lets you get in some reps from the comfort of your office and those little workouts can help you move again. The app breaks it down to different categories. You can work your abs in your office chair, do different kind of stretches, work out your arms and shoulders. Some of these exercises you can do in just a couple of minutes. Get some cardio in during lunch with 60 second HIIT routines. You also can get your heart going without working up a sweat. The app can even show you how to do Office Yoga. There’s no equipment necessary. 100 Office Workouts is a free app on Android.

Thursday (9/2): Roadside America
When you’re on the road trip somewhere in the country, there’s a chance that you might want to see what America has to offer when it comes to interesting places. This app is your guide to the best roadside attractions anywhere in the country. You might want to go see the full-sized replica of Noah’s Ark or the Museum of the Freaky in Portland or the Corn Palace in South Dakota. America is filled with attractions. North Texas has dozens of them. In El Paso, there’s the Flying Saucer Building or the first drive-in restaurant in San Antonio. Find all the strange museums you could want with this app. You get 1 region of the country for free, or you can unlock the whole country for a fee. Roadside America will fill your roadies with different experiences. It’s a free app on iTunes.

Wednesday (9/1): Water My Yard
The Texas A&M Agrilife Extension office has put together this app to let you know when it’s just the right time to water the lawn and when you can hold off. More than 50 percent of the watering we do is wasted, because we don’t know when it’s ok to turn the sprinklers off. This app can save you on you water bills, because there’s no need to do the yard, if the ground has enough water from the rain. It works through most of north Texas. It can help you keep your yard healthy without overwatering. When you do need to turn on the sprinkler system, the app can give you guidance about how long to set each station, so again, you’re not wasting water. It also keeps track of any restrictions in your city. It works with your neighborhood water districts. Water My Yard is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (8/31): All Trails
This one is for people who like to hike. It doesn’t matter where, they just like to go for long walks to explore nature. Or go for a run or a bike ride that’s not on the streets. This app has more than 200 thousand hiking trails mapped out all over the world. For example, it lists around a hundred different trails, just in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Each one has maps and pictures and reviews of the places you can explore. It’ll tell you which trails are really dog-friendly or wheelchair friendly. You might find some new places to explore in your backyard. The app gives you turn by turn directions to drive to your next walk with nature. You can also use the app to keep your contacts in one place, if you need a lifeline. AllTrails: Hike, Bike & Run is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a pro version that you can pay for, with extra features.

Monday (8/30): Neighbor
That empty space in your house doesn’t have to be empty. It could be making money for you. You can take some of that empty space, and turn it into a storage space. Maybe your 3 car garage has only 2 cars in it. You could make some cash by renting out that 3rd space for someone to park their car. Perhaps, you have a closet that you’re not using, or a storage unit on your property. Rent it for cash. It says you can make a couple hundred dollars a month as a side hustle. You can also control when your renter gets access and how. You’re into the storage wars. And if you need space, you can use the app to find hosts that have space to rent to you. Neighbor is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for the space, or make money from the space.

Friday (8/27): pCloud
If you need a digital space to store all your important documents, photos, videos, and other important files, this might be the perfect place to put them. It begins with 10 gigabytes of free storage. Other services like Dropbox start with 2 for free. You can add whatever size file you need to. There’s no limit to the size of each file. pCloud gives you easy access to see what you have stored up. The app lets you send any file to someone else. That also includes large files. You can also let friends add files to your pCloud account. When you need a place for your stuff, pCloud might be the way to go. There’s also a version called pCloud Crypto to encrypt your files for extra safety. Start with the 10 gig for free, then you can also buy up to 2 terabytes of storage for a lifetime with one fee. pCloud is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for extra storage.

Thursday (8/26): Qube Money
We all need help sometimes when it comes to our finances and our budget. This app can help with all of those things. It has something called Cash Envelope banking. The app can help you keep track of your expenses from paycheck to paycheck. It also works with you to make sure that you start spending your money more wisely. You divide your paycheck into different digital envelopes that they call Qubes. That way, your payments go straight into them to go out to the companies you need to pay. This keeps you straight where every dollar is going. That helps keep your budget straight, and you might have some left over to put into savings. Qube Money is listed as the #1 budgeting app by Real Simple. It's a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (8/25): Mela - Recipe Manager
Sometimes you need a single place to keep all the recipes in one place and one place. This app can look at a webpage and tell if there’s a recipe on it. It’ll take that recipe and put it into the app’s database instantly and you can access it on your screen. If there’s a cooking site that you like, you can access all the recipes in the app. See recipes in cookbooks, scan them, and they’re in the database, too. The app can make it easier to see the recipes while you’re in the kitchen by simply making the fonts bigger in the cook mode setting. It uses the Reminders app to help with your grocery list. Mela also syncs with your iCloud to keep your recipe lists saved in the cloud. Mela - Recipe Manager is $5 on iTunes.  

Tuesday (8/24): Otter: Transcribe Voice Notes
There are still a lot of people that are still working from home, so the meetings are filled with Zoom sessions. This app can take what you see and hear in those meetings, and put them into words on the screen. It’ll record what you’re seeing and hearing, and transcribe them. You can share those notes with others on your team. It also records anything from interviews or lectures, videos and webinars. It just takes one tap and you start the process. One you get the app’s AI trained, it can even tell the difference between speakers, and make adjustments to the conversation, so it’s not just one record. The app lets you edit and highlight certain important sections in the transcription. It will also sync up with your Zoom account to start working right away. Otter: Transcribe Voice Notes is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Monday (8/23): Prequel
Before you send off your pictures or videos to your social media, you want them to look just right. This app can let you put some different types of filters onto your photos, beyond what you get with other photo apps. This has more than 800 different filters and effects. You can add words from 30+ different fonts. Add gifs, or stickers, or emojis. You can add a different type of colors, specialized effects. There are different types of effects collections in the app. Edit through everything from Disco, Diamond, Bling, and others to tell your stories. There are trending filters and colors. It also works with your videos. You can make your videos look like you shot them with an old school VHS video camera from the 80s or 90s. Prequel can enhance your creativity. It’s a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in app purchases.

Friday (8/20): Lock & Stock
This purpose of this app seems to defeat the purpose of having an app. Its whole mission is to get you to stop looking at your phone. And since you might not be willing to get off the phone, this app will bribe you to do it. Or you’ll at least compete to see who can stay off their phones the longest. You keep your phone locked, and you can win some prizes from different companies. Everything from Baskin Robbins to Forever 21. You might even become the Student of the Week for keeping the phone out of your hands the longest. There are also ways to get buy one, get one free rewards just for keeping away from the phone. Just keep it locked and do things in the real world instead The app even has scholarships to over a thousand universities. You just have to keep your phone locked. Lock & Stock is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (8/19): Airside Digital Identity
This app gives you a place to keep a digital copy of all your important records and IDs. You can add scanned copies of your driver license, your passport, your vaccination records, your COVID vaccination card, or anything else. It holds it into a secure digital ID format. You are the only person who can access any of the information from the secure servers. It gives you quick access so you can share your identity when you need to quicker with the app. You won’t need to dig through your wallet to find any of those items. This is especially good for the time when you’re at the airport, ready to go through security. Airside Digital Identity is a free app on iTunes.  

Wednesday (8/18): Vax Yes
It’s a question that a lot of people have asked lately. If I have to show proof that I’m fully vaccinated, do I have to carry my card around with me? Is there a way to show proof of COVID vaccination the high tech way? This is one answer. Now, it’s not an app for the phone. This is a website, where you put in pictures of your ID and your vaccination card. The app uses medical professionals to make sure everything is legit on your vaccination card. It then works with the state’s health department to confirm everything. Once you get back the confirmation, you can use the digital certificate for any place that requires proof of vaccination. It could be traveling, or concerts, or any other place. Vax Yes from Go Get Vax is available through the Go Get Vax website.

Tuesday (8/17): Mathway
Some students just don’t get math, as hard as they try to. This app can help them, when they have problems that they just can’t seem to solve. It has already solved more than 5 billion of them. The app can show you how it reached the answers, as a way to learn the process of figuring out why A+B=C. The app can handle anything from the basics in math, like fractions or decimals. Or, work through algebra, trig, or calculus. It can handle statistics. The point of Mathway isn’t to just give you the answers. It’s to help teach you how to get the answers on your own when you don’t have the app to help you. Mathway is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has options to pay for live tutoring when you need people help.  

Monday (8/16): Habitica
Some people need a little different type of incentive to get things done. This is an app that can turn your schedule into a game of sorts. It’s perfect for students that are used to playing games on their computers. You put in, what you want to get done, your goals, and your habits. Then, you come up with an avatar to represent you in the app. As you check things off your list, and you beef up the avatar and you get more virtual gold to spend on other things. But, if you miss out on some deadlines, that hurts your avatar. Think of it as a competition to get the chores done on time, and you get rewarded. It even has an area where you team up with your friends to take on “task monsters” to get things done. Anything for motivation. Habitica is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has an optional subscription.  

Friday (8/13): IMDBtv
There are so many streaming services that you have to pay for. They can really add up to the monthly bill. This app lets you watch thousands of TV shows, movies, and original programming and it doesn’t cost a thing. It comes with everything from Mad Men, Chicago Fire, and classics like Bewitched, Columbo and Desperate Housewives. There are dozens of channels to look through to find something to watch. You can see films, like How to Train Your Dragon, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Shrek. The app adds new content all the time.  The app comes from IMDB and Amazon. You don't need to pay for all of that entertainment.  It’s free on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (8/12): Evergreen: Relationship Growth
Every couple could use some help, keeping their relationship going strong. This app says it can help to improve that relationship and help bring you even closer together. It only takes a couple of minutes where you and your partner spend some time with quizzes or read up on some tips from relationship experts. It comes with questions every day that you two can answer together. You might find that you learn something new that you didn’t know before, no matter how long you’ve been together. It looks at how to manage conflicts, stress, money, your families, and communication. You might not need to pay for the therapist with this one. Evergreen: Relationship Growth. It’s a free app on iTunes. It has in app purchases.

Wednesday (8/11): DC: Batman Bat-Tech Edition
This is a brand new games app, that’s supposed to be for kids. But you know you, you’ll probably have fun with it, too. You get to play as Batman to solve 10 missions, using augmented reality in your surroundings. You can get to play with all of those toys that Batman uses. You’ll go up against his worst villains from the Joker to Mr. Freeze to the Riddler. The app also has a bunch of mini-games to test your skills. You’ll have to drive the Batmobile, avoid everything in your path. You have target practice with the Batarang. The game tests your abilities to go from rooftop to rooftop, using the grappler. Like I said, you get to play with all those toys. DC: Batman Bat-Tech Edition is a free app on iTunes and Android. It’s brand new.

Tuesday (8/10): myNoise
Sometimes, you need a little noise to help you with your concentration. It’s the type of noise that makes the difference. myNoise can bring different kinds of white noise to your phone. Maybe you want the sound of rain, or oceans, or anything else. That type of noise can blunt the sounds that you don’t like in your ears that’s ruining your ability to think or to sleep. But, this app gives you more control over the sounds. You can calibrate the sounds to just the right levels. It comes with a mixer board to put just the right volume and tone and frequencies of the sounds. The app comes with hundreds of different sounds that you can use to improve your life. myNoise is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in app purchases for more sounds.

Monday (8/9): Picsart Photo & Video Editor
Anyone can take pictures and just post them to their social media. This app takes your photos to another level. Just like the name says, it’s a photo and video editor. It lets you put in different kinds of filters and effects onto your pictures. If there’s some kind of flotsam in the background, you can get just wipe it away with a removal tool. No unnecessary trees or power poles. You can add other pictures or stickers into your masterpiece. Or text with more than 200 fonts. The video editor is perfect for your Instagram Stories or TikTok videos. You can add music and other video effects. The app also has a collage maker to put pictures together. Picsart Photo & Video Editor is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in app purchases.  

Friday (8/6): 1 Second Everyday
This app lets you share your life in snippets. 1 Second at a time. It’s a video diary. You shoot a video of some aspect of your life, but it’s only 1 second worth. Talk about a perspective. What’s the most important second of your day. The app lets you collect those seconds, so after a year, you have a little over 6 minutes of a video. A stitch in time. IF you have the patience, you can make videos of any length. There’s a reminder function to remind you to take your second. You can also do two different kinds of projects. One for events or trips. The other for a regular journal of your days. 1 Second Every Day is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in app purchases.

Thursday (8/5): Our Groceries Shopping List
COVID has made a lot of us appreciate organization and quicker ways of doing things. This app can help you with your grocery shopping, especially if you like to ‘divide and conquer’ in the store. You put in your shopping list. It goes out to everyone on your personal network and you can each pick up what you need to fill the cart. That way, you get in and out as quickly as you wish. The app lets you cross things off the list when you get them. It also lets you put your list together efficiently, so you’re looking for items by category or store aisles. You can use the camera to make sure your hubby is getting the right thing. Use bar codes to check things off. The app stores your list, so you can just tap into it, when you run out of something you had on there already. Our Groceries Shopping List is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (8/4): What 3 Words
Imagine the entire world, laid out as a grid with words to mark every location on Earth. The makers of this app have come up with a way to find any place on the planet. You just use 3 words to break it down. Every set of coordinates is made up of 3 different words to within 10 feet. Street addresses don’t break down to this kind of exact location. It’s ideal if you need EMS to find you quickly. For example, the AAC main entrance is at adding.saints.brain. Fort Worth City Hall is flushes.hips.stacks. You can also use this to meet up with someone and not get confused about which entrance to be. You can tell someone exactly where you are if your car breaks down. You can find a special spot anywhere on Earth. It all comes down to What 3 Words. It’s a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (8/3): Dog Cam – Dog Selfie Camera
Yup, it’s an app that lets you take the perfect dog selfies. The app comes with a noisemaker to get your dog’s attention. The dog looks to the camera, and you hit click. The app comes with more than a hundred different sounds to make your dog look up at the camera. It even lets you record some of your own, if you know what sounds your dog likes to hear. You can use the app to shoot still photos or videos and keep your dog’s attention the whole time. It switches between the selfie or forward facing cameras instantly. You can then edit to your desires with all kinds of frames or stickers. Then save and share. Dog Cam – Dog Selfie Camera is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in app purchases.

Monday (8/2): Mastodon
This is a social networking app, that isn’t like a normal social networking app. This is a way to be social without the big network. It connects people of the same interests through a series of smaller independent groups. The only thing you need to do is a find a group that you would want to join and you can meet others in the same group. It’s kind of an old school way of finding people without all the noise of voices you don’t want to hear. You can read posts, write your own, and get reactions from others in the group. You can also have more control over who sees your posts in the group. Find new interests through hashtags and other accounts. Mastodon is the biggest elephant in the room. It’s a free app on iTunes.   

Friday (7/30): Resy
This app can be a big help to you, if you need to make reservations for your favorite restaurants. It’s also an app that can help you find a place to grab a bite to eat, based on what kind of food you’re looking for. This is ideal for anyone who is visiting a new city, where you don’t know the best places. It can also show you different unique places that might not be in the tourist books. You could discover something new in your own hometown. It has more than 5 thousand different restaurants in the database to choose from. You can book your reservations. If there aren’t tables available, the app will let you know when there’s an opening. The app can also send information about the restaurant to other guests in your party. Resy is a free app on Apple and Android.

Thursday (7/29): Moldiv
It’s been a while since we’ve done a photo editing app. This one gives you all the tools that you need to perfect your pictures and get rid of them faults that you might see in them. This app lets you shoot pictures and videos with these filters. You can smooth out your skin, enhance your eyes, and other features. The app can help with the lighting in your pictures. The professional photo editor has more two hundred filters and 14 different themes. You can also use the app to add text to your pictures. It has almost a hundred background patterns to enhance the photo. It comes with different collages. You can also create your magazine layout of your pictures. Moldiv might have the answers you want for your photos and videos to make them just right. It’s a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.  

Wednesday (7/28): Turo
Have you tried renting a car lately? The costs have gone through the roof lately, ever since the pandemic forced rental car companies to sell off most of their fleets. This app is a way to get a hold of a car without dealing with the Hertz’s or Avis’s or Alamo’s of the world. This app lets you rent a person’s ride for a time, just like a rental. Think of it as an AirBNB for cars. You can book just about any car that you’d want in cities all over the country. There are 850 cars and trucks available in different areas. Rents start as little as 18 dollars a day, and there aren’t all those hidden fees that rental car companies slap on. You don’t need to pay for a stadium in another city. You’re booking from the hosts themselves. If you have a car that you’d like to make some money on, you can become a host as well. Turo is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for the car rentals, of course.  

Tuesday (7/27): Virtual Vision Test
This app lets you check out your own vision, without the need of going to an eye doctor to start. Your prescription might have expired and you want to make sure that your eyes haven’t changed. This app lets you renew your prescription from your house or office through your iPhone. You take the test, and your eye doctor can renew your glasses or contacts right away. The app has the same simple eye test that you get at the doctor’s office. Once you’re done, your doctor gets the results and can let you know if you can keep your glasses, or if your vision has changed. Your doctor might find you need more of an exam that the app can provide. Virtual Vision Test is a free app on iTunes. You pay $15 for the exam.

Monday (7/26): Craftsy
During the pandemic, a lot of people took up new hobbies while stuck at home. This app can help you continue that love of new crafts, and teach you something as well. It’s a teaching app that can send you to classes in all kinds of different crafts. It can be quilting, sewing, knitting, cooking, and baking.  There are more than 15 hundred different classes. They’re taught by experts in their field. Each class has at least six sessions that let you learn the craft. There’s everything from beginner classes to expert. It also has live streaming instruction on a schedule. You can get newsletters to help keep you inspired. Craftsy is a free app on iTunes. You pay the subscription to get the classes.  

Friday (7/23): Plantir: Plant Care & Reminder
During the pandemic, a lot of people filled their homes with plants to help bring a bit of joy to their lives. But, not everyone knows how to properly care for them. This is an app that can help you with the care and feeding of your new plants. It’s a tracking app. It can help you set up scheduling for watering, or feeding, or fertilizing your plants. It’ll give you daily reminders about when you should be doing something for your plants. You can get reminders about when it’s time to re-pot a plant, or prune it. There’s no limit how many plants that you can track. Set the schedule for every day, every week, or whatever time frame you choose. Plantir is brand new. It’s free, but you can upgrade to the pro version with more features. Plantir is on iTunes.

Thursday (7/22): Qello Concerts
The Coronavirus put us all into a ‘concert drought’. We hadn’t been able to see live concerts in months until just recently. Now, you can get your fill of whatever shows you want to see. You can see concerts that you never got to see but always wanted to. The app gives you the best seat in the house to see everyone from Queen to Metallica to the Rolling Stones to Beyoncé. There are thousands of tracks from different life performances from all decades in all genres. There are also documentaries you can choose from to watch. The app also comes with programs from the vaults at MTV. Remember when they used to play videos? Forbes calls it the Netflix of concert films. Qello Concerts is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.  

Wednesday (7/21): OCEARCH Shark Tracker
Shark Week ended over the weekend, but our fascination with sharks runs all year long. They are the ultimate apex predators and we will watch anything that they’re associated with. This app lets you see where the sharks are swimming in real time. You can watch their migrations all along the coast. There are tiger sharks, great whites, hammerhead sharks, and mako sharks. Over the weekend, we had a dozen of those sharks along the Texas Gulf Coast. You’re watching tracks of sharks that have been tagged by scientists. But, it’s not just sharks that you can watch. There are other fish and marine animals with trackers. It comes with all kinds of information and data on sharks. This is the same information that those scientists use to learn more about them. OCEARCH Shark Tracker is a free app on iTunes and Android.  

