Software Recommended Apps for Mobile Devices

[Amy SF]

Now that I've joined the millions of people who have smartphones and tablets - I have one of each, an iPhone and an Android tablet - I've become curious about what apps to download and which are best based on the experience of other users, especially those of you here on VV. What kind of apps have you guys downloaded, and how do you feel about them?

 

[Chryssie]

Get virus protection as phones and tablets are little computers and there are threats. There are free ones available in your app store. I also have a flashlight app with a magnifying glass that has been very helpful at times. I also have an app to block unwanted calls. I have lots more but I am not sure what you would be interested in.

 

[Amy SF]

Well, I wouldn't know which security apps are best, that's why I created this thread. My iPhone has a flashlight feature, so I don't need an app for it. I don't get that many unwanted calls that I need an app for that. At least not right now.

Please whoever reads this thread, just tell me what apps you have that you really like so I can see what's popular with the VeggieViews crowd. Thanks.

 

[Chryssie]

I have AVG antivirus on my phone and tablet which are Android devices. I find the magnifier to be a useful tool as sometimes tiny print is really hard to read. If you go to the app store, you can browse though TONS of apps.

 

[Second Summer]

I have an Android tablet and also a horribly outdated Android smartphone. No iOS devices, but I assume the apps I use also exist on iOS.

I use Tapatalk (an app for reading and posting on Internet forums) on my phone. It works quite well compared to the standard browser, even though it crashes relatively often.

There is one browser which beats all the others in terms of speed on slow connections and outdated smartphones: Opera Mini. This browser is obviously also an app. Even though it's not as fast as Tapatalk, it's better in many ways because it supports the full feature set of the forum, e.g. post rating.

Besides that, I use an app called gStrings to tune my guitar, and sometimes the Google Maps app when I'm out and about trying to find an address.

 

[Chryssie]

I actually just switched to Avast anti virus because they have an app that is supposed to optimize and save battery power. I love Google maps! This app has been very valuable in our recent travels.

 

[Amy SF]

Thanks for your responses. My sister installed Google maps for me the day I got my iPhone.

 

[KLS52]

I don't have any unique apps...mostly just the usual ones like Pinterest, Instagram, Tumbler, FB...Weight Watchers, My Fitness Pal, Kindle, some games like Word Jewels, Pop Words, Papa Pear...I do have the "Relax Melodies" app that I love. It has all different sounds that you can put together for relaxation/meditation purposes. I play it every night while I'm sleeping. So when I wake periodically throughout the night I wake to the sound of rain, birds, fire crackling, etc...it's awesome and helps me fall back to sleep.

 

[KLS52]

CBS, ABC, Snapfish, YouTube, PayPal, Ultimate Guitar, Amazon, Ebates.

 

[Andy_T]

Waze!

This is a "Cooperative route planning system", which means that it provides directions to you, and everybody who is using it is sending back the information to the server where he is driving and how fast he is driving. That way, this route planner knows on which roads traffic is still moving and tries to guide you there. I find that definitely better than Google maps.

Best regards,
Andy

 

[Andy_T]

Other than that, you might want to search in the appstore for
- Angry Birds
- Plants vs. Zombies
- Cut the Rope

I also find the app "AppTicker" quite helpful, it basically shows which apps on the appstore are free to download right now. Many app developers try to get lots of people to try out their apps by offering them for free (often for a limited time).

Best regards,
Andy

 

[Amy SF]

I've now installed a handful of apps and here are my experiences.

1. AnyList (thank you for the recommendation, Rascal's Mom!). I like it. I currently have ten different lists on it which help me stay organized.

2. Walgreens. I just switched my Synthroid prescriptions from Rite Aid to Walgreens and installed the app to manage my prescriptions better, and do more, such as easily load digital coupons to my Balance Rewards card. I added my Balance Rewards card to Passbook so I don't have to go fishing for my physical card. Pages load rather quickly and I I haven't encountered any technical glitches. Yet.

3. MyChart. This allows the user to link to various healthcare organizations. I loaded My UCLA Health where I already have an account but have to wade through pages and pages to find my medical info, and now I have at my fingertips appointments, doctors I visit or have visited, office visit results, test results and prescriptions I take. The pages load a bit more slowly than I like, but they do load. The user can also request prescription refills or new ones and send non emergency messages to the doctor. The app does log you out after a while, but that helps protect your medical privacy from prying eyes.

