We all use them. We all hate them at times. We all need them? I am talking about those little helpers on our phone. Apps. It is always interesting how different the phone usage is for every one and today I figured I share some of my favorite apps I use. I have no list right now and I am to knowing where this post will go. I will go through my phone and see what is on there.
I wanted to get started with apps I use daily but I realized there isn’t really one app I use every single day. I easily (can) skip a day using a certain app. So weekly it is.
Apps I use every week
Instagram – I use it daily for browsing and checking in with friends. And when I work for my clients I obviously use it. I sometimes post on my account too. The more I post for clients the less you will see on my own account. I am all created out. If we are not yet friends come visit my Instagram. My daily limit is set to an hour. I am not really sticking to that but it’s a good reminder. Every first Sunday of the month I try to stay off the app entirely. If I fail I have three more Sundays to reach my goal. I am getting better at it.
Goodreads – I love my statistics. And my book statistics are the best. I keep track of what I want to read. I log down my reading progress and I check what my friends read. Again if we are not yet connected please feel free to add me as your Goodreads friend.
Duolingo – as of right now I am trying to use the app daily and do at least one Spanish lesson. The plan is to reach a 200 day streak but then to keep going. Right now I am at 122 days but I used a couple streak freezes so I will add that on top before I cross of that bucket list goal.
HNGRY – this is our running grocery list app I use together with the husband. We have tried many different ones for now this is the best one with the least amount of advertising in the free version. You can keep multiple lists (helpful if you shop for different places or for certain events) and you can filter your list by stores. Something I do because we are not always going to the same stores but I know when I get to the discounter I want to pick up certain things. There is the option of keeping an inventory but I don’t do this. The upkeep is too much as our turnaround is rather quick. We use the German version.
Stylebook – my new app discovery of the year. It is a style app where you can add in all of your closet and start making your outfits. Best of all is the statistics. It tells you how often a certain items is worn and most important of all what the value of said item is. This really helps me get the most of my closet. I may share a bit more here during NaBloPo.
Overcast – my go to podcast app. I listen to podcast almost daily while doing housework, having solo lunches or going for walks. I dont like the apple podcast app and a friend of mine suggested this app. Been using it for years. You can create different lists for specific podcasts and topics.
WordPress – I usually check if comments came in on the app and reply to them on the phone. I prefer the interface to the desktop version. I used to write many blog posts on my phone when I had 2 hours of daily commute. I also jot down some ideas or shorter paragraphs if I already have a draft set up.
WhatsApp & messages – who doesn’t use them? I don’t get messages on a daily basis and I don’t have notifications turned on for most of the group chats but I frequently use these apps to stay connected mainly with the family.
Camera – needed to include this one. It comes with the phone but I use it daily. Almost daily. But yeah I am a photo girl.
Apps I multiple times a month
Evernote – my go to notes app. I probably use that one close to a decade. I have a running list of my NaBloPo prompts here that I keep carrying for the past 6 years or so. I jot down ideas throughout the year. I also have a tone of other things I keep here like text snippets for eBay listings, my checklist for monthly tax stuff, my list of book quotes, etc. You get it – it is my outsourced brain. I also use Trello but mainly working from my laptop.
Pinterest – browsing for ideas, quickly checking a recipe or just scrolling and seeing what is currently out there. It is just fun. There are times I use it daily and then I don’t for weeks.
Picture this – my app when trying to figure out what a certain plant is or to check if I am correct. It cannot be taken at face value but it is a good indicator to start a research.
A Color Story – if I put a filter on my instagram images I use a certain setting from this app. I have build a Lightroom preset but the app is usually a bit quicker.
TV Time – I did mention I like a statistic, right. Well here I track all the tv shows and movies I am watching. It is fun to read the comments and guess how a storyline will develop. I don’t religiously use it but the husband is into it and has some popular comments out.
PainCal – My migraine app where I track all migraine days and medication. I have been using this app since 2015. There are some more aesthetic apps out with more functionality – like weather tracking – but they all don’t allow import of older data. Until they do I stick to my free app that works just fine.
Grocery Store apps – I use different store apps to keep track of discounts and vouchers and to see what special offer they are having. I don’t really plan on getting things especially at certain stores or times but I am taken what I can. I usually just activate all coupons and then go shopping without a care. If one product happens to be reduced I am happy but I rarely buy things just because they are a deal. Only if I wanted to try it.
Apps I use only once in a while
Mail – I rarely use the mail app on my phone. I turned off notifications and only use it when I need to stay in the loop for certain projects other wise mail handling is a office desk job.