Tuesday (7/20): TV Guide
Remember growing up reading the TV Guide? You could read the articles. You would leave it next to the TV to figure out what to watch on the networks. TV has changed, and so has TV Guide. There are more channels, streaming channels, and entire streaming services. This app puts all of them together, so you can see what’s on at any time. It could be NBC, CBS, ABC, or Fox. Or you can see what’s streaming at any particular time on IMDB TV, Peacock, or even any of the networks on The Roku Channel. Networks like Hulu, Disney Plus, or Netflix will add shows and take away shows every month. The app keeps them all straight. It also has video previews and trailers. TV Guide is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Monday (7/19): Pantry Manager
If you can’t remember if you have paprika in the pantry, then this app is for you. Pantry Manager allows you to not only know what is in your pantry, but will also alert you when an item is about to expire. The app features lists that relate to items you have or will purchase, barcode scanning to add items to your list, the ability to find which items have coupons as well as the ability to store photos of the items in your pantry. Set up the shopping list through the app. Pantry Manager is $4 on iTunes.  

Friday (7/9): Openfit
Our App today is called Openfit. This is the newest app to help you get back in shape. This isn’t just a fitness app. It has that as well as information on nutrition. It also has an entire community to help motivate you and keep you living a healthy lifestyle. The app has live-streaming classes that you can join any time of day. You have access to your own personal trainer through the app. There are also more than 250 different other workouts on demand. There’s everything from HIIT workouts to yoga to Pilates to simple walking exercises. You can get a full workout in, in as little as 10 minutes. You don’t even any equipment and you can find something in the 200 new workouts every week. It has more than 6 thousand recipes for you to cook from. Openfit is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.  

Thursday (7/8): Buzzer
This app has been in the news lately, because it now has the backing of several professional athletes. And it just got 20 million new dollars. The app is perfect for sports fans that want to see the best bits of live sports on your phones. You can watch the close endings to live games with the NBA League Pass. You can watch live hockey, and tournaments from the PGA Tour. You can set up a whole list of your favorite players and teams to find out when there’s something really exciting going on. The app makes sure that you’re right there when the buzzer beater is about to hit. The app has the support of Patrick Mahomes, Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, DeAndre Hopkins and others. Buzzer is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in app purchases.

Wednesday (7/7): American Red Cross Blood Donor App
This app can help you give the gift of life through blood donations. It helps you find where the Red Cross is running blood drives near where you live. You can set up your own appointments to donate for the Red Cross. The app will let you know what are the results of that mini-physical you get before you donate. One cool thing about this app. People want to know that they’re doing some good. The app will inform you when the blood you donate is on the way, and helping to save a life. You’ll also know when the Red Cross really needs your help, when there’s a critical need for blood. You can also earn milestone badges for your generosity. Blood Donor American Red Cross is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (7/6): Grown By
There are people that want the freshest food that they can get. And the freshest food comes from American farmers. This app lets you connect up with local farmers near you. It could be for fresh fruit, veggies, cheese, or anything else straight from the farm. You can put together a shopping list and have your food delivered to a location to pick up. The app supports small farms, and the app comes from those farmers. You can set up a subscription system and work with the same farmers all the time. You can use the app to pick and choose which farmers you want do deal with. Farmers, you can use the app to find new customers. Grown By is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for your food and you help your local farmers.

Monday (7/5): Swing Vision
With Wimbledon going on, a lot of people will be inspired to dig out their tennis racquets to work on their own that the pros make look so easy. This is an AI trainer that can help you improve all your shots and your overall tennis game. The Swing Vision uses a single camera to watch the footage of your match. It can track the shots, even the type of spin you’re hitting and your ball speed. You can use the app to look for your strengths and faults. The app provides all the coaching you need. You can keep a running log of your workouts. The AI can analyze your swing and what you can do to improve it. It also works with parents and coaches to check out everything in your tennis students. Swing Vision: AI Tennis App is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

Friday (7/2): iExit
There are other apps like Waze or Google Maps that will show you how to get from way place to another. iExit will show you where you can go on the way from one place to another. You’re going to want to make a pitstop on the road if you’re driving a long way on an interstate. How are you supposed to know what’s coming up in front of you? What if you need a certain brand of gasoline? What if the kids will ONLY eat nuggets from Chick Fil-A and nowhere else? This app will show up what’s coming up in the next exits ahead. This is important, especially if you’re in an area that you don’t know. It even comparison shops the gas prices at the next exit. iExit is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (7/1): ICE Medical Standard
You never know when you’re going to be in a situation, where you need help from your emergency contacts. If you get into a car wreck, or some kind of medical emergency, this app can put your emergency contacts right there on your lock screen. The first responders won’t have to waste time trying to get your face to recognize or your fingerprint, and they won’t have to try to guess your passcode.  Your emergency info is right there, so are any conditions that you might have. They can find out if you have pre-existing conditions or allergies to medications. You have the option of putting in as much or as little information on your lock screen for your own privacy, but first responders can see what they need to when they turn on your phone. ICE Medical Standard is important. It’s a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (6/30): Swimply
As the summer heats up, you might be looking for a place to cool off. Not everyone has the luxury of owning a pool or having an apartment complex that has a swimming pool. Now, you can rent a private pool for a day, a pool party, or a family event. You rent them by the hour and not have to worry about dealing with the chemicals or maintaining the pool.  IF you own a pool, you can set the rules and make some money by renting it out to others. You can also decide which renters you’re willing to give access to your pool. The app has thousands of pools and locations all over the country. You can search through and find which ones look like they’ll best serve your needs. The app also has other rec spaces available for rent, such as tennis courts, basketball courts, or even home studios. Swimply is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for the pool.

Tuesday (6/29): Discogs
Do you have a music collection that you have trouble keeping track of? This app is there to help you catalog your discs. It could be CD’s or vinyl records. You can use the app to look online for artists and discs to complete your collection. It has a search function of millions of albums and artists. You can also search by barcode and find out when your favorite artists are releasing new music, or when they’re going on tour. There’s a way to shop for records, CD’s, even cassettes. You can even use the app to find record stores that are near you. Discogs is a free app on iTunes and Android.  

Monday (6/28): Price Pulse
Amazon Prime Days may be over, but you can still find deals everywhere on the site. This app lets you track Amazon prices, as well as the history of the prices of the items that you’re tracking. The app will send you notifications when the price drops to a certain level. It can be anything that Amazon sells from groceries to computers to household items. The app will tell you when is the best time to pick up those items, or when the price might drop. It scans millions of different things on Amazon. You can use the barcode scanner at a store to see if you can get a better deal online. Or just use it to price match at the store. Price Pulse is a free app on iTunes and Android.  

Friday (6/25): Blush No More
Sometimes, it takes a little icebreaker to get a conversation going in a public setting. You can only sit around and talk about the weather or COVID for so long. This app is one of those that provides you with questions that can start a conversation, or you could even it into some kind of game. The app breaks down the types of questions depending on what situation you’re in. It could be a party at the job or with clients. Maybe dinner party conversation. The app even gives you a chance to read others’ body language to see if they’re even interested in the topics. You might say, “if you could make up any company policy, what would it be?” Blush No More is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (6/24): Great Photo App
Everyone uses the camera on their phone to take pictures. That’s a given. But, just because you have a camera, that doesn’t make you a photographer. This app might be able to teach you how to be one and take better pictures. You get hands on training to learn everything, from the basics through more sophisticated techniques. The app teaches you while you’re taking pictures with your phone. It comes with different interactive lessons. It might be on exposure to the aperture to depth of field lessons.  You’ll learn how to best set up your shots, and what kind of lighting will make the perfect shot. It comes with lessons on more than a thousand different kind of lighting scenes. Great Photo App is $4 on iTunes. It has in-app purchases for more lessons.

Wednesday (6/23): Lost in Blindness
It’s been a while since we’ve had a game to talk about. This game is going to be challenging, because you play the game and can’t see anything on the screen. You play a character named Alex. He’s blind and you have to use your sense of sound in order to get through the game. It comes with an entire 3-D environment that you maneuver through by listening to all the sounds around you. There are puzzles to solve and decisions to make that can change the story’s outcome. You’re going to solve some ancient Mayan mysteries in this game. Lost in Blindness is a new kind of game, it’s five dollars on iTunes and Android.  

Tuesday (6/22): DataBot Personal Assistant AI
Sometimes, you don’t want Siri or Alexa interfering in your lives. This is a personal assistant that uses an A.I. to help get you what you need when you ask for it. You get a digital personal artificial intelligence at your fingertips. It incorporates your apps into its machine learning to bring you information and photos. It can put together multimedia presentations for your search requests. It breaks down into modules and commands. You can use what you learn in your text messages, socials, and emails. It also works with all your devices. The free version answers your questions, sets your alarms, and chats with you. The enhanced version also has a dictionary, reminders, shopping lists. It’ll even help you keep up with different news topics. DataBot Personal Assistant AI is a free app on iTunes, Android, and Windows. It has in-app purchases.  

Monday (6/21): Line 2
This app is for anyone who might need a second phone number that’s handy, and that’s not your personal cellphone. This is great for people that are running their own businesses and have used their cellphone as their work number. This app lets you separate the two. You can add up to 5 different phone numbers to your phone. It gives you the option of using a local number or one that’s toll free. And if you want, you can just move your regular smartphone number to the second number, if you want the main number for business calls. The app provides unlimited calling and texting. It also comes with an auto-attendant, along with on hold music. This app makes it possible for you to dump that second cellphone that you have to carry with you. Line 2 is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.  

Friday (6/18): Cozi Family Organizer
This app can keep you and everyone in your family on the same page. Literally. Just like the name says, this is a family organizing app to keep everyone’s schedules straight and in one place. You can use the family calendar, so there aren’t any conflicts among work, youth sports, family time, or anything else. It uses a color coded calendar for every person in the family. You can also use the app to working on your shopping lists for the week’s meals. The app also has a place where you can store your favorite recipes and not have to dig through the junk drawer to find what ingredients you need. It also has a to-do list of chores for everyone to share in the housework. Anyone in the family can add to the organizer and it will show up everywhere else. It also gives you reminders when the next thing is coming up.  Cozi Family Organizer is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Thursday (6/17): Wombo
The whole thing behind TikTok at the beginning used to be, showcasing people singing along to music and music videos. This takes that whole concept to a new level. It uses artificial intelligence to incorporate your face into your own music video. The app has hundreds of different songs that can showcase you as the lead singer. All you need is a photo and the app transforms your picture into a music video. The app makes it look like you’re lip syncing to classics, like Thriller from Michael Jackson to the latest from the best hip hop performers around. Keep it as a short video or turn it into a GIF. Turn yourself into an incredible performer with Wombo. It’s a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.  

Wednesday (6/16): Under My Roof
Anyone who has bought or owned a home knows how much paperwork there can be with that home. From the buying to the maintenance of the house. This app can help you keep track of all that paper jungle with your home and everything inside of it. It helps to store all the important documents, repairs and schedules, any changes you want to make. The app can keep track of home insurance and your estate planning. You can keep all the photos of your home in one place, and you can look at them on any of your devices. When you’re ready to move, the app can help you facilitate everything and keep you on just the right track. Under My Roof is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

Tuesday (6/15): iVerify
This is an app that helps to make sure that your phone is safe and secure where it should be. It’s a scanner app that checks everything out. First off, it makes sure that you’re using all the free protection abilities that come with iOS. It looks to make sure that there isn’t any sign of compromise with your phone. Then, it comes with guides that help you make the best decisions for you to secure your phone. It looks for any exploits in your apps. It can protect your wireless data and keeps unwanted trackers and ads off your phone. You can keep up with the latest security news about your phone. And it comes with a red light threat detection to show you issues with the phone and what you can do to stop them. It’s a security toolkit for your iPhone. iVerify Secure Your Phone is $3 on iTunes. 

Monday (6/14): Voilà AI Artist Cartoon Photo
This is the app that has shown up on your Instagram feeds for the last couple of days. The app lets you take your photos and turn you into a cartoon, or a 15th century painting, a caricature, or even a 3D cartoon. The app uses artificial intelligence to find your face in the photo, and highlight it for the final product. You can see what you’d look like as a Pixar cartoon with the app. Or it can combine the aspects to show you what you look like as a baby cartoon.  You might spend a lot of time on this app, looking at yourself and your friends in a whole new light. Voilà AI Artist Cartoon Photo is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Friday (6/5): Life Hack Tips
There’s still something about life hacks that makes people smile. It’s those little nuggets of wisdom that you never knew before, but can change your life or just make you smarter than the next person.  The app breaks down these life hacks into different categories. You can learn something new in technology, food and drinks, travel, money making, home décor, and dozens of others. One life hack says, if you take a sip of coffee before you add sugar, you won't need as much sugar for it to taste as sweet afterwards. It’s easy to sort through all the bits of wisdom to find something that applies to you. It also comes with a daily hack of the day. Life Hack Tips is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in app purchases.

Thursday (6/4): Happify
This has been a really stressful time for most people, thanks to the pandemic and other issues. The reason for this app is to give you a sense of peace and happiness. The app uses a scientific method to produce different kinds of activities to help you take care of your burnout and cut back on stress. It comes with dozens of sound tracks and games and different kinds of meditations to bring you right. People who use it say, in a couple of weeks, they start to feel a turnaround in themselves toward a positive change in their outlooks. When you start with the app, you answer some questions about what you want to accomplish, and the app guides you towards those goals through games. You also have conversations with an AI bot to help you focus on the good in life. Happify is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Tuesday (6/2): Poparazzi
This is a brand new photography and social media app combined into one. But, there’s one major twist about it. You can’t take pictures of yourself. You’re a paparazzo photographer, and you take pictures of your friends that they post on their social media page. They then take the pictures of you for you to post on your Poparazzi page. The app actually cuts off your front facing camera, when you’re using the app. So, you are helping your friends with their pictures and they help you with yours. There are no comments in the social media. The only reactions you get are with emojis from other people. And you are competing for higher pop scores. Poparazzi only needed a week to become the #1 most downloaded app in the App Store. It’s free on iTunes.

Monday (6/1): Blossom
This app is for people who like spending time in their gardens, or want to start one. It can help you with figuring out what’s already growing in your backyard or anywhere else. The app will teach you whatever you need to know about your plants. You can learn what plants need what kind of care. It can be watering schedules, how much direct sunlight they need, temperatures that they thrive in. It’ll even remind you when it’s time to tend to the plant care and feeding of your garden. You can figure what plants are right for the time commitment you have for them. It uses an AI to consult a database of more than 10 thousand plants and trees. All you have to do is take a picture and the app can tell you what you have. Blossom - Plant Identification is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in app purchases.

Friday (5/28): KeyRing
How many reward cards do you have cluttering up your wallet or purse? Now, you don’t need to carry any of them and you can lighten your load. This app lets you scan all the critical information and barcodes from those loyalty cards. All you have to do is scan all of your cards, they get categorized in the app. It stores them securely in the cloud. You can also get the weekly ads from any of your favorite cards. It also lets you earn your rewards points when you scan your app from your phone at a retailer.  It works with all the major retailers from Amazon to Starbucks, Walmart to Target. It also can help you build up shopping lists through the app. KeyRing is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (5/27): Vintage Camera: M10 Simulator
Not everyone needs all the bells and whistles that a smartphone camera. This one is for people that miss the old school way of taking pictures. The point and shoot way. This app can take you back to the days when you had no way of editing or deleting your pictures because they’re on a camera roll. You can take pictures that look like you took them on anything from classic Kodak to Fuji’s. It comes with 15 presets of cameras. You can take as many photos with the camera simulators with the FLICA app. You’ll see your pictures come in black and white to those classic washed out colors of the 70s and 80s. The pictures won’t have that perfect digital clarity to them. FLICA Vantage Camera: M10 Simulator is $2 on iTunes.

Wednesday (5/26): 24me Smart Personal Assistant
Some people need just that. Someone or something to keep their lives together. To keep their schedules straight. This gives you that personal assistant you might need. It keeps track of your schedule, your meetings, and to-do lists that you have, your accounts if you wish. Keep up to date with all the tasks at hand. You can sync it up to any of the major calendar apps. One more good thing about it. You don’t have type in everything. You can add all the tasks and notes with your voice.  If there’s some place you need to be at a certain time, the app will tell you what time you should leave based on traffic conditions. It even gives you weather alerts, when it’s looking stormy outside. 24me Smart Personal Assistant is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in app purchases.

Tuesday (5/25): Paprika
With a name like this, you know this has to be a cooking app. It’s more of a recipe and meal planning app. This app helps you keep your recipe list in order and under control. You can organize all the recipes that you download, and the app can guide to the proper websites to find them. It also helps with your planning for the grocery store, so you can maximize the time you have inside. The app also keeps track of the items you have inside your pantry, along with any expirations.  Create meal plans with it. You can use the app to help you keep track of what you’re making while you’re making it. Just check off all the ingredients, so you don’t forget anything. There are timers to make sure everything comes out at the same time. Paprika can organize your kitchen life. It’s 5 bucks on iTunes and free on Android with in app purchases.

Monday (5/24): Alarmy
Some people like to wake up gently in the morning. Others need an audio sledgehammer to the head. You can have loud ringtones, if you want, Or the app makes you get out of the bed in the morning, and it makes you do missions before it stops ringing. You might have to take a picture of something somewhere else in the house. It could be the kitchen sink, or it could be the car in the garage. Or you might have to answer some math questions to get your brain going. You could set up a barcode that you have to scan. Another way to turn off the alarm is to shake it a certain number of times.  There are all sorts of ways, beyond just a ringing bell to get up and at ‘em. Alarmy has a lot of them. It’s a free app on Apple and Android. It has in app purchases.

Friday (5/21): Personal Trainer – Fitness AI
You can now have the power of artificial intelligence to help you get in the best shape you can through weight training. The AI uses whatever you have around you at home. It takes a look at the goals you want to set, and finds a way to get you there. Your plan can be intense full body workouts or just simple exercises to get moving for the first time. The AI plans everything to help your health and build your strength and fitness. It’s like having your own personal trainer, right there in your phone or tablet. The AI uses millions of different types of workouts and finds what works for you. Push yourself to be your best. Personal Trainer – Fitness AI is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

Thursday (5/20): Dark Noise
This app is here to bring you the sounds and white noise that you need to help you concentrate on work or get some sleep. Dark Noise lets you create your own combination of sounds to give you just the right setting. It comes with more than 40 different sound effects and music. There’s everything from a campfire to the sound of a cat purring or the waves on a beach. Maybe you want the sounds of the city, if where you are is too quiet. Working from home, you can have the sounds of an office, if that helps you to concentrate. You can mix them however you like. The app also has a timer that you can set to fade it down. You can also customize the way the app looks, as well as the sounds. Set the sounds to relax and de-stress. Dark Noise is $10 on iTunes.

Wednesday (5/19): Film 3D
This is a photography app that can turn your regular pictures into a 3D experience. It uses the camera on your phone to capture what you shoot in 3D. You might have seen your friends on social media put up 3D looking pictures. This is one app that can you do the same thing. It comes with all kinds of different filters to enhance your shots with special effects. You can change the mood of your pictures with those filters. It lets you save your new 3D pictures, so you can share them on social media if you wish. You can also submit your masterpieces to the company’s website, so it can share them to other users on its social media. Film 3D is a free app on iTunes. It has in app purchases. 

