Because we are literally hooked to our smartphones, it’s a good idea to keep them up-to-date with these efficient applications
Signal
You know you can trust a messaging app when politicians, whistleblowers and entrepreneurs have it on their phones. Signal, an encrypted chat app created by Open Whisper Systems has been recommended by personalities worldwide due to its end-to-end encryption claim, meaning your conversations would be held strictly private. It can access your contacts and if any of your friends have Signal installed, you can communicate. The app comes advertisement-free and you can use it for messaging or making phone calls. Available free on iPhone and Android.
NYT Cooking
Here’s your daily inspiration for fun cooking sessions – NYT Cooking, by New York Times, allows you to choose from over 17,000 recipes (new recipes added each week!) by selecting your preferred diet, cuisine, ingredients, cooking time, and more. These recipes are coupled with appetizing photography. You can add comments, access bookmarked recipes, save recipes from other sites and the best part, your phone won’t go to sleep as long as the recipe is on screen. Available free on iPhone and Android.
Google Trips
This travel app by Google functions as your personal trip planner to systematically organize your flights, hotel accommodations, rental car, and other bookings in one place. Trips will automatically scan your Gmail Inbox for reservations and combine them on one platform. You can also customize your trip and activities with a map that identifies popular spots in the region based on your interest. It also works offline, so you will have access to your information without an Internet connection. Available free on iPhone and Android.
Untappd
Flaunt your love for beer with this app that lets you track the best beers in town. Catalogue your favourite beers, breweries and venues from the around the world and share your reviews with friends and fellow-app users. Simply scan the barcode on the bottle or can and if you like it, bookmark it for later. Untappd also sends you a notification whenever your favourite venue adds a new beer to the menu. Available free on iPhone and Android.
Streaks
Make way for good habits with Streaks. Created by Crunchy Bagel, Streaks sets you aiming to complete six healthy habits daily and your goal is to repeat these consecutively over the next few days. Whether you are on your iPhone or Apple Watch, Streaks sends you daily reminders and automatically learns whenever you have completed a task. It comes pre-loaded with hundreds of icons to choose from and is only available on iOS for $3.99.
Constantly on the run with no time to finish the content you were on? Pocket is what you need. Save articles, videos and links you would want to read on Pocket so you can access them at a later time even if you’re offline. It comes with unlimited space, text-to-speech feature, and works with many apps and browsers currently in the market. Available free on iPhone and Android.