{"id":1414,"date":"2013-04-03T19:03:13","date_gmt":"2013-04-04T00:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/?p=1414"},"modified":"2013-04-03T20:45:16","modified_gmt":"2013-04-04T01:45:16","slug":"my-top-free-app-picks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/2013\/04\/my-top-free-app-picks\/","title":{"rendered":"My Top Free App Picks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently I talked about Technology Tools \u2013 To Get or Not to Get<\/a>, as well as how well the iPad serves my needs.\u00a0 This lead me to think about what apps are virtually indispensable to me, as well as how extremely overwhelmed I can become even looking at all the possible apps.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not surprising to be overwhelmed by the number of apps \u2013 since it\u2019s reported that there are more than 1 million in iTunes.\u00a0 And it\u2019s a personal peeve of mine that they don\u2019t offer free trials \u2013 to see if the app will meet my needs before I spend money on it \u2013 even if it\u2019s only $1.99 or some other \u201cminor\u201d amount.\u00a0 Those small purchases can add up.\u00a0 Yet, there are many free apps and I\u2019ve only paid for 5 of the 100+ apps I have.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been grateful for the input of friends on what is worth getting.<\/p>\n

Therefore, without further ado, here are my top free apps and why.<\/p>\n

1. Evernote<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve talked about Evernote before, in Note Taking for Virtually Everything<\/a>, and need to revisit this incredible cloud program again in my blog.\u00a0 Since it\u2019s a cloud program, it can be on most any device and offer you access to your account.\u00a0 Evernote is amazing in how it can collect all the things you want to remember and be functional.\u00a0 It can also serve as a place to back-up things from your iPad.<\/p>\n

\"One<\/a>

One view of Evernote<\/p><\/div>\n

2. Dropbox<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another cloud program that I talked about in my cloud computing entries, in Drop Files You Use – Here<\/a>, which works with many devices to provide access to your account.\u00a0 It also offers the option to back-up data from your iPad into it, like photos, and can be easier than Evernote to access any pdf files.<\/p>\n

\"View<\/a>

One view of Dropbox<\/p><\/div>\n

3. Alarmed\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

You probably know that I am a fan of timers \u2013 it\u2019s a good tool to help keep you on track and to get a sense of the time things take you.\u00a0 I have 11 free timer apps on my iPad from my exploration of timer options.\u00a0 Alarmed is the one I use the most \u2013 it has both a reminder and a timer section and both allow you to create several alarms and choose from multiple alarm sounds.\u00a0 I use the reminders as a repeating system to remind me to relax before bed and similar things when I might lose track of time.\u00a0 The timer area has alarms for the washer and dryer as well as the \u201cYou can do 15 minutes\u201d alarm when I\u2019m struggling to get moving.<\/p>\n

\"View<\/a>

View of Alarmed timer<\/p><\/div>\n

4. 30\/30\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

I hope to use this one more, especially since they\u2019ve recently resolved some issues.\u00a0 It\u2019s similar to a timer app as it\u2019s a self-proclaimed \u201ctask manager.\u201d\u00a0 It offers a visual display of what\u2019s on your list, the time remaining on the task and what\u2019s up next.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been using it to help me create new routines \u2013 many of us are familiar with how challenging it can be to get in new habits \u2013 and this gives me a framework for remembering and doing it.\u00a0 I also use it for times when I might have a tendency to get off track \u2013 a system for keeping me focused on one area for a period of time before moving to the next area.\u00a0 I really appreciate the visual aspects of this app \u2013 from choosing a color and an icon for each task as well as the ring with time elapsed moving along.<\/p>\n

\"View<\/a>

One view of 30\/30<\/p><\/div>\n

5. Dragon Dictation<\/a><\/p>\n

This is another app that I don\u2019t use all the time, yet when I use it, I really appreciate it.\u00a0 It does require an internet connection and you have a limited amount of time to speak, yet it does a pretty good job in transcribing your speech into text.\u00a0 From there you can send it or paste it into the app of your choice.\u00a0 Considering this is a $200- computer program that is free for the i-devices \u2013 it\u2019s great!<\/p>\n

\"One<\/a>

One view of Dragon Dictation<\/p><\/div>\n

There are more apps that I use and appreciate.\u00a0 These 5 free apps are the ones that help me most \u2013 with simplifying, with organization, with productivity, with supporting me in my life.\u00a0 Although these cannot help anyone if they sit unused on your device \u2013 you have to use it to make it helpful.\u00a0 Next month I\u2019ll share the 5 apps that I did actually pay for \u2013 and 4 of them made it to my indispensable list along with these 5 I talked about today.\u00a0 Remember what matters most is finding and using the tools that will help you make the most out of your life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the tremendous number of apps available \u2013 figuring out which ones can assist you in your life can be daunting. Therefore based on my passion for maximizing our lives \u2013 here are 5 free apps that can make your life easier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[10,8,18,5,9,7,22,15,4],"class_list":["post-1414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-behavior","tag-discipline","tag-goals","tag-household","tag-motivation","tag-procrastination","tag-productivity","tag-resources","tag-routines"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7p82c-mO","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1414"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1423,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1414\/revisions\/1423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jenniferlinnig.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}