Tuesday (5/18): Hoopla
Finally, another use for that library card, if you don’t want to go to your neighborhood branch for some reason. You can bring the public library home to you with this app. It connects up with your local branch, and you can borrow just about everything you could when you go in. It has more than 800 thousand different e-books, audiobooks, movies, TV shows, and others. You also can use it when the library might be closed for the day. Maybe, you REALLY want to get that latest best seller, but it’s 3 in the morning. Just borrow it through the app. It also keeps your place, if you want to move from reading on your phone to your tablet. Hoopla is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Monday (5/17): BeenThere: Collect Cool Places
As we get more excited to start traveling again, you might have forgotten where you’ve been. This app can help your travel memories. With it, you simply write down your favorite places that you’ve gone in a particular city. Maybe it’s a favorite restaurant in San Antonio, that you can’t remember the name of. Or a hotel in Miami that you loved. Or a favorite ride at a theme park. The app lets you search through filters to remind you of where you went and want to go again. It also saves the place’s phone number, website, and address. That way, you don’t have to start the process of finding it again. BeenThere: Collect Cool Places is brand new. It’s $5 on iTunes.

Friday (5/14): 8 mm Camera
The makers like to call this one an OSCAR WORTHY APP because a director used this app to finish shooting a film that won an Academy Award. This app shoots a retro type of video complete with the scratches on the screen. It flickers. But it also shoots to 4K if you wish it to. It’s all in the filters. There are 70 different looks that you can choose from. You can record videos with all kinds of live effects and see them happening on the screen while you’re shooting. You can even use the app to change the videos in your camera roll into classic old-school type vids. Plus, you can change the sounds in your videos to add the sound effect of an old school movie projector. 8 millimeter camera is a 4 dollars app on iTunes. It has in app purchases for more filters.

Thursday (5/13): Forest
This is a productivity app to help you stay focused on your tasks at hand. It can also help you reach your goals. This app works on your phone by making you put down your phone and concentrate on what you need to do. You plant a virtual seed in a forest. As you’re working, that seed will grow into a tree. And as you DON’T use your phone, the tree will thrive. If you keep picking it up, your tree withers up and dies. That focus of yours will help you plant more trees and let the forest thrive. You can earn different rewards for your forest, as long as you keep working and don’t look at your phone. It also lets you help plant real trees with the group, Trees For The Future. So far, users have planted more than a million real trees. Forest is the number one productivity app in multiple countries. It’s $2 on iTunes and free on Android. It has in app purchases.

Wednesday: Cardboard Companion
This app is perfect for anyone who loves to play board games. You can use the app to find new games to play. There are more than 100 thousand different board games available to check out. The app is adding more games every day. There are games that you know, and maybe some you’ve never seen before and you can now. You can play those board games right there in the app. Try out some board games online, before you decide if you want to spend the money to get the real version. You can also find other board game fans to play together with. The app even can help you put together game nights with others. Build up your digital board game library with the app. Cardboard Companion is a new app. It’s free on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (8/11): Half Lemons
This happens to everyone. You have only a certain amount of items in the pantry or in the frig. And you have no idea what to do with them. This is a cooking app. It takes what you have, and lets you know what you can make with them. All you do is put in what ingredients you have, as many as you want. The app then churns out some recipes that let you use what you have. Add in more things, you get more choices. You can also filter out the recipes, so you can use up your oldest ingredients first. These are recipes that use them, nothing hidden that you might not have in your kitchen. You can save your favorites for the next time. There are thousands of recipes at your fingertips. Half Lemons is a free app on iTunes.  

Monday (5/10): NASA
We’re fascinated with space travel again, thanks to that mission on Mars that’s sending back such incredible visuals and now sound. This app is the central information site for America’s space program. It contains almost 20 thousand different photos from space. You can also watch the NASA TV channel through the app. It comes with all the latest information about the space program and the missions that are going on right now and on the drawing board. You can listen to NASA podcasts, and even NASA’s own specialized radio station, Third Rock. The app lets you save the pictures that you want and learn more about the final frontier. NASA is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Friday (5/7): Mapless
This is a maps app like you haven’t seen before, because there is no map to it. That’s because it’s made for the time when you decide to take a walk somewhere. It could be in a big city where walking is normal, or you could use it on a path or a hike. It doesn’t do turn by turn directions. You put the address into the app. What you see on the screen is a big blue arrow. Also on the screen, you’ll see the distance from where you are to where you want to go, and how long it will take you, and what time you’ll get there. It’s very simplistic. You don’t have to follow a rigid trail, because you won’t get lost. You can meander, but always know about which direction your destination is The arrow shows you where you want to go. Mapless is 3 bucks on iTunes.  

Thursday (5/6): History Hit
This one is for people who love history. You might like the History Channel on your television. This app takes you a little further into the history archives. It’s a different kind of history channel. It comes with more than 16 hundred different documentaries to explore. It has its own original programming available. The app brings in new shows every week. You can hear about great events in the world from world renowned historians. The app also lets you download any of the programs, so you can watch them whenever it’s convenient and if you don’t have an internet connection. Learn about anything from the Myths of the Titanic to the biggest outlaws of the world. There are history podcasts you can listen to through the app. History Hit is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Wednesday (5/5): Coursera
Your education doesn’t have to end when you get your diploma. The internet is a wonderful world of college courses that you can take when you want to add to your knowledge bank. The course work comes from more than 200 universities, like Yale, Michigan, Duke, and Stanford. You can also learn from companies like Google, Facebook, and IBM. There are college and professional courses to improve yourself. When you finish, you get certificates from the schools. Learn anything from coding to public speaking. There are hundreds of different free courses you can take, just for the know-how. You can also use Coursera to work toward an actual degree from a university. There are more than 5000 courses available and 25 degree programs. And you can learn at your own pace. Coursera is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in app purchases.

Tuesday (5/4): Muze
This is a chat app, but it’s a different kind of chat app. It works just like the others with some extra enhancements. You chat with your friends, but you can use your mind to make your chats a little more creative. It’s a freeform chat app. You can GIF’s of course, but you can also draw on your screen. The app lets you put together collages of your photos that you can share. Put on the screen whatever you want, not just words. There are stickers you can add to your chats. The app also lets you build group chats with others. Share your talents with others there or on your social media. This isn’t your mama’s chat app. Muze is a free app on iTunes.

Monday (5/3): Canva
This is a design app that goes beyond just picture resizing and color correction. This app has all kinds of templates that can help you put together your own greeting cards or special videos. This app can turn into the nearest thing to a graphic designer. You can create your own designs on a blank white page, or use one of the templates that are provided. You can add your photos and messages that you want in your creation. There are hundreds of different fonts to choose from. It comes with a photo editor to make your pictures look right for the final project. Make anything. Birthday cards, invitations, anniversary greetings. You can publish banners and flyers. Canva is a free app on iTunes, Android, and Windows. It comes with in app purchases. 

Friday (4/30): Goody
It might be one of the hardest things you have to do. Try finding just the right gift in just the right size, when you don’t know everything about someone. This might be the next generation in sending gifts online. Through the app, you pick a reason for sending a gift. Maybe it’s a birthday, Christmas, or just to say thank you. You can shop for the gift in the Goody store of brands and items. Then, you put in the person’s phone number through your contacts. The receiver sees what it is you’re sending them. That person can customize it, however they wish. It could be putting in clothes sizes, or colors, or even flavors of treats. You don’t have to pay anything until the receiver accepts the fact that you want to send them a gift. That person enters the address to ship the gift to. Goody is a brand new way to get through the process of finding the right gift. No more guessing on sizes or tastes. It’s a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for the gifts.  

Thursday (4/29): Startpage Private Search
The term “googling” has become part of the vocabulary, but when you Google search something, you leave little pieces of your searches behind. It can follow you, when you click on the links in the results. This app takes you to a search engine called Startpage. That search engine keeps your information in your own vault. You search without anyone knowing anything about you or your searches. You’re anonymous. The search is encrypted, so no one else can grab them, not even your Internet provider. It also deletes your searches, after however much time you want to set, or when you close the app. It also keeps the sites you search for from knowing that you got there from a search. It comes with its own privacy powered web browser. Startpage Private Search is a free app on iTunes and Android.  

Wednesday (4/28): Breethe
This is an app to let your mind get centered again. You can use it to sleep at night or make yourself alert during the day. It comes with more than 15 hundred different types of meditations, music, and comforting sounds. You can access the sweet dreams to fall asleep quickly. It can assess what’s going on in your world to give you just the right sound prescription to get through the day. It can be stress, a desire to get healthier, or to just focus on your tasks at hand. The app also has a hypnotherapy section that no other app like this has. You’ll get music and sleep stories to help you relax. Go through the My Life toolkit to set it up just for you. Breethe is a free app on iTunes and Android. It comes with a subscription model.

Tuesday (4/27) Otter Voice Notes
Just like its name says, this is an app to let you use your voice to transcribe your notes. It helps you to remember and put on paper the conversations that you have. The app can also tell the difference between speakers. You can also import recordings from other sources to have them transcribed onto notes as well. This might be important, too. You can insert photos into the transcribed notes. When you have your notes all finished, the app has a search function to find certain keywords inside. You can also export everything: written word, audio, or share the notes online. It’s free on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Monday (4/26): Disney Coloring World
This app takes your children to the world of Disney to find drawings to color. It comes with more than a thousand pages that you can fill in. There are thousands of stickers for the kids, everything from Mickey and Minnie Mouse to the Lion King to Anna and Elsa from Frozen. It comes with coloring tools, if they’re not that patient. You can find all kinds of brushes and markers to make your Mickey the way you want him. Once your kids decorate a character, it goes into a 3D sticker book. Those books have other surprises as well. By continuing to color in the app, you unlock more pages. The app just added a whole series of pages from Wall-E to celebrate Earth Day. Disney Coloring World brings Disney magic to your smart device. It’s a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.​

Friday (4/23): Groovie
This app can test your creativity in making videos. Only you don’t have to do it yourself. With this app, you can make short videos with others. This is a collaborating app.  It works like this. You shoot some kind of video, no more than 15 seconds in length. Then you post it to the app with a complete description. Then someone else can then add to your video and you get to see where the story goes next. Maybe you want to add your video to someone else’s story and see where it goes. This is the social aspect of the app. You can meet up with other video creators, follow them just like on social media. When the story is told, share what came up. Groovie. It’s brand new and it’s a free app on iTunes.

Thursday (4/22): National Park Service
In honor of Earth Day, the federal government released this app to showcase all 420 National Parks in this country. The app has interactive maps, virtual tours, and all the information you need for any National Park. You can get ideas of what to do when you decide to visit any of them from the Grand Canyon to Yosemite to Yellowstone. The app will show you self-guided tours when you get to one of the Parks. It also has audio descriptions of the main features at each Park. You don’t need an internet connection when you’re there, because you can download the information to access offline. It’s a one stop information center for every one. The National Park Service is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (4/21): Lose It
This is a weight loss app that can help you keep track of the calories you’re putting into your body every day. It’s pretty simple. You put in your details about your weight loss goals. You use the barcode scanner to let you know how many calories are in your foods. It also lets you know other things, besides calories. You can track proteins, carbs, sugars, even how much water you’re taking in. It has more than 27 million foods in the database with all the numbers you need. The app can even set up challenges for you on a day to day basis. It gives you meal targets to hit and recipes to help, too. The app also has workout guides to help you burn calories. Lose It is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.  

Tuesday (4/20): 10 Minute Mail
Don’t you hate it when you want to sign up for something, and that service wants you to leave an email address to complete the setup? This app does just what its name says. It gives you a disposable email address that lasts 10 minutes. That’s enough time to set something up, get a confirmation email to finish the setup, and never get bugged again by that service if you don’t wish to. Now, you can use that address in your real email for those 10 minutes, so you can answer any inquiries. It becomes a real email address, but it self-destructs after 10 minutes. OR you can actually increase that time up to 160 minutes, if 10 isn’t enough.  That’s just the free version. With the paid version, you can get rid of the ads, and use that fake email address for even longer and set up multiple fake emails, if you need to. 10 minute mail is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Monday (4/19): Manything
Do you have any of your smartphones or tablets lying around, not doing anything? Now you can repurpose them to make your house a little safer. Manything stands for Monitor Anything. It lets you turn your old tech into smart cameras to watch out for anything that moves in your house while you’re away. All you have to do is download the app onto your current phone and on your old device. One is the viewer, one is the camera. You can watch your home anytime you wish. You can also record what’s going inside the house. It also lets you save that video to the cloud. Set up the remote detection zones and decide how sensitive you want the camera to be.  Manything can work with one camera for free, or you can set up an entire CCTV network. Manything is a free app on iTunes and Android. It comes with an optional subscription plan.

Friday (4/16): Xpire
We constantly hear about how many digital footprints we're leaving with every step we take in social media. How'd you like to wipe those footprints clean? This app came from the mind of Mark Cuban. The app lets you set up posts on Facebook and Twitter that can disappear for good in the time you set it up. It also lets you see and then delete any old posts that you have already put up. If you have a bunch of tweets that you wish you never tweeted, one button erases them all. Up to 32 hundred Twitter posts. It also gives you more control over your followers, you can dump them. The app also gives you grades about your posts, when it comes to how appropriate or inappropriate they are. Xpire is $4 on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (4/15): Fetch Rewards
You know that you have to do your shopping. Wouldn’t it be nice to get rewarded for all that time you put in, as well as the expense? This is a rewards app that lets you get something back from all kinds of retailers and restaurants. All you have to do is scan in the receipt from where you’ve gone and you get rewards in the form of gift cards.  Those cards can come from Amazon, Walmart, Target, or other stores. You don’t have to worry about going through the Sunday papers for coupons. Scan the receipt, get rewards points. It works on all kinds of stores from the big box kind to specialty stores, like hardware and convenience stores. You also can wait up to 2 weeks from the purchase to submit the receipts for your reward points. Fetch Rewards is a free app on iTunes and Android.  

Wednesday (4/14): Knowable
 This is an app that can teach you what you need to know in all sorts of different topics. Every Monday through Thursday provides different audio courses on various issues from the top minds and experts in the world. They have more than 200 different lessons already from everyone like the astronaut, Scott Kelly to Mark Bittman from the New York Times to an NBA star Chris Paul. It’s a way to just get smarter on a daily basis. The goal of the app is to provide some inspiration for you to seek out new goals, and attain them. You can learn what they call life changing skills for life on the go. You can even take quizzes on the material that you’re learning to make sure you understand it all. Each lesson only takes 10 minutes. Knowable is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Tuesday (4/13): Crime Door
This one is for fans of true crime stories. It’s an augmented reality app that will take you to the locations of some of the most high profile true crime cases. You can see what the investigators saw in the locations. You will work with actual crime experts to try to solve some of these crimes. You can physically walk through the crime scene locations in 3D. The app has more than 500 case files that you can explore. It also adds at least one new case a week. It also directs you to more than five thousand hours of true crime podcasts and 50 thousand hours of videos. You never know. You might see something in the crime scene that even the experts didn’t. Maybe you could help solve a cold case. Crime Door is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Monday (4/12): Active Arcade
Working out doesn’t have to be a chore, when you can turn it into a videogame. This is a new app that’s designed to make you move. You’re using the front facing camera on your iPhone or iPad, and you use your body as the game controller. These are physical type games that you’re in the middle of. The app uses AI body motion tracking. You can play a game that tests your eye to hand coordination. The game might be to make you reach to different sides of the screen in a short amount of time. You could be jumping side to side and avoid obstacles in your way on the screen. Compete against yourself or your friends to see who gets the best score. This app is brand new and you’re in on the ground floor. The owners say they’re working on more games. Active Arcade is a free app on iTunes.

Friday (4/9): gohenry
This app can teach young children a little lesson about money. Earning money and saving money. It comes with three parts. There’s a debit card that parents can give to their children, but they control what money goes into it. The kids earn that money by doing chores around the house Children can learn about saving money, so they can save up to get something they want. It shows you how much money you spend and how much is in your account. Do all your chores, you get your allowance added to it. Parents can set the weekly allowances to go into the account, or give them money presents for special days. Kids can also earn more money by doing more chores. Parents also get to see closely what their kids are spending their money on and monitor their savings. gohenry is a free app on iTunes and Android.  

Thursday (4/8): Paper Karma
Spammers don’t just go after our phones. They can go old school and fill up our regular ol’ mailboxes, too. This is an app to stop junk mailers from sending their stuff to you. All you have to do is use your camera’s phone to take a picture of the catalogs, or credit card offers, or anything else. The app then manages to find out who sent the offending junk to you. Then, it goes to work to get you off their junk mailing lists. It works with more than 100 thousand different companies that are known for sending out ads and other junk. It says it can stop 90 percent of the junk mail that you get. You can also put anyone who used to live at your address into the junk mail reduction pile. Paper Karma is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.  

Tuesday 4/6: Planta
If you're like me, you are where plants go to die. You might have a brown thumb, not a green one. Planta can help you turn your dying plants into green healthy ones. It all starts by ID'ing what they are. Then, the app shows you the best ways to help keep your plants alive. It tells you when it's time to water your plants. It comes with step by step instructions on their care and feeding. The app also lets you get a head start on what kinds of plants would be best for you, given what you're able to do. If you have a plant, and you have no idea what kinds of plants they are, the app can identify them just by taking a picture of them. It also can tell you which plants are best for which rooms of the house. Planta is a free app on Apple. It has a subscription model for more features.

Monday 4/5: CallHound
Have you been getting flooded with spam calls lately? They seem to be out of control right now. This app can help you protect your phone from them. It can block any of those calls that are thought to be spam. It will warn you if there’s a legit call coming from someone that’s not in your address book. You can set up rules to teach the Hound to recognize more spammers. You create as many rules as you want to. If there’s a spam call coming in that’s on your list, it’s blocked totally and you don’t even have to see it. It can be listed as a spam call or an unwanted call, if it’s someone you really don’t want to talk to. An unwanted call gives you the choice, if you want to answer it. CallHound is a free app on Apple and Android.

Friday 4/2: Psych
This is one of the many games that Ellen likes to play. The app calls itself, ‘trivia meets Cards Against Humanity’. There are different categories where you’re supposed to come up with the best answers to trivia questions, but your job is to trick your friends into thinking you know what you’re talking about. One person has the right answer, and everyone has to figure out which one is that. If you’re good at the game, you’ll make it sound like yours is right when it’s actually a wrong answer. There are different categories, such as Movie Bluff or Word Up. Or The Truth Comes Out, where you have to tell a truth about someone in your group of friends, while the others come up with the best fake answers. Psych is a bit like Balderdash. It’s a free app on Apple and Android. You have to pay for extra question decks.

Thursday 4/1: MLB
It's opening day in Major League Baseball for both the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros. This app will keep you updated through the entire season. It will show you the MLB TV Game of the Day every day of the season. You can log into your MLB TV account and watch just about every game that's out of market. You can watch highlights from games that are going on. It provides radio broadcasts for every team. There's breaking news from your favorite team and all the stats you need. The app has a video archive from classic games that you can watch from first pitch to final out. The MLB app is a free app on Apple and Android. It has a subscription model.

Wednesday 3/31: Brain Training
This app tells you just what it does. It comes with more than 45 different games to help train your brain to work at its peak. They come in six different categories. They’ll put your memory to the test. You can work out your attention or solving problems. There’s a game called Coffee Break that lets you work on your brain in just five minutes. There’s a game to work on your vocabulary. This is an app that you can use every day and see your progress. Some other games are Weakest Link and Low Rank. You can have competitions against your friends and families. Work on your mental agility, language, and coordination. Set your goals and work toward them. It even comes with your own personal trainer. Peak – Brain Training is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in app purchases.

