The app world is out of control, and it’s almost impossible to keep up to date with all the latest innovations. But every so often a new app falls on our radar and, for one reason or another, makes us stand up and pay attention. Here are 5 apps that makes your Autumn life easier which you can download now – and, even better, they are all absolutely free.
Snowball
It’s easy to misinterpret what this app is about as it’s nothing to do with snow. Or balls for that matter. What Snowball does is filter all of those unwanted and often unimportant notifications, so that the alerts you’re most interested in (Whatsapp, Facebook, email perhaps) appear above app updates, game alerts or calendar appointments. It’s a way to be able to separate yourself from your phone a bit, without disconnecting yourself completely. You can customise Snowball to make sure you receive the notifications you want, without the other annoying ones.
Accomplish
There are plenty of task manager apps for creating a list of things to do, but we really quite like Accomplish. Not only does it help you remember the tasks that you need to do, but it also lets you graphically plan out your time, with a built-in daily planner. Drag tasks straight from your to-do list into a calendar-like “day view” to visually plan out how long you want to spend on each item. Unlike other task managers, Accomplish is fast and easy to use, meaning you don’t waste time programming your day but instead can get on with the jobs on your list.
The creator for this app is just 17, by the way. It’s fair to say he’s accomplished a fair amount already!
Pacifica
September is often a stressful month – the kids are back to school, parents are back to work and the weather is noticeably getting cooler as we face the fact that summer is over (not really in the Canaries, but still…). Pacifica is a brilliant app for anyone suffering from anxiety or struggling with depression of any sort. Using proven Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, relaxation, mindfulness and other health techniques, the app lets you track your moods and other habits and offers exercises to reduce your stress or anxiety when things feels like they are getting a bit out of control. Great for taking 10-minute “Zen breaks” every now and then.
Layout de Instagram
Instagram devotees will love this latest addition, a companion app made by Instagram that gives you the chance to do a little more with your photos than the regular Instagram app does. Choose up to nine of your shots at a time and transform them into cool layouts , adding different arty effects. Then upload the combined shots to your Instagram feed. Think of it as Instagram’s trendier, more stylish younger cousin.
Funny Or Die Weather
Award-winning comedy video website Funny or Die has released a weather app,. Seriously, it has. And it’s actually a pretty good, very accurate weather app, with five-day forecasts and all kinds of weather statistics like wind speed and direction, humidity, UV index, sunrise and sunset times, which make you look as though you really do know what you’re talking about. What makes it better than most other weather apps, however, is that it also includes funny weather facts with each forecast, for example “No one knows what a barometer is”.