Monday, April 17, 2017
APPS AND MORE APPS
APPS AND MORE APPS
A now for something completely different!
I’m old enough to remember the days when we all bought answering machines! Today, there is an entire generation or two who has never experienced the humiliation of a caller’s voice booming out loud over the answering machine.
I also remember when we all bought VCR machines. Those are those big clunky machines that we used to watch and tape movies on. Remember the days when on Saturday nights we would race to the nearby video store and stack up on a few new movies to watch over the weekend? Remember: be sure to “rewind” before you take the tape back. Remember late fees???
Remember BetaMax versus VHS?
I remember when we didn’t have computers. And then suddenly there was a “Personal Computer.” But, back then there was no Internet on the computers. The Houston radio talk show host, Alvin Van Black, who was a local precursor to Rush Limbaugh, used to rant and scream about PCs. “Why do we need those? To balance our check books? For what? What good are they? They’ll never last. Don’t waste your money on a PC.” Infamous last words.
And then, there were cell phones. Remember when we used cell phones just to call somebody to talk? Today, they are our lifeline to the world, our way to connect to a myriad of ways to make our lives easier.
Remember when none of us knew what an App was or why we needed to know about them?
Apps – or applications - are the new link to the world. It’s becoming increasingly harder to live without using apps, just as the oldest of us are becoming active on social media. Apps are written by both companies and individuals. Some are free, some aren’t, but their usual cost is rather low.
There are 1,000s and 1,000s of different types of apps, which you download on your Iphone. The problem is – how do you know about popular apps? How do you know which are the good ones? Having a millennium in the family is, of course, the best way to discover new apps.
But if you aren’t related to a 25 year old, how might you learn about the latest useful app? I remember last year when my hairdresser introduced me to an app that I now use weekly. Sometimes a catchy news story will inform me of an app I can’t live without. Sometimes I just go the Apps link and hit ‘search.’
But still…I worry about all the apps out there that I don’t know about and don’t use. Am I unaware of an app that would change my life for the better????
I thought today I would tell you my favorite apps and hopefully you, in turn, will leave a comment telling us what YOUR favorite app is and together we will become invincible!!
Ready????
#1 Instacart
We use Instacart instead of going to the grocery store. Have you be in a grocery store and noticed all the people shopping in T-shirts that say “Instacart?” They are taking over our grocery stores. Sometimes there are more Instacart Shoppers than real shoppers.
Once you download the Instacart app, you put in your zip code which lets you know your shopping choices. Mr. Slippersocks Man and I are lucky enough to have fabulous choices: HEB, Whole Foods, Costco(!), Central Market, Petco & Specs.
Today when I checked my Instacart app - there were 542 coupons available to redeem!
Instacart remembers your orders so if you get the same items every week, it becomes very easy to navigate.
The groceries can come within a hour or you can schedule them for later. Be prepared to get texts from your instacarter if the store is out of something you ordered. The shopper will ask you for a substitute item.
The cost is $5.95 a trip and your tip can be automatically applied to the charge – usually around 15%.
Instacart has exploded in certain cities like NYC and San Francisco and Instacart has made changes in the way they operate. Before, the shoppers just picked up the package at the curb – but now in some cities the Instacarter does it all from shopping to being the checker.
Next time you are shopping at HEB or Whole Foods, look around and see if you notice anyone in a green Instacart T-Shirt.
This app is probably my #1, tied with my next one:
#2 Door Dash
OK – Door Dash and Instacart share #1 as my favorite apps. Door Dash is my life saver. Again, you put in your zip code and up pops all the restaurants that your Dasher will go to. You pick out what you want to eat, type in any special instructions (like NO EGGS IN FRIED RICE!!!) (I always use many exclamation points in my eggs message!!!!) - and viola. You have dinner at your door in a half hour. Again, the fee is included in the tab, along with the size of the tip you specify. Door Dash saves your orders and this makes it easy to reorder the same thing, night after night after night. Right now, I’m hooked on – yes- Fried Rice from P.F. Changs. The fee varies.
You will get updates from your driver as he picks up your order and as he approaches your house. I can’t recommend Door Dash enough!!
#3 FAVOR
With the success of Door Dash and Instacart, there are a plethora of different apps that deliver all kinds of things to the house. They all have different fees and tips – and they work in different cities and go to different stores. So, play around until you find the one that satisfies your needs.
I love Favor. It’s exactly what it says. Someone does you a Favor! If you don’t feel well and need your meds from CVS or Walgreens, call Favor!!