Tuesday 3/30: VPN + TOR Browser and Ad Bloc‪k
We are constantly watching out to make sure that websites and browsers don’t invade our privacy or interrupt our surfing with banner ads and popups and anything else to make us crazy. Onion lets you go where you want to go and it’s like you’re invisible to the spies who want to steal your ID and Internet providers who want to track you. This lets you browse and no one even knows your IP address if you don’t want them to. The Ad Block does just that. It blocks any kind of trackers and analytics that you don’t want to be involved in. That can make your Internet work go ever faster when you don’t have to sift through ads. Tor-Unlimited VPN Browser is a free app on iTunes. It has in app purchases.

Monday 3/29: Jeopardy
This is the online version of Jeopardy that you can play wherever you want to play the game and retrain your brain. It even has Alex Trebek doing the voice of the game. It has thousands of answers for you to put in the form of a question. You can pick the categories just like they do on the show itself. It could be anything from the 80s to Oscar winning actors or astronomy. The game lets you challenge others anywhere in the world. See the leaders in the game, and see if you can put your name on that leaderboard in the special tournaments and events. There are prizes and rewards to win, so start asking the right questions. Jeopardy World Tour is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in app purchases to get rid of ads.

Friday (3/26): Safe Me
Our phones are computers, just like the ones at home or at work. That means they’re at risk from hackers and those that want to steal your identity. But, most people think they’re safe with their phones. This app can show you just how safe you really are. It checks out everything in your phone to make sure you’re not at risk for any kinds of foul play. It has different sorts of learning courses for you to find out when you might be at risk. And it looks through all the parts of your phone, including the apps to give you a safety score. It can be anywhere from a 0 to a 5. Then, it gives you recommendations to secure your phone to make sure you’re safer from cyber-attacks. Safe Me is a free app on iTunes and Android.  

Thursday (3/25): Chromic
Not everyone can shoot Hollywood style videos, but you can at least you can make your look more professional and impressive. This app lets you do some major edits to your videos. There are all kinds of color correction filters and ways to adjust the exposure of the light, contrast, highlights, and others. You can also change the look of the video to make it look more antique or vintage or black and white. You can add other special effects. The app lets you see what your video will look like in real time with all the changes you make. It lets you save the result of your edits as a new file, or you can make the edits take over for the original. Chromic uses the same types of color processing that they use in big-time Hollywood studios. Chromic is a free app on iTunes. Additional filters are extra or you can buy them all for $5.

Wednesday (3/24): Moshi: Sleep and Meditation
This app is a way for parents to help their children get to sleep quickly. It comes with all kinds of different bedtime stories, and sleep sounds, white noise, and kids music that’s all meant to tuck their minds in and let them relax into sleep. It comes with more than 200 different stories and other sounds. Almost every parent that uses Moshi says it works and makes bedtime a lot less stressful. The app says its research shows that children also wake up less often in the middle of the night thanks to it. It also works for children during the day to help keep stress levels low and increases their positive thought processes. Parents, you know that reading bedtime stories to the kids helps them sleep. This app helps with that. Moshi is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.  

Tuesday (3/23): FlexIt
This is a workout app that’s a lot more flexible with your fitness routines. It gives you instruction when you’re at home from a gym. The app gives you virtual reality training from experts at all kinds of different facilities. You’ll be able to experience what it’s like to workout at any of those places. The app lets you look for gyms that are part of the Flexit plan. You get all the work you need to do, then checkout and pay for the time that you virtually spent there. There are 1 on 1 training sessions available. They do Cardio, Strength, Pilates, Dance, Boxing, and others. Each session is put together specifically for you through the app. This is also a great way to find out what a gym is like, if you’ve never been to a particular place. It’s also good if you’re in a new city and you want to see what gyms there have to offer. It’s Virtual Personal Training. Flexit Fitness is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Monday (3/22): Dispo
We’re used to being able to take a picture on our phones and see it right there on the screen. You can edit the picture, put on whatever filters that you want to make it look perfect. If the picture is out of focus, or you cut off the top, or your finger is in it, just delete and take it again. This photo app takes you back to the old school way of doing things. Remember the days when you had your Instamatic camera? 24 shots or 36. You take pictures, but there’s no zooming. There’s no editing after. You take a full set of pictures old school til you fill the roll. Then you have to wait until 9AM the next day to see what you got. It’s a trip in the Wayback Machine of photography. Once you see what you got, the app lets you share your old school photos with others. Dispo is a free app on iTunes.

Friday (3/19): Google Lens
This app brings some different Google features to you that you might not know about. The app lets you do searches with your camera on your phone. See an interesting landmark on vacation, find out more information about it. The app also can translate foreign text into your native language. It can help you identify different kinds of plants and animals through the database. Point it to a restaurant, get reviews of the place or the hours that it’s open. You can point the camera to an outfit in a store, and see if there’s something similar at a lower price. It also has a barcode or a QR code scanner. Google Lens is a free app on Android. It’s already incorporated into the Google App on your iPhone.

Thursday (3/18): Biz Clips
This is a video based social media networking app. We already know that the hunt for a new job has moved online in a lot of cases. Employers find new workers through business websites like LinkedIn and social media. This app utilizes those kinds of interactions in an app form. It says it can help you establish connections with potential employers. Those employers can show you what you can expect from their businesses. It has a virtual tour of those companies. They can post all the job openings that are available. You as a job hunter can post your video resume. This isn’t just a jobs dating site. Regular people can also use it for video reviews like a Yelp. BizClips is a free app on iTunes and Android. 

Wednesday (3/17): Hushed
We have very little privacy in our lives. One thing you might want to control is who has your personal cellphone numbers. This app can provide you with a new burner phone number that you can give to anyone that you don’t want to have your real number, like Craigslist shopping, dating, or travel. Maybe you want to have a number for your business calls. Hushed lets you make calls or texts from a second number. The app makes it possible to manage that second number or more. It works with 300 different area codes. It has full voicemail and all the other features of a phone. When you’re done with the second number, you can burn it as if you never had it. Hushed is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Tuesday (3/16): Fooducate
This app can help you on your way to a better eating lifestyle. You can learn about the food that you put in your body and maybe you can change some things in your diet. It comes with a healthy food database and a nutrition tracker. You can scan the barcodes on any of the food packages and see what kinds of added sugars, or artificial sweeteners are in them. You can use the app to keep you honest with calorie counts compared to your physical activity. The app has a huge database that gives grades to various foods in different categories. It can provide better alternatives to the foods you scan. And it provides advice from health professionals. You can even learn about specialized diets like Keto and low-carb diets. Fooducate is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Monday (3/15): NCAA March Madness Live
This is the official app for the 2021 NCAA Men’s basketball tournament. We didn’t get March Madness last year, thanks to the pandemic. This app lets you stream all of the games in the tournament over the next few weeks. It all starts for real on Thursday. You can also use the app to see how well you do with your bracket. It gives you commentary on the games. You can see on demand videos and highlights. You can also see classic games, if you can’t get enough of the 67 games this year. Look for the March Madness Fast Break inside the app. The games start this week and you don’t have to miss any of them from CBS, TBS, TNT, or truTV. NCAA March Madness Live is a free app on iTunes and Android. You can sign in with your TV provider.

Friday (3/12): Lichess
The Queen’s Gambit made a lot of people get interested in the game of chess. This is an open source way to play chess and how to learn to improve your game by playing against others who are better than you. Or if your game is already great, you can test your skills against other great players. This app has 150 thousand users every day, playing chess. You can play in tournaments or individual games for fun. There are chess puzzles that you can take. Have others analyze your games. If you don’t want to play against people, try your hand at playing against the computer offline. There are different versions of chess to make things even more interesting. Lichess is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (3/11): Slidebox
If you’re like most people, your phone is a mish-mash of pictures. You might have dozens of duplicates, or pictures that are out of focus, or they’re just bad. Whatever the case, they’re out of control. This app can help you organize your photos, and maybe save some space on your hard drive for more photos. Slidebox has a couple of different features. You can go through your pictures and delete the ones you want with one swipe. It helps you to put them into albums #organized. You can swipe between photos that are similar or the same, and delete the ones you don’t want so you only have one shot. It also lets you choose your favorite pictures to access them quickly. Slidebox can make that organization chore not so much of a chore. It’s free on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model, too.

Wednesday (3/10): 200+ Apps in 1 - AppBundle ‪2
 Anyone can download an app and have one app that does one thing. This is one app that gives you 200 different things that you can do. It has a bunch of utility apps, like a flashlight and tip calculator and alarm clock, even a BMI calculator. It has game apps, all sorts of camera apps and filters. There’s a candle light, fingerprint scanner, a guitar tuner, stroke light, and facial recognition. 200 different apps in 1. App Bundle 2 is a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases.

Tuesday (3/9): Mission to Mars AR
This app comes from the minds at the Smithsonian. There’s something fascinating about knowing that we have rovers and a helicopter on Mars. They’re sending back incredible pictures from another planet. This is just a fun app to let you experience a little of what NASA is doing. There’s an interactive look at the rovers on Mars. You can see how they came to be. There’s an augmented reality that lets you drive the rovers around in the real world and use them to take photos and videos. You can see Mars and spin it around. Remember what they called the 7 minutes of terror? You can try to land the Perseverance Rover better than NASA did. Mission to Mars AR is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Monday (3/8): Pulse Point | Pulse Point AED
There are two apps in today’s App of the Day, because they’re connected. And both of them could save lives. If you have a heart condition, seconds can make the difference if you have a heart attack. You need to find someone who’s trained in CPR quickly. It’s a database of people near you that have their training and can come at a moment’s notice to help. You can also be a hero to help others near you. The second app shows the locations of the nearest automated external defibrilator. Pulse Point. A free app on iTunes and Android. It could save your life. Or you could save someone else’s.

Friday (3/5): Like So
It has to be one of the worst fears around for some people. That’s the fear of getting up in front of people to speak. This is a dress rehearsal app for the time that you have to do just that. What it does is, let’s you make your speech into the app. It’ll help coach you, by helping you to get rid of the clutter and filler words that people will use to help their brains catch up. Words like: Like, or you know or ummm or okay or actually. It’s natural, we all do it. This can help train you to cut them back. LikeSo is your personal speech coach to make you ready for that presentation. LikeSo is $5 on iTunes.

Wednesday (3/3): Ted
There are thousands of them in all different categories. These are inspirational and informational speeches by some of the most accomplished people in the world. They use Ted Talks to share their knowledge. The app provides thousands of different lectures. It breaks them down by your interests, so you can stick with what you’re going to get the most from. Or just browse through all of the Ted Talks that are in the system. You can also stream the Talks into your Apple TV or other smart devices. It also has a feature to surprise you with the next talk. TED also has original podcasts. TED is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (3/2): Lumosity
One thing about spending so much at home, we might not be getting the mental stimulation that our brains need on a daily basis. This app is called a “cognitive training program”. It has different kinds of games to get the grey matter moving and growing every single day. There are more than 40 right now, with more getting added all the time. You can break them down to different areas; like problem solving, memory, and attention. There are also language and math skill games.  The app will help track how you’re doing with the games and show you how well you’re progressing. Think of it as a personal trainer to work out your mind. Lumosity is a free app on iTunes and Android. There’s also a paid premium model for more training.

Monday (3/1): Museum Alive
In the middle of COVID, if you can’t bring you to the museum, this app brings the museum to you. This is especially great for kids and adults that just love dinosaurs. It uses an augmented reality to bring those dinosaurs to your table. You can pick one of the fossils in the museum. The AR will convert the fossil and turns it into the animal itself, right there in your living room. The app then teaches you about that dinosaur’s homes and habits. You can go on the experiences to find the dinosaurs and analyze them closely. Plus, the whole experience comes with the legend behind Planet Earth and The Blue Planet, David Attenborough. Museum Alive is brand new.  It’s $3 on iTunes.  

Friday (2/26): Schooly
This is an app for kids and teachers to keep up with their school work, and it could be for parents to make sure their kids are keeping up with their school work. The app helps manage the time that school is taking up. You can see what classes your child has, and what times those classes are going on, so you know where your student is at all hours. It can help keep up with the schoolwork that your child has, and when it’s due. It can keep up with the times that your child has tests, and how many days there are to prepare for them. There’s also a way to email your teachers. It has a management section to keep all the teachers and classrooms straight. Schooly is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

Thursday (2/25): Skinny Desserts
We understand. There are people that love everything about desserts, except the amount of weight that they can put on by eating too many of them. This app comes riding to the rescue. It’s a cooking app that provides dessert recipes that won’t defeat your calorie counts in a single serving. It’s a way to satisfy your sweet tooth and still be able to fit into your clothes. There are samples like Raw Berry Tarts, Chocolate Avocado Chia Pudding and more. Skinny Desserts breaks it down into six different categories, like sugar-free, gluten-free, Paleo pleasures and chocolate. You can’t get rid of chocolate. Skinny Desserts is $0.99 on iTunes. It has in-app purchases.

Wednesday (2/24): Future: 1 on 1 Coaching
This is a way to get your fitness goals together with the help of a trained professional and you don’t even need to go to a gym for that personal training. The app pairs you up with one of its coaches to help you achieve what it is you want to do. It comes with video and audio coaching for your workouts. The coaches put together a weekly plan, and they use the techniques that you like to do. It could be yoga, or running, or weights. The app even can come up with the perfect music playlist to keep you going. Your coaches will stay in contact with you to motivate you and answer your questions. The coaches can even adjust on the fly, if you’re traveling somewhere so you don’t miss out. Future: 1 on 1 Coaching is a free app on iTunes. You pay for the training.

Tuesday (2/23): TV Forecast
You might remember the TV Guide in your house at one time. This app is like that, but dialed up to handle the streaming world. You can use the app to keep track of your favorite shows in one place. It lets you see what's coming next. You can make sure that you don't skip ahead or watch repeats, if you forget which episode you're supposed to be watching. The app will tell you when the next episode is coming out. You can also use the app to look for new shows that might fit what you like to watch.  It also lets you find your favorite actors and where else you can see them. You can see what shows are trending, so you can be part of the conversation. TV Forecast is a free app on iTunes. There is also a subscription model for more features.

Monday (2/22): Clubhouse
There are so many people that are trying to find the next Facebook or Twitter. This is a new social media app that works through voices. You can actually have voice to voice conversations with your social media friends and don’t need to type out messages. You could meet up with anyone around the world that is your social media friends circle, only you can actually chat with them, instead of text chat. You can also just jump into a conversation and listen in, like a chat room. This app has some big names involved in it. Oprah, Drake, Jared Leto, and Ashton Kutcher. It’s where a lot of them are going just to get away from the other big names in social media. You’ll find different rooms where people are having chats. You can listen into what are actually interesting conversations, and possibly join in. Clubhouse is new and it’s growing. It’s a free app on iTunes, but right now, you need an invite to join.

Friday (2/19): Insight Browser
This is an internet browser, just like Safari on your iPhone. It’s also a completely private experience when you want to surf the internet. It also has mobile extensions, like Chrome does. There are hundreds of them available. It lets you block ads, even the ones that say you can’t block them. This includes the ads on Facebook and Amazon. Speaking of Amazon, you can use this browser to weed out fake reviews on the site. Insight also stops any websites from tracking you, and it does that by default. It also doesn’t limit you to one search engine, if you’re looking to find something or someone online. There are extensions that let you do some comparison shopping for just the right things. Insight Browser is a free app on iTunes.

Thursday (2/18): MD Live
One thing we’ve learned in the pandemic world is that video chat meetings are everywhere. Now, you can have doctors at your disposal when you need them virtually. And you don’t even have to go to a clinic or a hospital. MD Live lets you set appointments with all kinds of different virtual doctors. They work on over 80 different medical issues. You can also get help with other health issues, like addiction, panic disorders, or even PTSD. This is a good alternative if you can’t get in to see your regular physician. That doctor can also send any prescriptions to your neighborhood pharmacy. It works 24/7, and you can have the expert medical advice from the comfort of your own home. MD Live is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for the medical advice and checkup.

Wednesday (2/17): Photo Culling
This is a photography app that can help you go through your camera roll to find out which pictures you have are the best of the best. The app uses A.I. to cull your photos to find any that just aren’t your best. This way you can free up some space on the phone. It looks at four different aspects of your photos. Everything from the focus to closed eyes in your shots. It also can go through photos that seem to be similar and get ready of the duplicates. It assigns scores to the quality of your pictures. If they’re blurry, they’re out. It also shows you how much storage you have in your phone and how much you can free up. Photo Culling is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

Tuesday (2/16): Trivia Royale
So, you think you’re a trivia master. How would you do against a real opponent? What about a thousand of them? They call this the biggest trivia tournament in the world. You get into a room and just start answering questions, and watch as the others drop off.  The contest has 100 thousand questions and answers. Begin with creating an avatar, and just jump right in. If you win one of the games, you get into the Royale Lounge.  The app adds more questions every day. Trivia Royale is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Monday (2/15): Documentary Plus
There are people who can’t get enough documentaries and there just aren’t enough channels on TV that show them. This app comes from the Discovery Plus channel. There are everything from Oscar winners to classics to the most obscure types of documentaries. There are hundreds of films to choose from. You can watch any of the films any time you want on any device and that includes your smart TV. Search through the categories to narrow down your search. And you don’t even have to worry about paying anything extra for it. Just watch, learn, and enjoy. Documentary Plus is brand new. It’s a free app on iTunes, Android, Roku, Apple TV, your PC, and more devices.

Friday (2/12): Love Cards Plus
Valentine’s Day is coming on Sunday. If you don’t want to do the old fashioned flowers or candy, this might do. You can find one or more of your favorite photos and turn them into an e-card to share with your significant other. You’ll find different kinds of virtual frames, different color filters. The app lets you use special filters to turn the picture into a work of art. It could be a pencil sketch or some pastels. There are even different kinds of animations, so you can have a little fun with your production. Once you’re finished with the editing, you can post it to social media right there in the app. Love Cards Plus is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model, because you might want to show your love other days besides just Valentine’s Day.

Thursday (2/11): OpenBay
You might have your favorite mechanic that you trust with all your car repairs. That’s a rare thing. For the rest of us, we have to go look for someone that can fix problems and hope that we don’t get overcharged for the trouble. Open Bay can help. It can aid you when you need to find a repair shop for what ails your car. It lets you compare quotes for your particular repair from shops near you. You can also book a time at the place you choose. If a repair shop wants to be part of the Open Bay lineup, it has to follow certain standards. You open up the app, describe what you need. The app gives you a ballpark of what kind of cost you’re looking at. Open Bay is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (2/10): Orai
People hate public speaking. That’s a fact. It’s one of the most common fears that people have. This app says it can help you become a better public speaker through its exercises. You get to rehearse a speech and the app can help you get through some of the common mistakes that most people make in speeches. We all use what they call filler words, like you know or umm. The app will help you cut those down. It also has other tips to help get you more acclimated to public speaking. Orai is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Monday (2/8): Vixer
This app can help you edit your videos and photos so they look perfect for your social media pages. You can put them together so they look like you hired a professional editor. It lets you crop out any flaws in your pictures, you can re-arrange the photos and add text to them. You can speed up or slow down the videos. The app lets you add music to any of your videos. If you have Live Photos on your iPhone, you can actually use them as part of a video with this app. Vixer allows you to share your finished product with all your social media, like Instagram Stories, TikTok, and Snapchat and others. Vixer is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

Friday (2/5): TotalAV
This app can protect you when you’re going online. It has different features, like a webshield to block dangerous sites. Realtime Antivirus. There’s a check for data breaches to see if your info is at risk. It has a device locator in case you lose your phone. It has search engines that won’t track you. It even comes with a photo manager to keep you from storing duplicate photos. The app has a battery monitor. That’s just the free options. You can pay extra to set up a VPN, virtual private network, to use public Wi-Fi safely. That keeps hackers away from your information. TotalAV is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Thursday (2/4): My Books
You don’t have to take up an entire room in your house with books, when you can have an entire library of classics right there in your smartphone. This app has more than 50 thousand books available for you to read. It also has more than 5 thousand audiobooks to read by listening. There are books in dozens of categories from adventure to mysteries to poetry to westerns.  The app lets you save your favorites, so you can read them again. It has recommendations for you every day, if you can’t think of what you would want to read. My Books Unlimited Library is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Wednesday (2/3): Boldbeast Recorder
This app is one that you can use to record the phone calls you make and the phone calls that come into your phone. Boldbeast lets you record with high quality sound on both sides of the call. You can also record memos and meetings, like any other voice memo app. You can save all the recordings you make to your hard drive and then listen to them later. Remember, there are laws regarding recording telephone calls. Please check the laws where you live before you use this app. Boldbeast Recorder is a free app on Android. It does have a pro version that you can buy from the app.

