From Fastcompany
Here Are 7 Must-Download Apps For Your New Smartphone
Have a new device to load up with apps? Here are some of the
best, not-so-obvious downloads.
John Paul Titlow
So, you just unboxed a brand new smartphone. Merry Christmas,
lucky! Whether you're a first-time smartphone owner (say goodbye
to your attention span) or a migrant to a new platform, a freshly
opened phone is an exciting new frontier. With millions of apps
available, this little gadget will undoubtedly become an
indispensable part of your day-to-day life. But where to start?
The first apps anyone crams onto a new phone are pretty
obvious: what are the services, social networks and games you
already use? Most people go straight for Facebook (and its
various offshoots, like Instagram and WhatsApp), YouTube,
Snapchat, Netflix, Pandora, and the like. But there are millions
of developers around the world toiling away on inventive and
useful mobile apps that aren't necessarily household names.
Often, they creep up the top charts in the app stores, but not
always. Here's a field guide to some of the less obvious, but
still must-download apps for your shiny and deeply addictive new
device.
Periscope
Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. Snapchat. Of course you're
going to scurry through the app store and and nab the most
popular social networking apps first. But once you've done that,
go ahead and download Periscope. It may not be as much of as
household name as Twitter, its parent company, but the live
broadcasting video app is already having an impact. Periscope is
used by over 10 million people to view live broadcasts of
breaking news events or the microwaving of macaroni and cheese.
Launched by Twitter in March 2015, Periscope has raised concerns
about piracy and sparked debates about the ethics of
live-streaming as tragedy unfolds. Most of the videos are much
more mundane than that. But there's something fascinating about
getting a little real-time window into somebody else's world, and
then having that window shut after 24 hours (that's when
Periscope videos disappear). Even if you're not ready to
live-stream your Christmas dinner to the world, go ahead and
download Periscope to see what kind of random, weird, potentially
riveting stuff is happening around the world right now.
Stitcher
It may have taken over a decade, but podcasts are officially
all the rage. Thanks to the rise of Serial and other hits, the
once-geeky mass medium is something you can chat about with the
whole family during the holidays. But first, you need to spend
the afternoon binge listening. There are a bunch of podcasting
apps out there, including ones that come pre-installed on many
devices. Stitcher has been around for a few years now, but it's
still hard to beat. Its design encourages discovery and
listening without the user getting lost in choices (or distracted
from driving, for that matter). Playlists, offline listening,
and a priceless "listen later" button make collecting and hearing
your favorite podcasts easier than most other apps allow.
(Overcast is another widely recommended podcasting app, although
unlike Stitcher, it's only available for iOS)
NYT Now
Here's a sentence I didn't envision saying when I bought my
first smartphone in 2008: Man, the app this newspaper company
built is really awesome. But alas, here I am-and I mean it.
There are countless apps that let you read the news and other
articles on your phone (I still jump between Flipboard, Feedly,
Longform, and Instapaper on the regular), but NYT Now is special.
It takes the venerable brand and journalism of the nation's
"paper of record" and puts it in a well-designed, smartly
curated, and easily digestible app that feels like it came from a
stealthy startup. NYT Now is respectful of your time, offering
bullet point summaries and reading time estimates beneath
headlines. At the same time, it offers opportunities to delve
into longform articles and read select pieces from other
publishers, curated by the app's editorial team. Somehow, NYT
Now scratches both the itch to skim the news on the subway and
dive deep on the sofa.
Afterlight, Dark Sky, and Periscope
Giphy Cam
(iOS only)
Despite being introduced nearly 30 years ago, the GIF
(particularly the animated variety) is just now becoming a
mainstay of modern communication. GIFs fill Tumblr, illustrate
major news events on Twitter, and enhance our one-on-one
communication via chat or IM. The team at Giphy is obviously
well aware of just how indispensable these little animations have
become in online life. That's why the newest version of their
Giphy Cam app makes it even easier to create, edit, and share
GIFs. The app lets you select from a range of effects filters
and superimposed graphics and text. Unlike the previous version
of Giphy Cam, this one lets you grab images and videos from your
phone's camera roll, so you can make GIFs out of just about
anything. More than just a holiday time waster, Giphy Cam will
help you delight and entertain your friends and loved ones.
Workflow
(iOS only)
One of the best apps to land on iOS this year is Workflow, a tool
for automating tasks between the various apps on your phone. If
you're familiar with IFTTT (whose app, unlike Workflow, is
available for Android too), you get the idea: You can define a
series of actions in a simple, drag-and-drop interface and enable
different services to talk to each other and unlock new
possibilities.
Popular workflows include the ability to automatically pull up
Google Maps directions for the next event on your calendar, tweet
the song you're listening to (or instantly find the lyrics
online), or turn Live Photos and videos into GIFs. Workflow
doesn't have quite as many options as IFTTT (or "recipes" as that
service calls them), but its interface is foolproof and its tight
integration with iOS is a big plus.
Dark Sky
(iOS only)
The weather on the East Coast has been freakishly warm and rainy
this holiday season. In fact, another drizzle is about to start
in a few minutes. How do I know? I found out the same way I find
out about missed calls, Slack mentions, Tinder matches, and
horrifying current events: I got a push notification. Thanks to
Dark Sky, the innovative weather app, I can get real-time
notifications about changes in the conditions outside. Dark Sky
takes the standard day-by-day (and hour-by-hour) weather
forecasts up a notch with sleek, minimal elegance, subtle
animations, and maps showing precipitation and temperatures shift
around the globe.
But what makes Dark Sky the best weather app I've ever used is
its timeliness. In addition to what the day (and subsequent
days) are going to look like outside, Dark Sky spells out for
users what is going to happen in the next several minutes.
Afterlight
Your new smartphone can have the most advanced camera specs out
there, but that doesn't mean your photos will all magically turn
out looking frame-worthy. Even the best shots could benefit from
a quick tune-up before you Instagram them. Afterlight is one of
countless photo-editing apps available for Android and iOS, but
having taken many of them for a spin, I find I keep returning to
this one (VSCO Cam is a close second). Afterlight offers all of
the standard photo-editing options (adjusting clarity,
saturation, contrast, brightness, shadows and the like), but
packs them into a pleasant, intuitive interface and layers on
Instagram-style filters and retro effects that recall the light
leaks and artsy discoloration of film photography. You can also
crop, add borders, and layer on other images to mimic multiple
exposure photos.
P.S. - Don't forget to download Fast Company's app, too!
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