Favor is based out of Austin and the cool thing about them is they really will go anywhere, even if it isn’t listed. Just ask. You talk directly to your Favor runner and they will bend over backwards to get whatever you want.
In a world where delivery apps have exploded, Favor broke out ahead of the pack and is now very popular. There are no mark-ups on the goods. You pay a small delivery and service fee plus a tip.
Try them, they are great!
#4 POSTMATES
Postmates is another delivery service in a host of cities – many, many cities. You might try them if you live where others apps aren’t. They have deals to places like $3.99 to 49 places from drive-thrus like Starbucks to restaurants to Walgreens to grocery stores.
#5 grubHub
Grubhub has been around a long time and is now in over 1,000 cities – including London. For food deliveries.
#6 UBER
Everyone probably knows about Uber and probably uses it too. Sometimes I think I should just sell my car and use Uber – it’s so easy and reliable. Uber takes the place of a taxi service, except they use their own regular car. Uber has been watching apps like Instacart deliver groceries and dinners and thought, hmm, we have all these cars and drivers, why not? So…we now have:
#7 UBEREATS
The same as most other food delivery apps, Uber Eats is all over the world including Australia and Canada and in cities like Dubai and Amsterdam. It will probably eventually be the largest food app since they already have such a running start.
Now that you never have to leave your house to shop for groceries, pick up coffee and prescriptions, or go out to dinner – what about the bank?
#8 Bank of America
I bank at Bank of America and I’m always using their app to bank at home. All my checks get scanned in my phone, saving me that long line in my car! It’s so convenient! I’m totally addicted to it. I use to hang onto to birthday checks forever – and my mom & dad would call, “did you ever cash that check we gave you for your birthday? It’s messing up our bank statement!!”
Now, I just scan in my checks immediately.
And it’s wonderful to keep up with your bank balance 24/7 – well, maybe that is NOT so wonderful! But with a few swipes of my phone, I know exactly what my bank account is up to.
#9 PayPal
I’ve used PayPal since I started to make internet purchases. It’s an online bank. If someone owes you money from another city, they can just deposit it into your PayPal account. Now, with the PayPal app, it alerts me every time an automatic payment goes out, like to Netflix or to the NYTimes Online. With the phone app, I’m kept up to date on all those payments either coming in or going out, so I can act on them immediately.
#10 kindle
Don’t even get me started on kindle! Remember when we used to have to have a dedicated kindle Reader? Then we all got Ipads. Now I just read my kindle books on either my computer or my phone. And…I LOVE the feature where you can listen to the book!! I just turn on my kindle app on my phone when I drive and listen to the latest Outlander Book I’m reading. (Still!) Sigh. No more REAL books for me, only kindle ones. The only ones I buy these days are Decor books. It’s sad to realize that books are going to be a thing of the past one day soon.
And then there are magazines.
#11 zinio
I subscribe to all my magazines via the internet through zinio. I have the phone app which alerts me when a new issue is delivered. Many times I’ll look at it quickly on my phone. Many times I’ll never go back to look at it again. Have you noticed that the magazine’s free blogs are sometimes so much better than the magazines????
Let’s see…of course you know all about social media apps like – Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. For a while I was seriously hooked on Snapchat, but how many times can you watch Kylie Jenner put her new lipstick line on her wrist??? I’m done with it.
#12 Walgreens
The Walgreen’s App is a huge, huge time saver. It keeps up with all your pills and lets you know when you are due a refill. To order a prescription, you can just scan the bottle into your phone, or type in the number. It lets you know when to come pick it up. With someone like Mr. Slippersocks Man who takes about 30 pills a day – he is addicted, not to the medicine, but to our Walgreen’s App!!
#13 HAR.com
And then there is the Houston Area Realtors.com App. I can’t live without this one. See a cute house for sale? Just swipe the HAR.com app on and it tells you all the details, including showing the pictures of the house you just passed! I love it and use it all the time when I’m driving around Houston.
#14 My Fitness Pal
There are a number of other apps I use, but some, not as much. My Fitness Pal is great if you are dieting. It keeps up with all the steps you take, along with calories, etc. I loved using it with my diet…
that lasted all of one week!
#15 Daily Mail
I LOVE Daily Mail for quick Hollywood Gossip and for general news. They have two sections. It’s not the New York Times, but for a quick recap of national news and Hollywood – it’s the best.
#16 Zillow
Available link for download