Tuesday (2/2): Prey Anti-Theft
This is an app that you need in case someone steals your phone or it disappears. It also lets you keep your privacy safe. The app will track your missing phone by GPS. If a thief tries to put your phone on silent, it will just ring and ring. The app also uses both cameras to take quiet pictures of the thieves and sends them to you. You can also hide the fact that you have the app, so they can’t turn it off. It sends you all the evidence that the police would need to catch the thief. If that person tries to access your files, the Access Denied sign goes up. You can lock your phone, get your data, and then wipe the phone. Prey  Find My Phone Tracker GPS is a free app on iTunes.

Monday (2/1): Too Good To Go
Some people call them leftovers. Others call them ‘dinner’. This is an app that means to put an end to wasted food. It claims that up to 40 percent of the food that’s made goes to waste. This lets you buy some of it, at a much lower price. It shows you restaurants and supermarkets that are part of the system. They have leftover food that would be headed for the landfill. You can place an order through the app, pay for it, and collect it when you get the OK. The app shows you what’s available and where, and what price you’d have to pay. It says most of the meals may run you 5 bucks, tops. And chances are: the meal you’re getting is going to be a surprise. Too Good To Go is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for the meals.  

Friday (1/29): Bodyguard
This might be just the app that you need, if you’re trying to keep yourself safe from trolls, cyber bullies, or just nasty comments on your social media. This is a new app that moderates your social media for you. It’s about to find and block 90 percent of any ugly comments. It even works on bad emojis. The app gets rid of those comments, even before you see them. You can block out insults, racism, body shaming, and threats and what degree of protection you want. You don’t have to manually delete the haters. There’s a version to help protect your kids and your family. The app will send you an email to let you know if someone is being mean to your children. It can help your business against trolls that don’t like your company. Bodyguard is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (1/28): Task Rabbit
Sometimes, you need a little help with some of the day to day chores around the house. Or you need a handyman or a good cleaner. Task Rabbit might be the way to go find someone close that you can trust to do the work right. This app has a clearinghouse of people that can handle whatever you need done. It has tens of thousands of people that the Rabbit has checked out thoroughly. They can do everything from home repairs to cleaning, mounting TVs, even your shopping. You don’t have to worry about paying the tasker. All the money transactions are paid through the app. It’s the Uber of handymen. And if you’re a handyman, you might find work through the app. TaskRabbit Handyman, Errands is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (1/27): Creact
This is an app that can engage your creative mind every single day. It gives you art challenges to keep you busy. One day, it may want you to take a certain kind of picture. Or maybe, you’re supposed to do some kind of drawing. You might get to paint something. Then, after you’re done. You submit them into the app. You can also see what others have done with the same challenges. You never know what the next one will be. It could be something that says, “draw what you want”. Creact wants to help you with your artistic self. It’s new and a free app on iTunes and Android.  

Tuesday (1/26): EyeEm Camera and Photo Filter
How would you like to get paid for the pictures that you just happen to take in a day? This app lets you sell your best ones and then get them out to a wider audience. Who knows? Maybe there’s a professional photographer in you. The EyeEm app helps to pick out your best work and then gets your pictures licensed for use on sites like Canon, Spotify, or Apple Music. You capture something good. You could get paid by big time media outlets. EyeEm comes with professional type filters to give your pix extra pop. EyeEM is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Monday (1/25): The Human Body
This is a teaching tool app for the kids and if you’re not careful, you might learn something too. The app features a working model of the human body. You can show how the heart beats, how your lungs work, how your eyes see, your ears hear, and even what happens when your insides get a hold of food. It’s supposed to start conversations between parents and children. The app even comes with sound effects to enhance the educational experience. It looks at eight different systems of the body overall.  The Human Body can teach you about your anatomy. It’s $4 on iTunes. It has in app purchases to buy even more information about other systems of the body.

Friday (1/22): LiDAR Night Vision
This app is for owners of the newest iPhone 12 Pro or the 12 Pro Max. Those phones come with a night vision LiDAR sensor. It lets you use the camera to see in total darkness. It works with your rear facing camera. The front facing camera uses infrared sensors. You can see anything in your room or anywhere around you. The distance from an object or a person will change colors. Now, some parts of the app will work on other phones, but only with the front facing camera. The LiDAR is only on the 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max. You can record video and audio of all that you can’t see without the phone. LiDAR Night Vision is 99 cents on iTunes.

Thursday (1/21): Zello
You can use chat apps to stay in touch with your friends and family all over the world. Or, if you want to talk to them right away, you can use this. Zello turns your phone into a high powered walkie-talkie. You only need to have an internet connection and you’re good to go. This is especially good, if you’re in an area with bad phone service. As long as you have a signal, you’re good to go. A lot of people use this app when their loved ones get caught in major storms. The phones might be out, but this lets you communicate with them. It also helps with group chats with a channel of your own. It also lets you text or send pictures like other chat apps. Zello is a free app on ITunes and Android.

Wednesday (1/20): PlayOn Cloud - Streaming DVR
You might want to stream some of your favorite shows from channels like Netflix or Hulu or Amazon Prime Video, but you might be in a place where you can’t do that. Now, you can stockpile the shows and movies on this app. It lets you download your favorite titles onto your device for as long as you need them and for however big the hard drive is on your phone or tablet. It works with more than 20 services, like HBO Max, Disney Plus, Peacock, and the big networks. It even lets you put the shows on your desktop PC or Mac. PlayOn Cloud is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Tuesday (1/19): Soft Murmur
This is a background sounds app to help with whatever you need. It could be to relax. It could be to focus while you get some work done, or just to get some shuteye. The difference with this sounds app is, you can combine any of the sounds together to make your own background sound mix tape. It comes with sounds that can fulfill your needs by themselves. There’s rainfall, thunder, and waves. You can hear the sound of the wind, a fireplace, or just general white noise. The app comes with a setting called, Meander. When you have that one running, the individual sounds will increase and decrease at random. That means your playlist will change, so they’re never the same the second time. Soft Murmur is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.  

Monday (1/18): Asana Voice Cam
One of the toughest things about putting everyone into a group shot is trying to make sure you get into the right place before the clock counts down to zero. Now, you can set up everyone, including you and not worry about a timer. This app takes the picture through your voice. You can pose everyone and you all at once. When you’re just right, you just say one word and the picture will click. You just have to say SNAP. Simple as that. Say the word and that’s it. It’s pretty simple and straight forward. Asana Voice Cam is 2 bucks on iTunes. 

Friday (1/15): TB12
There is a reason why Tom Brady is still playing at the top of his game as a pro football quarterback at the age of 43. He is a workout fiend, and he's bringing some of his training information to you. This is a fitness app for any level, even if you just want to stay active. It comes with a personalized workout plan for you with more than 400 different exercises. It has different resistance band workouts that you can incorporate into your day. Or you can take part in a High Intensity Training Plan. The app also comes with different healthy recipes that you can put into your diet plan as well. TB12 is a full-on lifestyle plan with nutrition, hydration, cognitive health, and sleep sections. TB12 is a free app on iTunes and Android. It comes with a subscription plan.

Thursday (1/14): Radio Garden
There are people in the world who just love listening to radio. I'm one of them. I'm fascinated with what's coming through the speakers. We always tell you that you can find us and other great stations through the Radio.com app. This app lets you play in a bigger garden than just great radio in the United States. This app brings you the world. When you open the app, you see the Earth from what looks like Google Earth. You can rotate the globe and point it at any area in the world. When you land on a city, you can see what radio stations they have. Point it to Australia, and you can listen to all kinds of stations anywhere from Melbourne to Perth. You can tune into the best that Aussie radio has to offer. Spin the globe again to London and hear what's going on in the UK. There are thousands of stations to listen to. Here what's hot in music in any country. Every green dot is a city with radio stations. Radio Garden is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has an in-app purchase.

Wednesday (1/13): Google Arts and Culture
The Coronavirus caused a lot of problems when it comes to appreciating the arts in the world. This app brings the arts to you. This app helps bring the entire world of art right there to your phone or tablet. It has thousands of images of works of art from thousands of museums in 80 different countries around the world. You may never get to the Louvre, but you can see what it has to offer. It has more than just artwork. You can see stunning photos that NASA has taken of the final frontier. It comes with 360 degree videos. You can take VR tours of museums. You can also experiment with your own pictures and turn them into works of art. Or you can take a selfie and see what portraits that look like you. Google Arts and Culture is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Tuesday (1/12): Skyview Lite
This is an app for anyone who loves the idea of stargazing. It’s tough to do when you might be living inside any big city, because of light pollution. This app brings the stars to your smartphone or tablet. All you have to do is point it to the skies to see what’s up there in the heavens. And you don’t have to have a telescope in order to find out what’s above you. The app will show you the stars, constellations, and anything else you point your phone at. It can also teach you lessons about the stars in the sky. You might even be looking at the International Space Station. Oh, this is cool. It doesn’t have to be dark to know what’s in the sky overhead. The stars are there even in the daylight and you can point your camera to see what’s out there while the sun is shining. The app can even tell you what stars appeared in the sky on any night in the past. Skyview Lite is a free app on iTunes. It has in app purchases. There’s also a full version for $2.

Monday (1/11): All Trails
It’s one of the best exercises that you can do, and you can do it without worrying about wearing masks or social distancing. There are trails all over the world where people will spend hours hiking, or running, or biking. This app can pull together great trails for you to explore, no matter where you are in the world. It has more than 100 thousand trails and mountain bike routes that you can explore. They might be in national parks or just in neighborhoods. It comes with GPS coordinates and maps so you don’t get lost in them. They have photos and reviews from others who have taken them. You can also leave reviews of your favorites to share with others. The app also lets you save safety contacts who can track you on your way, just in case something goes wrong. All Trails is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has an in-app purchase for the pro version.

Friday (1/8): Visionn
So much of the time, so many people are using their smartphones to take pictures and videos. Then we depend on Instagram, Snapchat or other programs to work up just the right filter. This app lets you take your videos and animates them like cartoons as you shoot them. Visionn can use pictures on your Camera Roll or you can shoot new pictures with the app. It has 10 different filters to start… make you look like you’re in a graphic novel or an oil painting. Visionn with two N’s is $2 on iTunes.

Thursday (1/7): 5-0 Radio Police Scanner
There’s a fascination for some people with first responder scanners. This app lets you get in the middle of what’s going in emergency situations all over the US, Canada, Australia, and other countries . It collects and monitors police, firefighter, aircraft, and other emergency radio calls. You can narrow things down to your city and county to hear what’s going on in your area. The app also gives you a list of the code words and phrases, in case you don’t speak the lingo that first responders use. It also has a social aspect to it, where you can chat with other users of the app. 5-0 Radio Police Scanner is a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases. Proceeds from 5-0 Radio Police Scanner go to various charities, including the Equal Justice Initiative.

Wednesday (1/6/21): iScape
It's never too early to start looking at what you can do with your outdoor living space. This helps you develop some ideas thanks to augmented reality. You can take pictures of plants and furniture designs and actually see what they would look like in your backyard or outdoor patio. It lets you see what your vision would look like from your mind to your space. It also lets you buy all the products you want to feature the app itself. You can share your plans with your landscaping professional to let them know what you're thinking of. The app can also match you with a designer and let you find a professional to help you. iScape is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.  

Tuesday (1/05/21): Tele-AR video chat
It's a fact of our lives right now in this pandemic world. We're getting more used to video chats through Zoom. You're on a split-screen with the other person, or in a bunch of different windows on your screen. This app turns your videochats into something a little more normal. It uses augmented reality to put all of your faces into one screen. You might not be together in the same room, but it feels that way. The app also puts your face onto a 3D avatar. It's just a different way to experience chatting with friends and family. Tele-AR Video Chat is a free app on iTunes.

Monday (1/04/2021): Tunnel Bear
If you’re going to be using public Wi-Fi anywhere outside your trusted zone, you’ll need a VPN. VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. This app lets you do what you need to do in the public spaces and not worry about other people stealing your data through the open Internet. It connects you privately to whichever website you wish to go. It encrypts your data and no one else can read it or steal it. You can also rest assured that Internet providers won’t be spying on you. It has servers in more than 20 countries to make it look like your signal originates from any one of them. That way you can get around some sites that are blocked from where you really are. It’s also simple. TunnelBear is a free VPN app for iPhone, Android and Chrome OS. It has in-app purchases and a subscription model if you wish extra protection.  

Thursday (12/31): iExit
This is a driving app. There are other apps like Waze or Google Maps that will show you how to get from way place to another. iExit will show you where you can go on the way from one place to another. You’re going to want to make a pitstop on the road if you’re driving a long way on an interstate. How are you supposed to know what’s coming up in front of you? What if you need a certain brand of gasoline? What if the kids will ONLY eat nuggets from Chick Fil-A and nowhere else? This app will show up what’s coming up in the next exits ahead. This is important, especially if you’re in an area that you don’t know. It even comparison shops the gas prices at the next exit. iExit is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has an in-app purchase

Wednesday (12/30): Make Me A Cocktail
Any prospective bartenders out there? This app can get teach you how to make any of more than 35 hundred different cocktails, each with a different recipe. This is for those that need a little inspiration, just in time for New Year’s. Do you know how to make a Quarantini or a Ruby Thursday? You will with this app. Pick your favorite mixers and alcohols, and you will find something that you’ve never tried before. Or you might find just the right way to make some of your favorite drinks. It even lets you add some other ingredients that you might not expect to put into a drink, like eggs. It has a different cocktail of the day that you can try. Make Me A Cocktail is a free app on iTunes.

Tuesday (12/29): CrimeDoor
This is an app for the lovers of true crime stories. This is a news app that lets you get into the middle of real life stories. It uses augmented reality to put you into the middle of crime scene. You can enter into a door into different high profile crime scenes. That includes JonBenet Ramsey, Selena, or even the Nicole Simpson cases. You’ll see everything from the victims’ points of view. You can virtually walk around those crime scenes. IF you are looking at some unsolved cold cases, you actually might see something that the professionals didn’t. There’s 3D evidence that you can see. Or you can read articles about true crimes, be in on AR trials. CrimeDoor is a free app for true crime fans. It’s on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Friday (12/18): Message from Santa
It’s so hard for the kids when they can’t have an upclose visit with Santa Claus to let him know their Christmas lists. This app gives you Santa’s private cellphone number. You can have Santa call your children as many times as you need him to. All you have to do is give him a few details about your kids. He will also send your children with their own personal video messages. You can also make calls to Santa’s personal voicemail, like recording your wish list, so he knows exactly what you want. You can even send him text messages to make sure everything is OK. Here’s the extra thing. You can also let your kids know that “Santa gets reports about naughty kids all year long” through the app. Message from Santa is a free app on iTunes and Android. It does come with in-app purchases.  

Thursday (12/17): Elf Yourself
It’s the Christmas season and you might just want to disguise yourself as one of Santa’s helpers. This is one of the most popular apps every year. You can turn yourself into an elf and put yourself into different videos. You can take a live picture of yourself, or grab one from the camera roll. You can then be a dancing elf, and the envy of all the other elves with your elfin moves. The app can bring in up to 5 different faces, so your family can elf themselves and you can all dance together. Pick out the music you want your elf self to dance to. Add a personal greeting to the video and send it out to your family and friends. OR put it on your social media. Think of it as a JibJab for the holidays. Elf Yourself is a free app on iTunes and Android. Some of the dances are free. If you want more, you can pay the elves.

Wednesday (12/16): Zova
This is a workout app that is meant for you to use with your Apple Watch. It uses the heartrate monitor to show you how you're doing in your workouts. That's the source of the workouts on this. It's all about your heart health with this app. It watches your heart rate, and then determines how many calories you're burning during your workout. There are courses and videos that also teach different kinds of life skills. There are three different workouts every week for cardio, strength and sculpting, and body burning. Work on every part of your body from your arms to your butt and your core. Connect your wireless earbuds to get your music pumping along with your heart. Zova is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

Tuesday (12/15): Die With Me
This is a chat app. You can meet all kinds of people with this app, and you all have one thing in common. You’re all there, because your phone is dying. Your battery is running on less than 5 percent, and so is everyone else in the chat room. That doesn’t give you much time to get to know someone, so you better get the conversation going quickly. You never know how long that 5 percent will last. The app lets you create your own personal nickname, in case you find your way back with a dying battery. The chats might not last long, so you have to get out of the conversation what you can. Die With Me is 99 cents on iTunes and Android. You can make an in app purchase to get online when your battery is 10 percent. That means longer chats.

Monday (12/14): Thumbtack
There are always messages on message boards where people are looking for professionals to help them with important jobs around their homes. This app will connect you to pros that are from where you are. You can find a whole laundry list of people. Everyone from contractors, landscapers, or even laundry people that are in your neighborhood. All you need is pick whatever service that you’re looking for. It could be for home improvement or repairs. There are pros that can design websites or photographers So many different trades. You find a list of different pros, what they charge, and compare their prices. Thumbtack is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for their services.

Friday (12/11): Movie Star Experience
This one lets you live out your dream to be a major motion picture star, even if it’s only for a short time. You get the whole star experience. You can star in an action movie, or a comedy, or a romantic picture, maybe a horror film. There are 8 films to show off your talents. The app is your personal assistant through the whole process. You use your camera to shoot your scenes with your director guiding your hands. You have a co-star and everything. The editor puts everything together. It has a professional sounding voiceover trailer guy. There’s music and you can hear the sound effects. This is a big time movie in a short minute. Then, of course, you share your star power to social media. Movie Star Experience is $2 on iTunes.

Thursday (12/10): Santa Pics
The Coronavirus has ruined one aspect of a family Christmas. You can't get that annual picture of your kids sitting with Santa Claus without the need for plexiglass or sitting 6 feet away from him. This app lets you avoid the whole scene. It has an augmented reality feature that lets you put together lifelike pictures and videos of Santa Claus for your own. You can put Santa onto your living room couch through the A.I.  There are 6 different poses you can use for him; standing, sitting, even standing on one leg. Once you get St. Nick where you want him with the family, just take the picture. You can repeat it if someone isn't smiling. Santa Pics. It's not the real Santa, but an A.I. version may be the next best thing. It's 99 cents on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (12/9): Remove.BG
This is a photography editing app. The BG stands for backgrounds and this app can remove any background that it’s in the back of your selfie or other pictures. You can take out everything in the background and leave only your smiling face. Other apps make you remove everything manually and that can take a long time. This does it 5 seconds. It’s automatic. With that, you can then replace the background with anything else. The app has some suggestions, or you can take another background in a different picture and put yourself in that shot. It’s great for incorporating yourself into presentations. Remove. BG is a professional grade graphic program. It’s a free app on Android. It comes with a subscription model.