4. Starbucks. I have three different gift cards I've been carrying around for years that all have balances on them. Having the app on my phone will encourage me to stop into Starbucks more often to use up those balances. My only complaint is that the app asks the user to link a single preferred store to Passbook, and there are so many Starbucks stores that I never know which store I might visit next. I only just installed this app about an hour ago, but it seems to work fine so far. Oh, also, it would be nice to view the company's beverage AND food menus on the app without going through the ordering process. One still needs to go to their website for that.

5. CVS Pharmacy. DO NOT INSTALL THIS APP! It's a piece of crap. Pages take forever to load and often don't load at all. I tried selecting my favorite location to save as my preferred store. I tried with the store's address. MY address. The store number. My zip code. It wouldn't pull it up. I'd get a blank screen. It doesn't seem to recognize the city of Santa Monica, yet when I entered Los Angeles, I got a lot of matches, but no suggestions for Santa Monica. I'd get an error message saying to call Customer Service. I finally gave up with the stores. Also, Passbook is still not supported. Other than being able to load a couple digital coupons to my ExtraCare card, there wasn't much available for managing my ExtraCare account, such as Extrabucks rewards. I got so frustrated trying to use this app that after a while I gave up and removed it from my home screen.

After reading mostly bad reviews of the apps for some of the other chain stores I patronize, I decided not to bother with those. Especially Rite Aid.

 

[Amy SF]

Oh, one other one I installed Sweet Midi Player so I can play midi files on my phone. It's not perfect, but it's okay. I sprung for the $15 for the full version because otherwise only part of the midi file will play.

 

[Amy SF]

Now if only I had an app for the vet's office, I could manage my cats' healthcare as well as my own.

Oh, and I also installed the Yelp app which I didn't really have to do since I don't use Yelp that much, but ehhhh why not. No problems with it so far.

 

[Amy SF]

I've just installed the app for the Ralphs supermarket chain, which is owned by Kroger. Everything looks good and runs well, with one niggling little exception: When I was updating my profile, after entering my name, address and phone number, the app wouldn't save everything. I got an error message saying one or more fields was invalid, but didn't say which fields or why. Since all fields were filled out correctly as far as I was concerned, I don't know what was wrong. I was able to save the page with just my name, so I left it at that. Also, while I was able to link my Rewards card to Passbook, the card says Fred Meyer, but the app does say it's accepted at Ralphs and all the other stores in the Kroger "family ". Well, okay.

 

[Amy SF]

Now if only I had an app for the vet's office, I could manage my cats' healthcare as well as my own.

I just did a search and found a free app called PetPartners, installed it. Looks good so far. I created profiles for my two cats. I can add all pertinent info on them; weight, food, microchip number, shots, etc. you can search for and link your local vet, groomer and boarding facility, and make appointments from the app.

I love how my smartphone helps keep me organized with all this stuff. I'm such a disorganized mess.

 

[Amy SF]

I just installed the happycow.net app. It costs $2.99, but it looks well-designed, rates 5 out of 5 stars and has a whole bunch of rave reviews in the App Store, and looks like it will be fun to use. It's already been useful, telling me about a local seafood-themed fast food restaurant that has veg options. If anyone wants an app that helps them find veg*an food whether locally or on the road, I'd say, try this one. It works internationally, too.

 

[Amy SF]

A couple of weeks ago I installed the Turner Classic Movies app, which is designed for cable and satellite subscribers, but was disappointed that Time Warner Cable is not included in their long list of providers. I figured I'd keep it and check back in case that changed, but I was attempting to open it today and it kept crashing. It just wouldn't stay open no matter how much I tried. I even shut my iPhone off and restarted it, and it didn't help. So I had no choice but to remove the app. (I didn't want to go to the trouble of continually deleting and reinstalling the app.) Too bad, because it's a nice idea for an app (watching the old movies the channel airs on TV but on one's own schedule) but it just doesn't work.

 

[Amy SF]

Oh, one other thing: I reinstalled the CVS app, and it works better the second time around. They must have fixed it. However, it still doesn't support Apple Wallet (formerly Passbook).

 

[Andy_T]

I just installed the happycow.net app. It costs $2.99, but it looks well-designed, rates 5 out of 5 stars and has a whole bunch of rave reviews in the App Store, and looks like it will be fun to use.

I fully second that!!!

Happycow app is awesome.

Well, the website is already awesome, one of the most important websites for me in the last 10 years, but the app makes using the data even easier.