Tech in my Life - Apps I Love

A while ago I posted about my favorite apps, but like all things tech that list has quickly become outdated. Here is an updated list of apps that have made my everyday life a little easier.

1. SleepMatic

Aaron gave me the Fitbit Charge HR as a “push present” when Max was born because he thought it would be a fun way to track our sleep with a new baby (you can see my sleep data here). Don’t worry new parents, the data shows that your sleep does get better! When Aaron’s parents recently gave me the AppleWatch, his dad immediately pointed me to the SleepMatic App that gives you detailed sleep analytics. The app shows you how your sleep is affected by heart rate, differentiates between light and deep sleep and records how many times you wake up each night. It’s great for the data geeks out there!

2. Dark Sky

This isn’t a new weather app, but it’s the one Aaron and I have loved for a long time. The app tells you the weather at your exact location, down to the minute of when it’s suppose to start and stop raining, so you can plan your outdoor time accordingly.

3. DayOne

This app is a personal journal. For someone whose natural disposition is to be anxious, this app is a good way to take a breath and jot down what’s on my mind. It’s also a great way to easily write down funny things Max says or quick moments I want to remember. For instance, the other day Max got a bit of marker on his sock and he came to me and said “I’m a mess. Change me”. I know one day I’ll love looking back at these memories.

4. Productive

This app is designed to help you build good habits and organize your life. Recently Aaron and I have been making an effort to practice daily meditation. We can track our progress with this app and set custom reminders for ourselves. If anyone has a mindfulness app that they love, please share! This app is also great for reminding us to brush Max’s teeth everyday (yes, we need a reminder!)!

5. Feedly

Feedly is an RSS aggregator and a great way to organize the blogs you follow. I never thought about how much I love and use this app until I had a couple friends recently ask me how I keep track of all the blogs I follow. They were either directly going to each website to check for new posts or relying on facebook to show them new articles.

6. 1Password

I hate creating and remembering new passwords and I used to use the same one across multiple services. Obviously this isn’t ideal, so a few years ago I let Aaron talk me into some small level of protection. This app stores and/or creates logins for any site and only requires you to remember one master password to access everything. I have the app on my computer, iPhone and iPad, allowing me to seamlessly access my passwords on all my devices. A few months ago Aaron even convinced my parents to give up their “password book” (literally a paper notebook with their passwords in it) and begin using the app to manage their passwords.

7. Simple

We are big believers in using technology/software to help manage our personal budgets and we love Simple. It’s an exclusively online bank that has fantastic built in budgeting and saving tools. Simple makes saving for large expenses extremely easy. Once you set a goal, such as “Hanukkah 2017”, it will set aside small amounts of money into that goal until you reach it. There is a beautiful app for your phone that makes it easy and fun to track your expenses.

8. Texture

Texture is a digital subscription that gives you access to over 200 magazines. It’s great for road trips when you want the ease of browsing through all your favorite magazines without the weight of carrying hard copies.

What are some of your favorite apps?