Tuesday (12/8): DuckDuckGo
Privacy is so important to everyone when they’re going online for any reason. You never know what kind of data certain websites are using to track you. Duck Duck Go is a bit like Google as a search engine. Only, it’s claim to fame is, it never tracks you ever. It has a simple philosophy and that is your privacy is the most important thing. This is an actual web browser that keeps you away from prying companies. It lets you clear any data that you put in, when you want to. It has the Duck Duck Go search available to let you search privately. You can make sure that any websites you look at are encrypted. It also gives all the websites a letter grade for protection. DuckDuckGo is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Monday (12/7): Krazy Coupon Lady
This app helps you to find great shopping deals at the major retailers, like Walmart, Target, Walgreens, Costco and others. It lets you make shopping lists. And find different kinds of deals. It comes with coupons that you need or will find out that you need at whatever store you go into. Every store in the app has its own page to show you more specials. It has thousands of coupons that you can use on your missions. The Krazy Coupon Lady comes to you with more than 5 dozen new deals every day. It even comes with how-to videos to turn you into a crazy couponing person yourself. Krazy Coupon Lady. Krazy with a K. It’s a free app on iTunes and Android.

Friday (12/4): Ada
Calling Dr. Google. People love to search the Internet for what ails them. This app can help you look at your symptoms and possibly get some assistance in figuring out what’s going on with your health. This app is created by a doctor. You answer some questions about how you’re feeling. It could be fevers, headaches, stomach aches, or something more serious. It takes what you say, and puts it through a medical dictionary. Then, the app gives you some possibilities to investigate further or take with you to your doctor. You can also use it to check out family members. It does not diagnose anything, it’s only a symptom checker of possibilities. The actual diagnosis should be done by your doctor. Ada is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (12/3): Wakeout
This one just got named Apple’s iPhone App of the Year. It’s a workout app that lets you get some movement in, in just a few seconds. You can do these Wakeout exercises just about anywhere in your home. It can be in front of your desk or on your couch. It comes with more than a thousand different exercises. Each one is a minute long, with four movements. The app comes with a timer to keep you honest on your time. It also can remind you to take a break from the drudgery at the office to move around a bit. There are also wakeouts to help you sleep at night. Wakeout is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.  

Wednesday (12/2): Depop
This is a shopping app to find different fashion. You can find all kinds of unique clothes and shoes. This is a site that the next generation is using to find something the latest in name brands, like Adidas, Polo, Nike, and others. It has more than 18 million users that are shopping and selling. It’s a one stop shop. And you can find some great deals, if you don’t mind buying already worn clothing or shoes. There are thousands of items for sale. And you can get them from different parts of the world. You can buy or clean out your closet to sell your own items, and make some extra spending money. Depop is a free app on iTunes and Android. You pay for what you buy.

Tuesday (12/1): Sleep Talk Recorder
Yes, yes, I know. You don’t snore. You don’t talk in your sleep.  Yes, you do. Lots of people do. Aren’t you curious what it is you’re saying when you’re out like a light? Plug your phone in, set up the app. It turns on when it hears you start to talk in your sleep. It has different settings to make sure it turns on at the second you start to say something. Amazing what you’ll hear, even if it’s just nonsense. You can share it if you dare. Sleep Talk Recorder is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in app purchases.

Monday (11/30): Wimage
It’s a combination of word and image. That’s exactly what it does. This app can turn your words into images or icons. They’re trying to turn you away from using emojis. You just type in the word and you can choose from different options. It allows you to make changes to the colors and you can add other Wimages before you send off your message. This app can also help kids become illustrators. It’s something new. A new way to communicate using Wimages. Wimage is a free app on iTunes. It has in app purchases.

Friday (11/27): Endel
This is a time where we are losing a lot of sleep. This app might be able to help with that. It sets up a list of sounds that are personalized just for you to help you relax. It comes with different modes. There’s a relaxation mode, that focus mode, a sleep mode, and something called an “on the go” mode. The app says it can help you cut your stress and put you into a calm sleep, if that’s what you need. Or you can use the sounds to focus your mind on a task at hand.  It also works with your phone’s health app.  Endel: Focus, Sleep, Relax is a free app on iTunes and Android. You can also program your Alexa to play it. ​It comes with a subscription model.

Wednesday (11/25): Any.Do.
This is an app for the disorganized, or the organized. It's an organization to keep your life centered on the tasks at hand without worrying about your schedule. You set up the appointments that you have. It syncs with all your devices. It provides reminders about what you have coming up on your calendar. Set up your meetings and follow ups. That's just what the free version does. There's also a pro version that does even more like your gift or grocery shopping. It's like your own personal assistant in your phone. Any.Do is a free app on iTunes and Android. It does have a subscription model in the pro version.

Tuesday (11/24): Hover
There are times when we need to get some major or minor renovations to the outside of your house. But, how many of us know the exact dimensions of that area? This one uses your phone’s camera to measure the size of your roof to other areas down to the inch. All you have to do is take 8 different shots of the exterior. It turns those photos into a 3D model. Then, you can get more information on home repairs, like fixing the roof. The app lets you get an accurate count on how many shingles that you’ll need to replace the ones on the roof. You can also find out how much you’ll need to spend for shingles, gutters, or windows. Hover – Measurements in 3D can save you thousands on costs. It s a free app on iTunes and Android.

Monday (11/23): Food Network Kitchen
 As we get closer to Thanksgiving Day, more people might want to get some ideas and help for what they’re planning for dinner. This app can help with ideas, not just for Thursday, but for every day of the week. It comes with step by step instructions and they come from different chefs that you see on Food Network TV shows. You can also learn new skills in the kitchen. The app has more than 50 live classes every week. You never know who the teacher will be. It comes with more than 80 thousand different recipes. You can save the ones that you consider your favorites. There are video instructions for making the dishes you want. You can also use the app to stream your favorite shows on the network. Food Network Kitchen is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has free sections and a subscription model.

Friday (11/20): Toon Camera
There is something about cartoons, or animation. Now, you can see what you would look like as a cartoon. This is a photography app that lets you turn your pictures and camera shots into different kinds of cartoons. You can also record videos as animated shorts or features straight from the camera. Shoot photos as a cartoon in many different styles. It can be an artsy black and white animation to a pastel flavor to full on color. There are still styles like simple pencil sketches to ink effects. Make them your own works of art and share them with others. Toon Camera is $2 on iTunes.

Thursday (11/19): Flipp
Black Friday shopping is coming soon, even if you’ve already started your Christmas shopping. This is an app that can help you sort through all the weekly ad circulars that come out for retailers all over the country. It has connections with more than two thousand stores, including all the big names like Walmart. You don’t need to look for a Sunday paper to see the deals of the week. They come straight to you. That includes coupons for the grocery store that people still love. It has a search function, so if you’re looking for something specific, the app can guide you toward the store that has it.  You can also put certain things on a watch list to see when the price comes down to the lowest it’s going to get. You can also use it as a shopping list at your favorite store. Flipp is a free app on iTunes and Android.  

Wednesday (11/18): IoT Assistant
This is a new app from the minds at Carnegie Mellon to help you keep your identity protected. This app will arm you with information about data certain things are collecting about you. That means everything from your smart speakers to facial recognition cameras. You can find out who is collecting that data and who gets to see it and how long they get to keep it on their files. You can then get into the resources to make changes to your privacy wishes. The app shows you what kinds of sources are around your location. You might see a sign that says, “This area under camera surveillance.” You can also help the app discover more resources that are around you. Maybe there are doorbell cameras, for example. IoT Assistant is a new free app on iTunes and Android.  

Tuesday (11/17): VHS Camcorder
This is an app for you to take videos. But what’s unique about this one is, when you shoot your videos, they’ll have a real retro look to them. They will look like you shot them on a VHS camcorder. You remember the look. It’s grainy, there’s a time code stamp on it. You can zoom in with that awkward fast zoom. It’s just a blast from the past. The app also has those titles that you would put onto your old VHS videos with the 80s graphics. This is also perfect if you’re having a retro 80s party. Perfect way to capture the memories. It also has the 80s sound to it. This one is just fun VHS Camcorder is $4 on iTunes and $3 on Android.

Monday (11/16): Get Rid Of It
Have you ever noticed how much stuff you have that you just don’t need any more? This is an app to help you do a little cutting down. Go minimalist, if you wish. It’s a very Marie Kondo thing to do. Get rid of stuff that doesn’t bring you joy. It works like a challenge. You have a month. Get rid of one thing on the first day. Then, you get rid of two things the next. And so on. The app helps you to keep track of your progress. 30 days is a long time to get rid of stuff. You might have some kind of attachment to some things. The app lets you take pictures to keep as memories. The app can help you with ideas and suggestions to keep going. If you’re doing this with some of your friends as a challenge, the app can help keep track of how you’re doing, compared to them. Get Rid Of It is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Friday (11/13): Zutobi
This is a driving test app. Maybe you just moved to Texas and need to study for the rules of the road here. Perhaps, you have a teen driver that’s ready to get behind the wheel. This app can help. It has more than 500 questions for driving tests in each of the 50 states.  You can also look at each state’s DMV handbook of the rules of their roads. The app provides tests for you to practice on, before you take the real thing. It also has different kinds of safe driving tips. You can also use the app to find and fix what you’re weakest at when it comes to driving laws. The app also has pictures to help, if you learn better with them. Zutobi is a free app on iTunes and Android. It says it can help you ace your driver’s test.  It has in app purchases.

Thursday (11/12): Nutshell
This is a fun photography app that lets you turn your still shots into a mini movie. All you have to do is take three different pictures. Then you can add captions or even animations. The app then converts them all into your mini-movie. Think of some of the animations you see with stories on Instagram. Instead of using Boomerang, you can use this. The three pictures and whatever other enhancements you want, Nutshell combines them and gets the pictures moving. Your three pictures make up the beginning, middle and end of your movie. Nutshell is a free app on iTunes.

Wednesday (11/11): Housecraft
One of the toughest things to do when you’re out furniture shopping. You don’t know what a certain couch or chair will look like in your living room. Or if that dining room table will have enough space in the dining room. This is an augmented reality app that can help you with the visualization. It uses your camera to take a picture of a piece of furniture. Then, you can superimpose it into the space where you’d want to put it. See how it fits. It can be furniture, or plants. The AR shows it to you in 3-D style. You can plan your home. And you can resize it to make it fit to that space. Housecraft is a free app on iTunes.

Tuesday (11/10): Magnifier Flash
Everybody needs help with the small print at some time. Your age doesn’t matter. Sometimes, the letters are just too small. This app will magnify what you’re looking at. It also brightens what you’re seeing, by activating the flashlight. The app is like a lighted magnifying glass. It’s great if you’re in a dimly lit restaurant and you’re having a rough time reading the menu. The app magnifies what you’re looking at up to 6 times crystal clear. You can even take a photo of what you’re looking at if you don’t want to disturb others around you with the light. Magnifier Flash is 99 cents on iTunes.

Monday (11/9): Goldbelly
This is a food delivery app, but it doesn't just do restaurants from here. This one goes a little wider. There are thousands of people who move here every week, and they may want to have their favorite foods again. Now, you can have them delivered to your front door. Goldbelly lets you order from your favorite restaurants in different cities. There's everything from Bagels, Pizza, and Cheesecake from New York to Pecan Pie from Commander's Palace in New Orleans. Deep Dish Pizza from Chicago or Philly Cheesesteaks from Pat's. There's a full list of the restaurants that take part. You can have the food shipped to you overnight. Goldbelly is a free app on iTunes. You pay for the food and the delivery.

Friday (11/6): Busy Kid
It’s something a lot of adults today wish they had at a younger age. We never really learned much about money and how to save or invest it back then. Today, a kid can learn all the important ways to make money and then take care of money. This is a chores app. When a kid gets his chores done from a certain list, that kid earns an allowance into the app. It’s a direct deposit that’s done on Friday’s. Part of the money that the kid earns goes straight into a savings account. You can teach generosity by letting the kid donate part of their allowance to a worthy cause. Or you can have your kid invest in the stock market for real. You can give the kid a real VISA spend card that works in real stores. Busy Kid can teach the value of money to a kid as young as 3. It’s a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Thursday (11/5): Pxl
You can look at your photos a whole new way with this app. It turns them into mosaics and it uses other pictures in your camera roll to make up the mosaic of that one photo. It’s basically a way to make art, using the ultimate in ‘picture in picture’ technology. The photos that make up your mosaic are used for their color to fill in the palate. When you find just the one you want, zoom in on it to see how it magically used those photos to create the mosaic of that shot. When you’re done, you can order a print of your mosaic to hang on your wall. PXL is $2 on iTunes.

Wednesday (11/4): EdX
Your education doesn’t have to end with the diploma. Your learning can continue well into your later years. This is a way to add more lessons through some of the major colleges and universities in this country. EdX has some of the best online courses that you can take, right there at home. This might be the best way to learn more to move your career forward. There are courses in everything from computer programming to engineering. From marketing to math. It also lets you download the courses to learn on your own time at your own pace. There are courses from Harvard and MIT or of any of a hundred other universities. EdX can teach you anything and you can learn for free. It’s a free app on iTunes and Android.  

Tuesday (11/3): Aquarium Live HD
Is there anything more peaceful than an aquarium? Watching the fish swimming around the tank? The colors. But, come on. Who really wants the responsibility of actual living fish? There’s the feeding and the tank cleaning and issues of pH and all that. This app gives you all the relaxing benefits of a simple fish tank without the muss and fuss and floating goldie. You can have the fish tank app running on your phone or tablet. It comes with HD videos of fish. You can choose from Busy or Calm Coral Reef, Shark Paradise, or Clear Aquarium. Virtual fish without the responsibility. Your only worry would be, your battery life. It also has soothing marine sounds to play in the background. Ocean waves, calm seas and aquarium bubbles. Aquarium Live HD is a free app on iTunes. It has in-app purchases.  

Monday (11/2): 5 Second Guess
This is a game that we’ve seen them play on the Ellen Show on occasion. She’s usually a great resource for finding new games to play with your family. This one is an easy one to play. Basically, you get five seconds to name three things in a group. Once your time is up, the other people in the game decide if you can up with three legit things. For example, 5 seconds to name 3 state capitals. The time moves very quickly. The game comes with hundreds of different questions to answer. You can also add questions of your own. The app gets more questions added all the time. 5 Second Guess is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.  

Friday (10/30): Zombify
It’s Halloween, so it’s time to put on our spooky best. Now you can see what you would look like if you got caught up in a zombie apocalypse. This app can turn your camera or photos into zombie pics. It’s like a zombie photobooth. Right after you change your face, you can add all kinds of effects, like cages or arrows or knives or other weapons. There are animated effects you can add to your photos. You can even add different kinds of 3D effects. All for the perfect Halloween photo. Spice them up with other creatures to add a little more fright. Zombify - Turn into a Zombie is a buck on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (10/29): Postmates
One thing that’s become popular during the pandemic. Delivery apps. We had to look to them for almost everything when we had to be locked down. There are a lot of them. This one is considered one of the best. You know how they work. Postmates lets you order whatever you want from restaurants, and the food is brought to your front door. It works more than 600 thousand restaurants and other businesses. Place your order from just about any cuisine, track your order, and pick it up at home. It comes with free delivery when you order more than 12 dollars worth of anything. It doesn’t just work with food places. You can get deliveries from pharmacies or even gas stations. Postmates is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.  

Wednesday (10/28): Photo Tangler
This is a photography app that can turn your individual pictures into something special. It’s an app to make collages out of your photos. You can blend them together to make them look different. All you need to do is open the app and drop your photos into the app. It merges them so they become almost like a painting. You don’t need any kind of art training or taste for that matter. The app does all the hard work to put together something that you will love. Add captions or backgrounds, and you’re done. It’s a great app to put together a collage that you can give as a gift to someone. PhotoTangler Collage Maker is $3 on iTunes.  

Tuesday (10/27): SketchParty TV
Let’s play a game. Remember Pictionary? This is a version that’s ready for you to play on your phone or tablet. You don’t have to waste a lot of paper. You play it the same way. You have to draw pictures on your tablet or phone and other people have to figure out what it is you’re trying to draw. It’s a team game and you are trying to say. You get two minutes to figure out five different words or phrases. This app is a fun way to spend time with the family. It also uses Apple TV so everyone can see what it is you’re drawing. The app also lets you change colors for what it is you’re trying to draw, so you don’t have to just try to draw with one color. SketchParty TV is $4 on iTunes.

Monday (10/26): 4tomatic
How many of you remember the old time photo booths? You put your money into the slot. You look into a square lens and make funny faces as the camera ticks off 4 separate pictures of you. Those pictures come out in a strip that you can keep. This app does the same thing. It’s a selfie app that lets you take four photos by yourself or with someone else. They come the same way as the classic photobooth. Once you press the button, it starts taking 4 pictures. Then because this is the 21st century, the app puts together with some animation. 4tomatic is $1 on iTunes.

Wednesday (10/21): You in the Driver Seat
It can be the nightmare scenario for parents when they let their teenager drive the family car for the first time or any time. You want to make sure that they’re driving safely and not distracted by anything. This app comes from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute. It monitors the activity by a driver in the car, and it doesn’t just have to be a younger driver. The app provides incentives for you to drive safely. You start with 100 points, and then lose points for speeding or distractions, like cellphones. When you get enough points, you can turn them in for gift cards from different companies like Chick Fil-A, Amazon, and Starbucks. The app will also send you random gifts once you hit certain levels of safe driving. For teen drivers, there’s a contest page, where you and your school can compete against others for points. You in the Driver Seat is a free app on iTunes.

Tuesday (10/20): Clario
This is a security app for your phone. It actually does several different security functions to keep you safe. First, it starts with a VPN, virtual private network. It comes with an ad blocker. It can help protect your identity against hackers. It can watch you against online threats in real time. It comes with added protection to do your shopping and banking online. The app will quarantine other apps that are dangerous to your online life. It also works to protect your data from thieves. You can talk to their experts all day, all night, all week long. They can give you recommendations to maintain your security and give you assistance if something goes wrong. Clario is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Monday (10/19): Caribu
This is an app for parents, grandparents, and their kids, especially during these pandemic times. It’s a video calling app to keep you in touch. The app is more than just chatting. It makes the whole experience interactive. The app has thousands of different kinds of books, and games, and coloring that you can do together. It’s all about shared experiences through the same app as the kids. It is constantly adding new books that you can read to the kids or read together. It even has a cooking function that lets you share recipes and make food together. You can look at artwork together. Again, it’s more than just talking together. It’s Caribu, a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases. 

Friday (10/16): #NotMe
It’s still a problem in offices all over the country, no matter how many corporate videos you have to watch. Misconduct comes in all shapes and forms at work. This is an app that can help you report some questionable behavior in your office. It also works to report when people aren’t following Coronavirus rules. It’ll help you keep track of what you see, when, and where. The app also saves what it is you’re documenting. You don’t have to be a victim of misconduct, you might be a witness to it. When you’re ready to tell someone, you can do it anonymously if you wish to. The app works to take those reports and help you with support and find a resolution. It works for employees and for companies. #NotMe is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Thursday (10/15): Safety Photo+Video
This is a vault for your pictures and videos to keep them away from spying eyes. You can put whatever private photos and videos that you want into that vault, which is password protected. You can use the fingerprint sensor or facial recognition to lock and unlock that vault. If someone tries to access your vault without your permission, the camera takes their picture and sends it to you. You can even set up a decoy password to make sure that your real one is protected. You can set up a passcode in any of three different ways with a combination lock or keypad or draw a pattern. It’s easy to select which pictures to put into the vault. Safety Photo+Video is a free app on iTunes.  

