As of June 2015, there were approximately 1.5 million apps in the iTunes App Store. When you add in Android and desktop apps, that number is even higher.
If you’re like me, having so many options actually makes it harder to find the best choices for my lifestyle and needs. I’ve actually gotten into “app ruts”—periods where I only use the same 10 to 20 apps over and over again.
Well, good news. I’ve rounded up the 15 best choices for every type of person. After checking out the list, you’re guaranteed to break out of your own rut and be inspired to download a few new ones.
For a healthy diet game: SlimKicker
For those underwhelmed by the monotony of eating healthy and staying fit, the calorie-counting and diet-tracking app SlimKicker has turned the process into a winnable level-up game with small victories. After entering your overall goals (weight loss or improved health) and personal stats, the app will provide you with a diet summary and recommended nutrition goals. You then begin earning points and badges based on what you eat (whole foods are worth more than processed ones) and what you do for exercise as you work towards personally set rewards (a spa treatment, a cheat meal, etc.). You also can sign up for one of the seven- to 30-day diet and fitness challenges at a variety of difficulty levels (“Resist Baked Goods,” “Move During Commercials”), which are used to encourage positive long-term habits as well as earn you more points.
For the well being passionate : Livifi
Keep your body, mind and relationships in shape with exercises and goals to help you create and live a healthier life.
Body: Pick from 12 behaviors related to exercise, diet, and sleep that are important for good health and psychological well-being. Potential benefits include increased energy, reduced stress, protection against illness and disease, better weight control and enhanced mood and productivity.
Mind: 17 behaviors to help you reduce stress, develop calm and awareness, increase focus, productivity and creativity, develop more resilience and experience more joy, emotional balance and overall happiness.
Relationships : 12 behaviors for strengthening bonds, enhancing understanding and empathy, and increasing trust and acceptance.
For the fitness passionate: GAIN Fitness
Use this digital personal trainer to build a customized workout based on your body, goals and schedule. This is the self-guided workout apps have helped over 1 million people work towards achieving a wide range fitness goals, from weight loss to muscle gain, flexibility to injury recovery.
For the Sleep lovers: Sleep Machine
“Sleep Machine is simply the best customizable relaxation, sound atmosphere, and alarm clock application available for your iPhone or iPod Touch. ”
Sleep Machine is a professional ambient sound and white noise player that helps you sleep or relax. With it’s uniquely elegant multi sound player design, it’s easy to create a truly lifelike sound experience and relaxation ambiance. Mix in your favorite iPod Music ! With it’s full-featured alarm clock and sleep / meditation timer, you can time your sessions to fall asleep and set your alarm to wake up to Sleep Machine’s huge assortment of 91 high quality “stereo” ambient sounds. You can wake up to your favorite iPod music or even full playlist of multiple songs too! Sleep Machine is perfect for sleeping, concentration, relaxation, meditation, yoga, napping, noise masking, or just having fun mixing real sound environments and or your favorite music together. A highly customizable ambient sound and white noise player that allows you to get an often undervalued good night’s sleep. $1.99
For the Healthy – Food lovers: Fooducate
This is a great app for helping you make healthy decisions about the food you eat. The tracking is helpful for keeping you on your path, and the food grades and daily information help you make informed decisions and keep you motivated.
- Use the free Fooducate app to achieve your diet, health, and fitness goals. Scan food barcodes in the grocery store, find out the food’s health value (graded A to D) and discover healthier options.
Lose weight and improve your health through a real-food diet. Get motivated by the most supportive community in the world. The most advanced nutrition tracker – look beyond the calorie, track your food and workouts, and watch the pounds melt off. This is the Apple’s Best of the iPhone Health & Fitness category :
• 1st prize – US Surgeon General Healthy App Challenge
• Media praise: USAToday, NYTimes, Dr. Oz, Oprah, WSJ, ABC, FOX,
Free
For the iPhone Photographer: IceCream
For the Networker: Treatings
Treatings analyzes your professional experience, career interests, and favorite coffee shops to find the best person and place for your next networking meeting. Plus, there’s a local activity feed, so users can see who’s influential in their area and build up their own reputation.
Available On: iOS, Android
For the Jetsetter: Weekend Getaway
Once you’ve installed this app on your web browser, you’ll see four weekend vacation options each time you open a new tab. Since every suggested destination is less than four hours away, the only thing holding you back is how fast you can pack!
Available On: Chrome, Firefox
For the Introvert: Avoid Humans
This app will show you which local restaurants, bars, cafes, and parks are full of people—and which are nice and quiet. If you know someone who frequently expresses a wish for a calm place to do work without being overwhelmed by crowds, passing along this tool will earn you the person’s eternal gratitude.
Available On: All devices
For the Social Butterfly: Flashgap
Think of this app as one of those old single-use cameras, but for your phone. Flashgap is designed to be used when you’re out and about. You take a picture, and it disappears instantly—but shows up again the next day, when you’re ready to relive the experience.
Available On: iOS and Google Play
For the Inspiration-Seeker: Nugget
Quotations are a powerful way to change your mood, focus your efforts on a specific goal, or motivate you to keep chugging away. That’s why Nugget is so awesome. It shows you visual quotations from business and personal development books, so you’ve got a constant source of inspiration in your pocket. In addition, you’ll be introduced to tons of thought-provoking and educational books—when you find a quotation you love, just click on it to see the source!
Available On: iOS and Google Play
For the Ambitious Professional: Elevate
“Soft skills” like focus, comprehension, public speaking, and memory are critical to career progression. However, unlike learning how to code or use Google Analytics, learning these soft skills isn’t straight-forward or structured. Until now. The Elevate app helps you zero in on the abilities you most want to develop, then creates a personalized “brain-training program” that includes short games and lessons. Not only is Elevate really fun, watching yourself progress via both the in-app progress tracker and your personal experiences is highly rewarding.
Available On: iOS and Google Play
No Comments