13 iPhone Apps “iExcited” To Try Out

Hi! It’s Jilly! We’re on day three of our iExcited week! Today I’m going to talk about some of the apps I’ve been excited to use with my new iPhone. Before I got the phone I started researching and made a list of the apps I might want to get. Some of them I downloaded pretty soon after I got the phone, others I waited a couple days, and others I haven’t quite downloaded yet. And, all of these apps are freeeee! When you are swimming in med school debt, free is a good price. ;)

The first couple of apps I got were, of course, Facebook and Twitter. My husband doesn’t Tweet, and he rarely gets on Facebook, so he doesn’t get the appeal, but I like it. (I actually set up his Facebook account for him years ago!!)

 

BTW- did you know there is a Facebook app called Facebook Pages Manager that you can use to manage any fan pages you may have, like for your business or blog?! It comes in pretty handy.

Next was Instagram. Loving Instagram! And, my kids love for me to take pictures with it so they can change the colors. I could see myself getting a little carried away and taking random pictures of EVERYTHING, so I’m trying to rein myself in a little bit so I don’t drive my friends crazy! Ha! If you are on Instagram you should follow me so I can follow you! (My user name is hi_its_jilly, but I have no idea how to link to that! Newbie----> right here)

Edited to add: I found out how you can follow me! Here's ya go. Follow @hi_its_jilly

As many of you know, I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan (as I mentioned it in this post). So, one of the apps I was excited to try out was the Harry Potter: Spells app. It’s a free app, and you can practice your spell-casting. The graphics are cool, and I love being able to open the app and hear Hedwig’s Theme at my leisure. It’s an easy one for my kids to play, too.

One of the first apps I downloaded was the LDS Gospel Library. It contains all the scriptures, including the Bible, so it’s not just for Mormons. It also has a topical guide, study helps, and a Bible Dictionary. Another cool feature is the Notebook, so you can highlight different passages & write notes to yourself with insights you’ve received while studying. SO nice to have on the go! You can also download the hymn book, children’s songbook, and class manuals.

I actually used the Primary manual on my phone on Sunday, when I was asked to sub for a class halfway though sacrament meeting! (Sacrament Meeting is when we take the sacrament (like communion) and listen to speakers (like a sermon). After Sacrament Meeting is when we have Sunday School and the children’s classes.)

An app I heard a lot about was Evernote. I love the little elephant on the icon! An elephant never forgets, right?! Evernote is cool because it’s like a notebook you can write things in, put pictures in, and put in links to websites, all on your phone. And, you can sync it with your laptop or PC, so you can access your ‘notebooks’ from everywhere. You can also have shared notebooks, so you can easily share ideas and information with other people. For example, if you were planning a party you could share recipes, decor ideas, etc with everyone involved in the planning. You can also e-mail notes to people, or share them on Facebook or Twitter, or print them! See, a ton of uses for it!

Another app I’m excited about is MyFitnessPal. A while ago I was using My Fitness Pal to track my food and exercise, but since I was doing it on my computer I’d get distracted and it would take me forever to log my stuff. Now with it on my phone I can just log stuff as I’m doing it. I really should start logging my food again… (I say as I eat my Xth piece of quick bread/breakfast bar/whatever this yummy thing my husband brought home from work is called)

One app you HAVE to have is Genius Scan! It’s like having a scanner in your hand! You take a pic of the documents and it saves them as a PDF or jpeg, then you can e-mail it or share it online. Plus, it enhances the image, so it doesn’t just look like a picture of a piece of paper. It actually looks like a real document! I just used it to make a copy of our lease, then e-mailed it to myself and my husband, because I’m always losing it when we need it. (Why not just file it in a safe place, you ask?! Uhm…I have a hard time organizing. That’s a WHOLE can of worms you do not want to open up!)

I’ve been using Cozi to organize our family’s schedule for years, so I was excited to have it available on my phone. (Well, when I say ‘using it for years’, I mean that every so often when I get the bug to actually be more organized with my family’s schedule, I turn to Cozi). Now I’m happy to have it all in one place, especially since it syncs with your online account. And, you can look up recipes & create shopping lists both on your computer and on your phone through their site. Another cool feature is reminders from the calendar automatically texted to your family members.

A couple other apps I’ve heard great things about are RedLaser and Jingit. Both are great apps if you are a shopper. With RedLaser you can scan any item and it pulls up the price of that item at all the local stores, so you can find the lowest price. With JingIt you can ‘check-in’ while shopping, and it will give you products to scan (and sometimes do a survey about), then give you money for it!

 

One last app you need is GasBuddy. When you open the app it finds your location, then gives you a list of all the gas stations close to you and their gas prices. Nice to have, especially when gas prices are SO high nowadays! Sheesh! I remember when I was in high school and gas hit $1.39. We were all livid! Now it’s, what, $3.95?!?! Aye yie yie…

So, there you have it, folks. A run down of some of my favorite apps. I’m sure there will be many
more in the future!

Join us tomorrow as Jenna from Call Her Happy talks to us about 5 Tips to Parenting with an iPhone.

Be sure to follow along on Facebook or Twitter so you don't miss anything else!

Oh! And run over to enter the S'Wonderful September Sponsors giveaway happening now! Tomorrow's the last day to enter, and there are some grrrreat prizes!

I might be linking up with these parties. :)