Wednesday (10/14): (AR)-T Museum
We might not be able to go to see some of the most impressive works of art in the world. But, you could see what they would look like in your living room. This is an app that uses augmented reality to show you some of the most famous paintings. See how the Mona Lisa would hang in your den. Or the Scream in the dining room. And when you step closer to the wall, you can see more detail in the painting, just like you would if it were there. The app works with museums all over the world, just to be able to share their works of art with people that want to be able to experience them in a unique way. The app works with six museums, but it shows some of the most famous artworks in it. Experts say seeing those works in A-R can be as satisfying as seeing them in person. (AR)-T Museum is a free app on iTunes. 

Tuesday (10/13): Pricepulse
Today and tomorrow, Amazon presents Prime Days. Those are some of the biggest sales that you’ll see on Amazon. Pricepulse lets you track the products on your wishlist for the best prices that are available.  It looks at what you want every day, and watches for trends in the prices. Then it tells you when is the best time to buy. That could be during Prime Days, or it might be another time. You can also scan different barcodes to run other comparisons at other stores beyond Amazon. That way you can price match with other retailers. The app will send you push notifications to let you know when the prices drop to a point where they’re going to be best. Pricepulse is a free app on iTunes and Android. 

Monday (10/12): SideChef
This is a popular cooking app that gives you step by step recipes right there in your phone or tablet. It has thousands of them, and you can break down what it is you want to make by diet and ingredients. It can handle anything from vegan to paleo to keto. It also lets you set the goals that you want to achieve. It could be anything from saving money to a more healthy diet. The recipes are personalized to you. There are plenty of videos to help you through the process of cooking your meals. The app can even read the instructions to you, so you don’t have to worry about swiping. It also works with grocery stores so you can have them deliver what you need to you. If you have smart devices, the app can control them, too for you. SideChef is now working with Walmart. It’s a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

Friday (10/9): Carrot Alarm
Let’s just start with this, you do NOT want to make the carrot mad. Carrot is an entire network of snarky apps. This one will get you jumpstarted in the morning, if you need the help. This alarm clock will wake you up, like it or not. It’s easy to set up. You just set the alarm. When it’s time, Carrot wakes you up with music and spoken words. Then, you have to do a few chores to do. They’re actually little games. But, if you hit the snooze button too many times, Carrot gets a little more aggressive and nasty with her comments. And if you’re good, Carrot rewards you with more content, like bedtime stories. You can unlock upgrades to the app. Carrot Alarm is $3 on iTunes.

Thursday (10/8): Touch Retouch
You know you don’t take perfect pictures all the time. There’s something in the shot that’s just in the way. It might be a garbage can or some wires. Maybe there’s someone pulling a photobomb at just the wrong time. This app can help you get rid of all those nuisances with the swipe of an editing finger. If there are some kind of untimely blackheads that you want gone, they’re gone. You can take out anything or anyone, like an ex- that you just scrubbed out of your life. You don’t ever have to see that one again. You don’t have to be perfect with your finger, the app can find the lines of the offending objects or persons. Touch Retouch is $2 on iTunes and Android.

Wednesday (10/7): myNoise
Sometimes, you need a little noise to help you with your concentration. It’s the type of noise that makes the difference. myNoise can bring different kinds of white noise to your phone. Maybe you want the sound of rain, or oceans, or anything else. That type of noise can blunt the sounds that you don’t like in your ears that’s ruining your ability to think or to sleep. But, this app gives you more control over the sounds. You can calibrate the sounds to just the right levels. It comes with a mixer board to put just the right volume and tone and frequencies of the sounds. The app comes with hundreds of different sounds that you can use to improve your life. myNoise is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in app purchases for more sounds.

Tuesday (10/6): Shift
This is a fitness app, or a way to keep your workouts interesting. Some people like to listen to music while they're working out, others like podcasts. This app lets you switch back and forth between the two. When you're in high intensity mode, the app plays kickin' music. When you go into more low intensity sections, that's when you can listen to your favorite podcasts. Set a timer between the two and the sound changes. It also comes with a tab that lets you pick some power songs to really get your motivated through your workout. It can be used for weightlifting, running, and cycling. And, you don't even have to fiddle with the phone to switch modes. That's what the timer is for. Or you can switch with a phone tap, whichever is easier. It works with the Health Kit app on your phone. Shift - Workout with podcasts is a free app on iTunes and Android.  

Monday (10/5): Houzz
If you haven’t heard of this app, it’s one of the most popular apps to do a little re-designing of your home. You can turn yourself into a regular Joanna Gaines with it. The app has more than 20 million pictures of homes, both inside and outside. All you need to do is pick a room and start designing. There are 10 million things you can buy for every room. There’s everything from cabinets to lighting to furniture. And normally, most of them are on sale. The app comes with a Augmented Reality mode that will let you see what your new designs would look like in your space. You can also hire a professional, if it gets to be a bit too much for you to DIY. Houzz is a free app on iTunes and Android. The rest is up to you.

Friday (10/2): Family Wall
Sometimes the family needs a little bit of organization. This app can organize your life through different areas. There’s a family calendar that keep everyone’s schedule coordinated. It lets you add and change any appointments you might have. You can set reminders for events, practices, or rehearsals. The app lets you divvy up shopping lists, so you can get through a grocery store faster if you divide and conquer. You can put in a To-Do list for everyone in the family, even the kids to do their chores. It also has a tracking section, so parents can see where their kids are at all times. There’s also a messaging feature for in family notes. Family Wall is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model. 

Thursday (10/1): Libby
Not everyone can get out to the public library because of Coronavirus, but you can bring the library to you with this app. This is a virtual library card for your local branch. You can use it to look through an entire catalog of books that the library has on digital. You can borrow them, just like you would when you show up. Then, you can read the books through your e-reader. There are audiobooks and magazines available, too. Come up with reading lists. When you’re reading the books, you can save your place and come back right where you left off. There are books for kids that you can read together. Libby has all you could ever want from a library without leaving the house. It works with your library card in your city. It’s a free app on iTunes and Android.  

Wednesday (9/30): Yidio
This app is a way to keep track of all of your streaming services in one app. It has a function where you can find that show you started watching and can’t remember which streaming service you watched it on. It can give you personalized suggestions for other shows. It also has a daily reminder, so you can see what are the newest shows available. It works with more than a hundred different streaming services, including all of the major ones. Think of it as a TV Guide for streaming shows and movies across a broad band of channels and networks. Yidio is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

Tuesday (9/29): Kitche
This is an app that can help you organize your kitchen and your food pantries. It also can help you cut back on wasting food. People will tend to forget what they have in their pantries. This app can keep track, and remind you of your full inventory. It even can come up with recipes that you could use to use up some of the food that you have that you haven’t eaten yet. You use the app to scan everything you have on your store receipts. It comes with thousands of different recipes. And you can use the app to help keep track of the food that’s past its expiration date. That way, you get to see how much you might be wasting. Kitche is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Monday (9/28): TangoTab
This is an app from a Dallas company. And it has a mission to feed the hungry, every time you use it. All you have to do is go out to eat at one of the restaurants that it partners with. It can introduce you to new places to eat. There are more than 100 thousand restaurants that are part of the TangoTab family. Once you get to one of those restaurants, you just sign in through the app. You might even see some special deals at the restaurant. And you know that you’re helping to feed others. Every time you pay for your meal, TangoTab donates the cost to a food bank. So far, it’s fed more than 4 and a half million people. And you can rack up rewards points to get gift cards, or help feed more people. TangoTab is a free app on iTunes and Android.

THURSDAY (9/24): NYT Cooking
This is a cooking app from the New York Times. It has more than 20 thousand recipes that have appeared in the Times from famous chefs around the world. You can save your favorites in a recipe box, just like you would in your own kitchen. You can search for recipes by different kinds of food, ingredients, or diet types. Once you choose what you’re looking for, the app can put together the ingredients into a shopping list. It comes with video tutorials and tips for anyone from beginners to more experience chefs. It also can come up with some recommendations for what you might like. It also lets you develop tips for changing the recipes to fit your taste. You can share them with other members. NYT Cooking is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

WEDNESDAY (9/23): Clarity Money
Sometimes we need help keeping our money house in order. This is a budget managing app to help you organize your finances, your investments, and your savings. It uses an AI to look at your accounts and help you make the smartest decisions with your money. It goes through your debts and the cash you have coming in to let you know how you’re doing. It can help with your spending habits by working with you on a budget, and keep you on that budget. It organizes your bills and expenses and tracks them for you. You can see how many different subscriptions you have, and if you’re using them enough to justify paying for them. It can help you with a savings plan, your own virtual piggy bank. Clarity Money – Budget Manager is a free app on iTunes and Android. 

TUESDAY (9/22): Mole
Most people say they don’t want to travel anywhere, because of the pandemic. But, you don’t want to miss out on what the world has to offer. This app can bring you the world, and you can experience it while you eat your breakfast. People use their own cameras to take videos of what they’re seeing anywhere. When you use the app, you’re a mole. The people with the cameras are agents. You can use the app to see if there’s a long line at airport security or if there are storms at the beach. If you want to use your phone camera as an agent, you can get paid for: it. Mole is a free app oniTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

MONDAY (9/21): April Coloring
Let’s get some recreation time on our phones and tablets. This is a way to relive some of our childhood by doing something as simple as coloring in the lines. Adult coloring books have become very popular lately. This app is like a paint by numbers type. You start with a white screen with black and white shapes, then you take each section and color it in. At the end, you can see the results of your time. There are thousands of pictures for you to work on, and as you finish them, more are unlocked. There are daily paintings that come in for you. When you’re done, you can save your paintings and even print them, if you wish. April Coloring is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

FRIDAY (9/18): GoGig

These are still tough times, unemployment is still very high with more people trying to compete for the same jobs. This app can help you find your next career move that’ close to where you are, and what you’re qualified for. It’s a bit like a dating app, where it tries to match you up with companies, not just jobs. It helps recruiters to find where you are through geolocation. The app keeps you anonymous until such a time that you’re ready to ID yourself. You just have to complete a profile and what it is you want out of a career. GoGig is a talent network, looking to pair up people and positions. It’s perfect for efficient networking. GoGig is a free app oniTunes.

THURSDAY (9/17): SmartGym

This is an app to help you with your fitness routine. How many of us write down what we want to do when we go for a workout? We take notes to remember all the exercises we want. Then, we try to follow the program with that piece of paper. This app eliminates that need. It uses an AI to help you build your own workouts. Then, it’s able to change things up so you don’t get bored with the routine. It comes with full-on workouts, and they’re based on what equipment you have access to at home or at the gym. You can set up a timer to move you along on your workout. It works with everyone from beginner to high-impact HIIT workouts. It also integrates with Apple’s Health app. SmartGym is a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model.

WEDNESDAY (9/16): DoubleTake
This app is able to take your one phone and turn it into a multi-camera studio. The app can shoot video from different cameras on the phone and lets you switch from camera to camera to form a video with different views. The app shows all the pictures that are available from your point of view. If you’re doing an interview with someone else, you put the camera in the middle and you can see both people in the video. It comes with picture in picture that you can move around on your screen. You can also do a split screen, using two of the shots at the same time. DoubleTake by FiLMiC Pro is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in app purchases.

TUESDAY (9/15): Giphy
GIF’s and emojis are the way the world speaks now. They enhance the conversation that you write in text messages or on social media. Giphy is a GIF search engine with an entire library that can help you express your thoughts and feelings. You can find the perfect GIF and insert it into your conversations. It also lets you make your own custom stickers or GIFs through the Giphy Cam. Giphy also can turn a single picture into a GIF, you don’t need a video. It even has an arcade of sorts. You can play old school arcade games. It just released a tool that lets you put together backdrops for ZOOM calls. Giphy does a lot of things. It’s a free app on iTunes and Android.

MONDAY (9/14): YouMail
Your phone has more protection from spam callers. This app is a triple play of protection with a spam call blocker, robo call blocker, and a voicemail app that lets you put together more than one voicemail message. When spammers call you, the app will tell the call that the number is disconnected. That could take you off the list. It also continues to update to watch out for the most spam calling numbers. It lets you save your voicemails as long as you want them. It comes with visual voicemail, so you can see what the message is before you hear it. You can add a second line, for your work calls, so you don’t confuse them with personal calls. The app also comes with a Virtual Receptionist to help with call screening, so you can send some calls to your assistant or partner. A lot of features with YouMail. It’s a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in app purchases.

FRIDAY (9/11): NFL's Official App
The NFL season officially started last night. The Cowboys have their first game on Sunday night. This app works with the NFL’s Game Pass so you can see all the Cowboys games, as well as other primetime games, when you’re not near your TV. It shows the NFL Network 24 hours a day. You can get the latest in breaking news, game highlights, and scoring. You’ll get to see the playoffs live and the Super Bowl right there on your phone or tablet. There’s also video on demand and you can get the latest news from the Cowboys or whatever your favorite team is. There’s also access to the NFL’s Red Zone package. The NFL’s official app is free on iTunes and Android. It has subscription models.

THURSDAY (9/10): Binoculars
The smartphone can do so many things. This app uses the camera to magnify what you’re looking at, just like a set of binoculars. It can zoom in 32 times normal view. Even when you zoom in, you don’t lose the resolution that you would when you zoom in a camera. The app stabilizes everything to make the picture look its best. You can also use that zoomed in view to take photos or videos of things that are far away. It also allows you to see a satellite view of what you’re looking at through the GPS on your phone. Binoculars is $3 on iTunes.

WEDNESDAY (9/9): Grammarly Keyboard
Sometimes, you need a little help with your writing. This is a keyboard app that you can substitute for the regular keyboard on your phone. You can use it on any app where you write notes or any documents. It can correct any spelling errors you might have. It also watches out and makes suggestions for grammar issues in your writing. The app has a section that shows you synonyms, if you’re looking for a different word to use. You can streamline your writing with its advice. Get rid of sentences that just too wordy. It also has a way to search your emojis. Grammarly Keyboard is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

TUESDAY (9/8): Wakeout
This is a fitness app that can help you get a mini-workout in just a few minutes of your day. It comes with more than a thousand different exercises and more than 270 full-on workouts that can take only about 30 seconds. You can also do them wherever you are. At the office, in your bed, watching TV. Sitting, standing, or even when you’re traveling. Some of the workouts are specifically geared for your house, where a lot of people are still working from. Maybe you exercise your arms with a stack of couch cushions or pillows. You can do desk pushups. See how many you can do in 10 seconds. Wakeout is fast, and you might get more out of it than you think. It’s a free app on iTunes. It has a subscription model

FRIDAY (9/4): Unroll Me
You might be in a mood to have less clutter in your life. This is one app that can accomplish that with your email. You don’t need all that junk showing up in your inbox every day. One swipe of this app will make sure that you are unsubscribed to email lists that you don’t want to be a part of any longer. That’ll clean up the spam. Another swipe in a different direction sends some of the emails that you do want and puts them into a Daily Digest. A third swipe keeps others right where they are. It also has a function that lets you just assign those emails, without needing to swipe anywhere. It also works with more than one email account. Unroll Me is a free app on iTunes and Android.  

THURSDAY (9/3): Great Courses Plus
You might want to punch up your schooling in math, or science, or foreign languages. This app provides an online way to further your education. It has thousands of teaching videos in all different kinds of classes. You can stream to your phone or tablet or PC. It has online classes in computer coding and programming. You can learn from professors at Ivy League colleges and other schools that take part. Learn when you want to, there's no set schedule. Great Courses Plus is a free app on iTunes, Android, and you can get it on Roku or Amazon Fire TV.  You buy the subscription.

WEDNESDAY (9/2): BlackCam

This is a photo app to give you some artsy looks to your shots.  Black Cam shoots black and white photographs.  The editing feature lets you shoot with different shades of blacks, whites, and greys.  You can see what your final photo looks like when you’re looking through the filtering options. Adjust the brightness and contrasts to get just the right look.  You can also add other filters to make the picture look a little more grainy.  You can then save your photos and export them to your social media.  BlackCam  Black and White Camera is $1.99 on iTunes and $1.50 on Android.

TUESDAY (9/1): Audible Reality

This is a music enhancement app.  You can listen to the music on your phone the old fashioned way, or you can enhance the experience with this app.  It describes itself as three dimensional immersive audio.  It comes with an AI that can convert just the music into a new audio experience.  You can also set whatever vibe you want.  You might hear different parts of a song that you may never have discovered before.  Each vibe enhances the musicc.  Think of it like this,  if you change the viewing settings on your TV to wide screen or zoomed in.  This is the audio version of that.  You won’t hear your music the same way again.  Audible Reality Vibes is a brand new free app on iTunes and Android.

MONDAY (8/31): Firefox Focus

You might know about the Firefox web browser on your PC or your phone. This is an even more secure version.  It can give you peace of mind, if you’re worried about trackers and privacy.  The app blocks all kinds of trackers the entire time that you’re using it.  It also erases any trace of where you’ve gone online when you leave the site.  That lets the app get rid of any cookies, or your history, or any passwords that you had to use.  Firefox says when certain sites don’t have to load ads or trackers, those sites will then load even faster.  Firefox Focus is from the makers of Firefox.  It’s a free app on iTunes and Android.

FRIDAY (8/28): Bond

This is a personal security app.  It has a whole host of services that you can use.  It's almost like having your own personal security agent.  The app is good for situations that don't rise to the level of calling 9-1-1.  It can show you where your family is at all times.  IF you're in an area where you might need to draw attention, the app gives you a siren and flashing lights to bring help.  It has a one button to call 9-1-1 if you need it.  The app has security agents that are available to help you with questions on chat, a video, or a call. It has roadside assistance, a video monitor for when you're feeling less than safe.  It will also track your walk, if you're out by yourself.  Or you can call a car to take you some place safe.  Bond - Personal Security is a free app on iTunes and Android.  It has a subscription service available, too.

THURSDAY (8/27): Bingie

Cord cutting is everywhere, and when you finish a show that you loved, it can be tough to decide what to binge on next.  This is a brand new binge watching viewing guide.  It’s based on what kinds of shows that you like.  Add in a social media aspect to find just the right kind of programs or movies on streaming services.  A lot of the recommendations also come from other viewers that liked a particular show.  The app says people tend to trust ideas that come straight from their friends and families more than strangers.  It also lets you share your great ideas with others about great shows with private chats. Bingie is a free app.  It’s brand new on iTunes.

WEDNESDAY (8/26): Hear Here

More people say they’re choosing road trips, when they go on vacation.  This app can tell you about the places that you’re visiting when you’re on the road.  Kevin Costner worked with a team of experts to put this app together.  It uses your GPS to tell you interesting stories about the people and places that you’re driving through.  It’s similar to audio tours that you get at museums. Only the museum is the open road.  Each story only runs about 3 minutes so you can learn something while you’re driving or riding.  It can tell you how a town got its name or what’s the story about that mountain you’re seeing.  You can choose the kinds of stories you get.  History, culture, music, sports, or special interests.  Hear Here is a new app, and it’s constantly growing in content.  It’s free on iTunes.  It has a subscription model.

TUESDAY (8/25): Directive Maintenance App

While we’re stuck at home, or dealing with too much work at the office, there are things that fall through the cracks.  People tend to forget the basics of life, like when they should get their engine oil checked, or changing out their toothbrushes.  This app can keep all those tasks organized as reminders to do those things.  It can keep your maintenance tasks top of mind.  You can set up dozens of different tasks to remind you when you should do something important.  It comes with reminders to clean your dishwasher, change the batteries in your smoke detectors, or changing out your home’s air filters.  The app can also keep track of important items, like how much air you need to put into your tires or what kind of oil you take in your car. Directive Maintenance App is a free app on iTunes.  It has in app purchases.

