These days, I'm pretty much on my phones 24/7. While I use the Blackberry for texting, calling and Whatsapping (free messaging) people, I use the iPhone for everything else. And in case you were wondering why I have two phones- the iPhone was loaned to me for work purposes.
I won't be including the apps that I use for work, because well, they're for work. So basically the following are all apps that I like to use for fun and would probably be using on a daily basis even if I only had one phone and it were a personal phone.
Roughly listed in order of most frequent usage:
Foursquare
Those of you who know me well, won't be surprised that this is the first app HAHA!
Foursquare is a location-based app where you basically "check in" to every new location that you go to. For example, If I'm currently in SKS Bookstore, I would open up Foursquare, look for the specific place name "SKS Bookstore", then tap the "check in" button.
With each check in, you can earn points. 1 point for each normal check in, and 3 points if you're the mayor of the place you're checking in to. Being the mayor of a place just means that you're the person who has checked in the most there on Foursquare.
Think I currently hold 49 mayorships.
Some friends have complained that I probably cheat on Foursquare since I check in to so many places per day. They just don't believe that I'm actually there! The truth is, I don't cheat. I really do go to many places each day... on wheels.
One of my favourite parts about Foursquare is collecting different badges. You collect badges by checking in to categories of places. For example, that "Don't Stop Believin" badge just means that I checked into several different karaoke spots before.
You can actually use Foursquare for much more than just checking in and collecting badges, but these are really the only functions that I'm interested in.
YouVersion
If you like to read the Bible and have a smartphone, you are most likely already using this app as well.
I love reading the Verse of the Day.
YouVersion doesn't just provide a plethora of different translations and languages, it also has an audio function which I love to use while out and about. Just plug my earphones in and I'm good to go.
If I could describe Instagram in one sentence, it would probably be: an app for sharing beautiful photos with friends.
On Instagram, all you do is snap a photo of something, choose a photo filter that changes the way it looks, then post it up.
Before Facebook acquired Instagram for $1 billion, people really just shared beautiful pictures on Instagram. But after the acquisition, there was a sudden flood of non-hipster people that joined Instagram and they started posting all sorts of camwhore/amateur shots as well as photos of words, turning Twitter into one big... Twitter with photos.
Recently I haven't been on Instagram too much because I just prefer to take unfiltered photos with my regular camera. That, and I got bored scrolling through Twitter-like photos on my Instagram feed.
SportsTracker is my favourite app for tracking my runs or skating sessions. After using Nike, MapMyRun and Rollerblade's app, I still found SportsTracker to be more useful.
The main reason for this is the Auto Pause feature which actually pauses your workout when you are stuck at a traffic light or something. No other app seems to have or do this very well.
The other basic functions are pretty much the same across all other workout apps. You start the app when you start your workout, and it takes note of the route you took on the map. It also calculates your pace, maximum speed, and all sorts of other useful information.
The other basic functions are pretty much the same across all other workout apps. You start the app when you start your workout, and it takes note of the route you took on the map. It also calculates your pace, maximum speed, and all sorts of other useful information.
LINE
LINE is another free messaging app similar to Whatsapp, but it's a lot more fun.
The funnest part about it?
Stickers.
Those enlarged emoticons a la cartoon drawings are SO apt and make the whole conversation really entertaining. On LINE, you can also send people audio clip recordings, photos, videos, etc.
However, the main problems that I have with LINE is that most of my friends and relatives still have not boarded the LINE train, and its service is still slightly laggy at times. Please hurry and fix this second issue, LINE devs!
QQ is just like LINE, but I only use it to communicate with my friends from mainland China.
You know how Facebook is banned in China, so they have 人人 (ren ren) to make up for it? Well, I don't know what's banned that they created QQ to replace it, but most Chinese people I know will have a QQ 号 (number), which is something like your personal telephone number.
You can then find your friends using their QQ 号 and add them as you would add friends on Facebook. After which, you can start messaging each other for free.
It wasn't before long that I discovered that QQ could actually double as a dating app LOL.
There's a feature to let you see who's nearby you, and if you like the way their profiles look, you could tap 赞 (like).
Sometimes I turn this feature on for fun, just to see who's near me. And even for those few minutes, I'd usually get a few likes on my profile from random middle aged men.
>.<
We all use Skype for long distance calls. No surprises here.
I just wish connection were better sometimes so my calls wouldn't get dropped or freeze halfway.
Vkontakte
If there's Chinese Facebook, there's also Russian Facebook, and Vkontakte is what it's called.
Besides it's regular messaging/keeping in touch functions, Vkontakte also has this audio sharing function that lets you listen to streamed music for free. Unfortunately, my audio clips won't work in Singapore. It's like the content is being blocked or something.
Stinks.
This was actually better than Soundcloud at one point.
Weibo (pronounced way-b-woah) is China's version of Twitter and I really only started using it in a feeble attempt to improve on my Chinese.
What makes it better than regular Twitter though, is that you get to see more details in a weibo than you would in a tweet.
SG NextBus
Most Singaporeans like to use Iris to find out when their next bus is arriving.
Those Singaporeans just haven't heard of or tried SG NextBus yet.
I like it for its neat interface, as well as the fact that I can just get arrival times for the buses I want, instead of all the buses at the bus stop. That greatly speeds up the reloading process.
Youtube
One word for the new YouTube app that's been out ever since IOS 6.0 was released: FANTASTIC.
I love that the interface has gotten cleaner and the audio search function is very accurate now.
Note: Audio search doesn't really work with the Singaporean accent :/
Bejeweled Blitz
I've been playing Bejeweled since 2002 when I came upon it on the Popcap game website. Back then it was only available on the computer and there were different rules that came with it as well. Needless to say, I was thrilled when I discovered that Bejeweled was now available on the iTunes store for free!
I don't play other versions of Bejeweled right now because I really like the graphics in this one.
What's new to me is the using of virtual coins to buy boosts to help your game. I usually don't use boosts or rare gems until I accumulate over 100k coins.
Looking at this screenshot just makes me want to play again!
Google Chrome
After I switched from the Safari browser to Google's Chrome browser, I never looked back. The user interface like Youtube, looks so much cleaner and the audio search works just as well. I also love that I don't have to type in "google.com" before typing in a search. I can just type any keyword in the url bar to search it. That saves me so much time!
Other apps that I do use as well but have not included are:
Facebook
Soundcloud
myLanguage
Taxi Booking
FruitNinjaFree
Torchlight
tetris
And that's it!
What kinds of apps do you use and why?
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