Apps You Should Be Able to Live Without, But Can’t

One of the most distressing situations for a college student is not writing a paper ten minutes before it is due or losing your LynxCard; it’s being phoneless for even just a few hours.  We feel lost and out of touch when we can’t be in constant contact with friends and family, and for most phone addicts, our phones are so much more than our primary mode of communication.  Without my iPhone, I wouldn’t know when my laundry is done, the amount of money in my bank account, or how drive home for Easter break.  Basically, I would be broke and wandering along I-55 in dirty clothes.  Phones are no longer a basic method of communication; we depend on them to help us with simple, daily tasks.
 
We don’t even realize that we need these apps until we are forced to go without them.  What did we do without Shazaam to tell us what song was on the radio?  How did we entertain ourselves at the doctor’s office without Words With Friends or Angry Birds?  Our phones teach, entertain, direct, inform, alert, organize, and so much more.  We have become reliant on this technology to make our lives just a tiny bit easier— but hey, no judgment here!  In such a fast-paced world, we need everything at our fingertips to keep up.
 
So just to perpetuate our dependence on smart phones, here are a few more apps that you won’t be able to live without once you discover them!
 
Quick Scan
Don’tcha hate it when you’re considering purchasing an item, but the price is nowhere to be found?  Instead of asking a store manager (who needs humans, anyway?), just open this app, show the bar code to your phone’s camera and wait for it to scan.  It will tell you the name of the product, a short description of it, a list of places to purchase the item, and the prices. 
 
RunPee
Never miss the most important part of a movie because of your bladder again!  Just look up the movie you’re watching, and RunPee will tell you which scenes it would be best to take a potty break at and how long you have to get back before you miss anything too important.  (It also gives you a quick summary of the part you missed.)  Stop wrestling with the question with the unanswerable question of “Should I go now?” and let RunPee help you out.
 
SoundHound
Shazaam is great, but what happens when you don’t know the title or lyrics to that tune stuck in your head?  With SoundHound, you can hum or sing the song you are looking for and the app will recognize it (if you’re not too tone-deaf)!  You can also use it like Shazaam and get the name of a song playing on the radio.
 
Sleep Cycle
Sometimes, even when you get a good night’s rest, you wake up feeling like you’ve just pulled an all-nighter.  This can have something to do with your sleep cycle.  If your alarm goes off while you’re in a deep stage of sleep, waking up can be much harder.  Set your Sleep Cycle alarm and put it under your pillow.  Half an hour before you set the alarm time, your phone will start to sense your movements and wake you up when thinks you are in your lightest phase of sleep.  Don’t worry, though –  there’s still a snooze button!
 
Applets
Apps on apps on apps!  Need a periodical table, fart machine, massage, or random conversation topic generator? 
 
This fun little app comes with several dozen mini apps that are just as fun as they are useless.  The “Walk-n-Type” Applet turns on your camera, which shows up on your keyboard screen so that you can see the ground in front of you as you text.  No more tripping over the sidewalk when you are engaged in an important conversation.  Send fake calls, texts, and pictures to yourself to make yourself feel popular. Or track earthquakes in your area.  Everyone needs at least one of these Applets.
 
Flipboard
Facebook, Twitter, People Magazine, and CNN all combined to make one Pinterest-esque app – what else could you want?  Through Flipboard, you can scroll through your social media all in one place.  Flipboard also shows you different articles, photographs and stories you would like based on the categories you select.  Click the little star next to the title to save the story to your account so you can come back and see it again.