MONDAY (8/24): Jumbo

These are times when we are more concerned for what we’ve put on social media.  There could be photos or posts that we put up years ago, that we might not want any prospective employers finding out about.

Jumbo can help you clean up your social media profiles.  It scans through your apps to give you directions about increasing the security.  That’s Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others. It’ll put limits on how their ads track you, and can keep those sites from selling your data.  You can also delete old and embarrassing posts or pictures.  It can help you remove your Alexa searches and voice recordings.  Jumbo Privacy + Security is a free app on iTunes and Android.

FRIDAY (8/14): Wyzant

School is starting, or it's about to, and it won't take long for some kids to realize they need a little help with their classes.  Wyzant is a tutoring app to help your kids get a head start on the school year.  It can connect both parents and their children in order to get in contact with a tutor.  And the tutors specialize in certain subjects, so you can find just the right person.  The app provides real time chat, so your child can get help and answers right away.  It also helps you to keep track of your kids' progress in their trouble classes.  The app has retired teachers on staff to act as tutors, and there are thousands of them.  They work with everyone from kindergarten through college students.  It even  has specialists that only do standardized tests.  Wyzant - Find A Tutor is a free app on iTunes and Android.  You pay for the tutoring session.

THURSDAY (8/13): Feast

Don't be fooled by the name.  It's not an app that lets you eat anything you want.  In fact, it's supposed to stop you from doing that.  Feast works like this.  You know the old saying, "The phone eats first".  You're used to taking pictures of what's on your plate, and posting them to social media.  This isn't a guilt trip, it's more of an informational app. A food journal.  It keeps track of the food that you're eating, and it can show you patterns that you might not have noticed.  It's called "food tracking" to look at the history of your meals.  Feast also has an online community to help you and inspire you with your food habits.  Feast is a free app on iTunes.

WEDNESDAY (8/12): Planta

So many people have tried to add a little greenery to their homes, while they’re stuck indoors.  But, sometimes, the amateur gardener turns out to have a brown thumb.  This app can help you keep your plants alive and growing, so you can enjoy them for years.  If you’re forgetful, the app can remind you about watering schedules.  It also can tell you when your plant might be outgrowing its pot.  It comes with step by step directions for just about any kind of plants.  The app can also suggest plant ideas, based on your ability to care for them.  It also has a plant identifier to let you know what plants you’re seeing, if they’re not ID’d in the store.  Planta is a free app on iTunes.  It has in-app purchases.

TUESDAY (8/11): Tabby

Cat people just don’t get much respect in the dating world.  A new study found that men are perceived as undateable if they put up a picture of them with their cats.  This app is for cat people.  It is made for them.  You can match up with someone that also has the same love for cats that you do.  You can plan any kind of “cat-date” that you want.  It also lets you find out about anything new in the cat world.  You are encouraged to put your information on the app, but it also wants you to share details about your cat or cats.  Share pictures.  Get cat-friendly date ideas. And it comes with information that you might want to learn about your cats.  It’s a dating app for cat lovers, and so much more.  Tabby is brand new. It launched on International Cat Day, Saturday.  It’s free on iTunes and Android.

MONDAY (8/10): Vixer

This is a video mixing app that lets you edit the videos that you want to put onto social media.  It can polish up what you put together and make them look professional.  It helps you to crop the pictures you take.  You can edit videos, speed them up, add text and music.  The music you add is royalty-free, and you can add what you want with the upgraded subscription. It has filters that allow you to get just the right look to them.  You can merge videos into one.  There are more than 50 filters to choose from to get just the right look to your pictures or videos.  You can add different customized frames.  You can turn your pictures into a social media slideshow.  Vixer is a free app on iTunes.  It has in app purchases. .

FRIDAY (8/7)  Mercari

There are a lot of shopping apps for you to buy and sell your stuff.  There’s really no limit to what you can find or put up for sale.  The app has more than 150 thousand different items that you can search through.  You can put up your listing in just a couple of minutes.  It’s actually free to list your own stuff.  If you make a sale, the app takes 10 percent of the sale as a commission.

If you’re looking to buy something, you can get it for a huge discount, up to 70 percent.  There’s a security feature to this app.  You never have to meet up with anyone.  Everything ships and it ships for free.  There’s no face to face exchanges.

Mercari: The Selling App is a free app on iTunes and Android.

THURSDAY (8/6): Photo Scan

You might have some old photos from your parents or grandparents.  Maybe, they’re a bit faded.  This app can let you scan those photos and save them to your phone.  You can edit the pictures to enhance the lighting on them.  The app lets you get rid of any marks or scratches.  The scan can crop to the edges, and they’ll show straight up no matter how you can scan them.  If you scan the pictures in a bright light, the app can remove the glare reflecting off the photo.  The app can then send it straight to your phone and to your Google Photos account.  Photo Scan from Google is a free app on iTunes and Android.

WEDNESDAY (8/5): All Trails

One way to get away from the boredom in lockdown is to go out for a walk, a run, or a bike ride.  All Trails can show you where are the best trails anywhere in the world.  It comes with more than 100 thousand carefully marked trail maps and pictures.  You can find trails that are kid friendly or pet friendly.  The app can access your GPS to make sure that you don’t get lost along the trail.  You can find trails that you might not know about, close to your house.  The app can keep track of your running, hiking, and cycling and you can save your favorites.  All Trails is a free app on iTunes and Android.  It has a subscription model.

TUESDAY (8/4): Lynda.com

This lockdown has caused a lot of people to want to make changes in their lives.  They want to take on new challenges and learn new things.  When you join this app, you get access to thousands of courses that can teach you all kinds of new things. You can learn new technology, business skills, photography, web design.  You can start from the beginning, or make your skills even more useable.  It could help you begin a new career, if that’s what you wish.  Lynda.com has 700 different courses in design, 1,200 in business. Lynda.com is from LinkedIn.  It has a subscription model to let you take as many courses as you like.

MONDAY (8/3): Jumpy Cat

This is an app to help you set up your workout that’s tailored for you.  It’s not a cookie cutter workout app.  It comes with an A.I. coach that works for you to develop just what you want and need.  It comes with more than 15 thousand different workouts to train any parts of your body.  You set the time that you have.  Anywhere from 5 to 60 minutes.  There are 5 different levels from beginner on up.  You don’t need any other equipment or sets of weights.  It’ll help you build lean muscle, burn your fat and lose your weight.  There’s a coach that’ll guide you.  And you can work out with some beautiful backgrounds around you.  Jumpy Cat is a free app on iTunes.  It has a subscription model.

FRIDAY (7/31): Alarmy

Working from home can take a lot of discipline from the time you wake up, until the end of the day. One way to make sure you get going when the alarm goes off in the morning.  Alarmy is called by a lot of people as the most annoying alarm app in the world.  There are several different ways that you can turn off the alarm when it goes off in the morning.  It might make you get out of bed to take a picture in another room.  There’s also what it calls a Shake Mode.  You have to shake it to turn off the alarm.  Or you’ll have to solve some kind of math problem.  Here’s the other thing with this alarm clock.  It’ll start soft, but then it gets louder and louder.  Alarmy, Sleep If U Can is a free app on iTunes and Android.  It has in app purchases.

THURSDAY (7/30): Hoopla

This is a way for you to be able to get full access to your public library.  That means you can borrow all kinds of books, movies, and TV shows and you don’t need to be in the library to get them.  The app works with libraries all over the country to stream the content to your phone, tablet, or computer.  It even works with your smart TV.  The app gives you access to more than eight hundred thousand different titles, just like the library would.  It’s like your personal library card.  You don’t have to worry about late fees, because when the loan time is up, they just delete off your devices.  Hoopla is a free app on iTunes, Android, and various streaming devices, like ROKU and Amazon FireTV.

WEDNESDAY (7/29): Facetune Video

People want to look their best when they’re putting their best face forward on a social media video.  This app is a video editing software that lets you make your selfie look just the way you want it to.  It’s also pretty simple so you don’t need any major editing skills.  All you need to do it look at one of the frames in the video, make the edits, and then it does the rest for the rest of the video.   You can smooth out any lines, get rid of any spots or pimples, shiny skin, or anything else.  You can even adjust your makeup in it.   Facetune Video is brand new.  It’s a free app on iTunes.  It comes with a subscription model.

TUESDAY (7/28): Watch With Friends

We can’t necessarily watch Netflix with our loved ones in the same place.  Now, you can do it remotely.  This app lets you fully coordinate things so you can join whomever you want, and watch your favorite Netflix shows and movies together remotely.  The app syncs things, so you are all seeing every scene at the same time.  It comes with a Chrome browser extension so you can all login to Netflix and put the watch party together.  One person hosts the party, and everyone else gets to join in.  That host controls when the show starts and pauses.  There’s a chat feature so you can talk amongst yourselves while the show is playing.  Watch With Friends is a free app on iTunes and Android.

MONDAY (7/27): Doublicat

You might have heard of something called Deepfakes.  It’s face swapping technology. This is an app that can put your face into your favorite movie or TV shows.  You can see what it would be like to see yourself in a videogame.  All you need to do is take a selfie.  You can be Willy Wonka or replace Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones.  Put yourself into your favorite GIFs and all it takes is a single click, and five seconds of your time.  You can also put it into a photo collage.  Or make your GIF into a meme.  Doublicat: Face Swap Pictures is a free app on iTunes and Android.  It has in-app purchases.

FRIDAY (7/24): MLB

It's opening day in Major League Baseball for both the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros.  Remember, we can't go to the ballpark to see our favorite teams live right now.  This app will keep you updated through the entire season.  It will show you the MLB TV Game of the Day every day of the season.  You can log into your MLB TV account and watch just about every game that's out of market.  You can watch highlights from games that are going on.  It provides radio broadcasts for every team.  There's breaking news from your favorite team and all the stats you need.  The app has a video archive from classic games that you can watch from first pitch to final out.  The MLB app is a free app on iTunes and Android.  It has a subscription model.

THURSDAY (7/23): Seven

Everyone is busy.  Some people want to get a good sweat on, but they are too busy to take an hour or more for a traditional workout.  Now you can get results and work out for 7 minutes a day.  There’s no wasted time or motion with these.  You don’t need any special equipment at all.  The app also lets you earn different kinds of achievements for every workout you complete in 7 minutes.  There are 200 different workouts that are tailored for your level of fitness.  It even comes with different kinds of virtual trainers to keep you motivated.  You might have a drill sergeant, a kung fu master, or if you want someone nicer, it could be a cheerleader.  Seven is a free app on iTunes and Android.  It has a subscription model.

WEDNESDAY (7/22): My Sketch

This is a specialty picture taking app.  It can convert your photos into high quality pencil sketches.  The app doesn't limit how many of them you can create.  It comes with 100 different kinds of sketches from the most basic pencils to more color corrected types of sketches.  There's everything from pastels, cartoons, and others.  You can adjust the brightness and contrast for just the results that you want.  You can even decide how much of the picture that you want to turn into sketches.

When you're done, you can share your artwork with your friends on social media.  My Sketch - Pencil Sketches is a free app for now on iTunes.

TUESDAY (7/21): GifGab

This one is just a silly app from the minds at JibJab.  You can use this app to create gifs of yourself or your friends.  Then, the app puts your gif into any one of hundreds of animated characters that you can share with your friends and family.  It might be a dancing hot dog, or a unicorn, or even Elvis.  All you need is a face to play along.  It comes with stickers you can add for your messages. The app works with all the major social media pages or instant messaging apps.  Think of an arts and crafts tool for your face.  Gif Gab is a free app on iTunes.  It has in-app purchases.

MONDAY (7/20): Trivia Royale

So, you think you’re smart?  Now you can test your mind mettle against a thousand other players at the same time.  They call this the biggest trivia tournament in the world.  You get into a room and just start answering questions, and watch as the others drop off.   The contest has 100 thousand questions and answers.  Begin with creating an avatar, and just jump right in.  If you win one of the games, you get into the Royale Lounge.   The app adds more questions every day.  Trivia Royale is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has in-app purchases.

FRIDAY (7/17): Skillshare

This has been a time where a lot of us have wanted to learn new things.  This is an online group that has all kinds of different classes.  You can learn just about anything that you want.  Maybe you want to learn painting, or photography, or anything else in the creative space. You can create any kind of projects that you can think of.  It comes with more than 20 thousand different classes.  Pick a category and go exploring to see the videos.  Choose something and you can learn something anywhere you are.  Skillshare is a free app on iTunes and Android.  It has a subscription model.

THURSDAY (7/16): Mealime

This is a meal planning app, especially when you want to eat healthy.  It does the whole step-by-step thing, and gives you guided directions to make your lunches and dinners.  The app puts together meal plans that’s designed for you, based on what you put in your preferences.  It has different kinds of diet plans, like paleo or flex, vegan, or keto.  When you get your meal plan of food, the app automatically puts the ingredients that you need into a grocery shopping list for the week.  The app gives you the full nutritional values of everything that you eat.  Mealime is a free app on iTunes and Android. It has a subscription model.

WEDNESDAY (7/15): Just Watch

Since we’re watching so much television through streaming services, this is a way to keep up with everything that’s on those services.  It’s like a TV Guide for streaming, only today we call them search engines.  It has information on more than 60 thousand shows and films, and where you can see them.  It can break down into 37 different categories of the types that you want to see.  The app updates the information every day.  You can also find out what services are offering the least expensive rentals or deals to buy certain movies and shows online.  It also works with movie theatres when they come back.  You’ll be able to find showtimes, and buy your tickets to see those films.  Just Watch is a free app on iTunes and Android.

TUESDAY (7/14): Jumprope

This has been a time for people to learn new things during the lockdown.  This app is a clearinghouse for how-to videos.  You can learn just about anything that you would want to.  There are beauty tutorials, and fitness routines. You can learn how to cook exotic foods or the simplest recipes.  Some of the best rated examples include how to plant herb boxes or breathing techniques and furniture makeovers.  You can learn how to do things, or you can use the app to teach others how to do things that you’re good at.  It’ll teach you how to make professional how-to videos of your own.  Jumprope is a free app on iTunes and Android.

MONDAY (7/13): iExit

Summer vacations are looking a lot different this year, because of COVID. More people are keeping their feet on the ground and in their cars for road trips, not so far from home.  When you’re on the road, you need to know what’s coming up on the next exit. Is there a particular kind of restaurant, what about hotels?  This app helps you find out.  It looks at the exits that are up ahead, not behind you.  You don’t want to turn around and backtrack.  You can search all kinds of categories for food, rest, and gas.  Up to 30 different categories.  It even has the latest gas prices for the stations ahead and prices for hotel rooms at the exit.  iExit is a free app on iTunes and Android.

FRIDAY (7/10): Swift Miles

This is an app for people that drive for their jobs.  It could be sales people, or maybe ride share drivers.  It helps you to possibly save some money on your taxes.  You might not be the best at keeping your records for the miles you drive for work.  This app makes it simple.  It can track how many miles you put on. And thanks to technology, the app can tell when the car is moving to track everything automatically.  You don’t have to remember to turn the thing on all the time.  The app also helps to calculate the tax deductions that the IRS will let you take for work-based travel. You can keep track of your expenses.  Swift miles is a free app on iTunes.  It has in-app purchases.

THURSDAY (7/9): Photo Room

This is a photography app that can help you put together the best pictures possible before you put them into your social media.  The editing features give you better control over what’s in the photo.  You can edit out anything you want in the background that doesn’t belong.  You don’t have to dig deep into the edits.  You can take out items and objects that don’t belong there.  Or you can change the colors of the backgrounds to make them fit to the shot that you want.  The app starts with templates to help you create studio type pictures in the end.  Photo Room is a free app on iTunes.  Android is coming soon.  It has in-app purchases.

WEDNESDAY (7/8): Fitbotic

This is an exercise robot app that can help track your fitness journey.  It’s like having your own personal trainer to guide you and give you feedback on how you’re doing with different kinds of workouts.  You get to worry about your form, and not worry about counting reps or sets.   The difference with this app is, it’s more for the beginner or someone who isn’t ready yet for the intensity of working with a trainer.  Oh, there’s one more thing about it.  The more you use Fitbotic, it actually gives you with rewards and points that you can use to get stuff from the Fitbotic store.  It could be fitness equipment or you can just get cash. Fitbotic says it’s a workout companion, not a trainer.  It’s a new free app on iTunes and Android.  It has a subscription model.

TUESDAY (7/7): Shortly

We're all very busy in our lives. But, that can get in the way of taking our time to read stories from great authors.  Shortly is an app that fill that need with short stories.  You choose the time that you want to spend reading something.  It could be as little as a minute up to five minutes.  It has a short story that will fill that time for you.  It also comes with a section that lets you find an author and read more of that person's work.  Or, if you have some more time, you can just find another story at random.  It also has a section that helps you to discover if you have the imagination and the chops to write your own stories.   Shortly is a free app on iTunes and Android.  It has an in-app purchase.

MONDAY (7/6): HÖBOscan

Translation apps can be so useful, especially when you travel to a foreign country or you have friends that speak a different language than you do.  This is a scanning app.  It lets you take a picture of something that you see.  The app can figure out what language it’s seeing in the camera.  Then, it’s able to translate the words into the language that you want. Say, for example, it sees something in Chinese.  You want to know what it says in English.  Take a picture through the app, it translates it.  It works with 70 different languages.  You can also edit the text that the app sees.  HÖBOscan is a free app on iTunes and Android.

Friday (7/3): Scholly

Now is the time that people are looking to the fall semester for school.  We all know how expensive college is, and there are thousands of different kinds of scholarships that you can apply for.  You just have to know where to look. This app helps you on the way.  It has already found 100 million dollars in scholarships for students.  The app matches students up with the scholarships that are available.  It also can keep you straight with what the deadlines are to get your applications in.  Now, the app also has other tools to help you once you do get into a school, like a math problem solver and a writing assistant to help with term papers.  Scholly is a free app on iTunes and Android, it has a subscription model.

THURSDAY (7/2): Wakeout

This is a fitness app for people that are a little too busy to devote a long time to working out.  It’s also good, if you want to use what you have around you to get a good sweat on.  The app shows you that you only need around 30 seconds, into a microburst of exercising.  It comes with more than a thousand different exercises and more than 270 workouts.  You can do the exercises in your bed, or at your desk, or even if you’re catching up on your Netflix queue.  Use your cushions as resistance or do pushups on your desk.  It comes with stretches to get all the cobwebs out.  Wakeout is a free app on iTunes.  You can start with 300 exercises for free.  It comes with a subscription model.

WEDNESDAY (7/1): Scribd

There are different kinds of services that let you read books through audio, or magazines.  This app combines them all into one service.  It's a digital library that gives you access to dozens of magazines and books.  You can read eBooks or listen to audio books.  There are magazines, and research papers.  You can even find sheet music, if you're a musician.  There are books available in any category that you can think of.  And those include best sellers.  You can read any of 60 million documents, like government reports or study guides.  There are articles from The Atlantic, or People, Fortune, Time, Entertainment Weekly, or Popular Science.  There are no limits to what you can read with your account.  Scribd is a free app on iTunes and Android.  There's a 10 dollar a month subscription after a 30 day free trial.

This is the official app for the latest in information about coronavirus from the federal government.  It shows the current statistics on the infection around the world.  It comes with a screening tool to help you find out if you should get further screening for the coronavirus.  The app asks you some simple questions about any symptoms that you might have, and what to do next.  It can tell you when it’s appropriate for you to see a medical professional.  It also saves the screening results that you input so you can show them to your doctor, if necessary.