Alright so much for now. It is not that I shared all my apps. It is amazing how many you can save on a phone and believe you need them all. Well I don’t and I am deleting apps on a regular basis. The ones above I wouldn’t though.
Now let me know: Which app can’t you live without? If I can download only one more app which one should it be? Which app takes away too much of your time but you are (maybe) addicted? Which app is the last you had deleted?
24 comments
I probably use Twitter (I haven’t updated my phone in a while so it hasn’t yet reverted to X) and Instagram way more often than I should. I also use the Target and Amazon apps a lot. My calendar app is the one I can’t live without, though. If it’s not in the app, it’s not happening!
I do us the amazon app a lot too I clustered that under store apps but I could have easily listed it in the weekly column for sure. Yes the calendar app is important too but it’s somewhat essential so I just take that as a given.
THANK you for such a great reminder to reflect about my app usage. Let’s see here… Gonna be a stream of consciousness.
Every day- Apple Podcasts, Camera, Photos, Spotify, WordPress, Gmail, Whatsapp, Schwab (money), Acorns (play $$ with stock market), does Kindle and Libby count? For audio books.
Once in a while/every other day: Amex, Bank of America, Pinterest, Nordstroms, Feedly, Amazon. Maps.
I hate my phone, period, and try my best to use my Kindle digital reader OR my laptop so that the activity is more mindful.
Very interesting. I do use a my trade republic app for stock market stuff but I am not day trading so I only check in. Libby is also in usage almost daily I just forgot because I haven’t used it last month. But we could file those under essential, right?
Funnily enough I rarely use feedly on my phone. For some reason I like to read blogs on my laptop.
I love Duolingo too! My son got me into it. He’s learning Japanese and I’m learning Spanish. I think I’m on a 614 day streak! I guess the apps I use the most often are gmail, Duolingo, Instagram, and messages or FB messenger. Those seem to get a lot of use! Oh, I just thought of it, my most used is Spotify. I am always listening to something!
Wow 614 days is so ne t level compared to my humble Duolingo streak. That is amazing. My husband started learning Japanese too.
I am not much of music person so I don’t have Spotify but if I listen to music I use my iTunes.
I’ve been spending so much time on Instagram and Threads lately – I need to take a break! I’ve taken breaks from time to time, and it always feels really good.
I’d say my most used phone apps are Audible and Libby for audiobooks.
Libby is a good app to have high up there on your list. I just forgot to mention that one as I siding use it last month. Otherwise I use it almost daily.
And yes instagram could be so much less… sigh
I’m pretty boring. I use the message app multiple times a day (too many- my daughter and I have a bad habit of messaging back and forth even if we’re both in the same house) and I use the weather app every day. The one I really couldn’t live without is the apple podcast app- I listen to podcasts ALL THE TIME.
I’m not familiar with a couple of yours- HNGRY and Stylebook both sound great!
I do that on occasion to that I text my husband in the next room mainly when he is in meetings though and I am starving.
I do use my podcast app a lot too.
I wonder how do you keep track of grocery shopping. Pen and paper?
I love this post. I find it so interesting that there are some apps that seem to be universally used and then others that people use and I haven’t even heard about. I didn’t know the HNGRY or Stylebook Apps and here you are using them weekly! I have to check those out.
I am surprised that Feedly – or whatever RSS reader you use – did not make it onto your list. Do you not check blogs on your phone?
I am using the Jetpack App for WordPress btw – hasn’t the original WP app been deprecated?
Yea it’s really interesting how everyone is using the apps.
The Stylebook app might something you enjoy. The HNGRY app I am not sure work perfectly in the US as local store chains are tied in.
I use the WordPress app for a decade now and never had issues. Didn’t want to use the jet pack app as it was an issue with the DSGVO/data compliance stuff early on.
And no I don’t really read blogs on my phone. Every once in a while but I prefer using the laptop for that and getting the whole blog feel.
The one app I wish I could delete is Facebook. I have it deleted on and off but for some reason I follow some groups that are still useful to me including schools an “I just want to get rid of this now” so I ckeck in from every ones in a while.
We have quote a bit of overlap and my Duolingo spanish streak is at 107 – so pretty close.
Ahh I hear you on Facebook. I have that app on my phone but I don’t really use it hence it wasn’t mentioned. I would love to delete my accounts but as a social media manager I just need that. But I do not like it.
Congrats on 107 days on Duolingo
I use my NYTimes app for Wordle and the mini crossword, and sometimes I even look at the news. I look at my banking apps every day to make sure nothing has gone awry. Photos, camera, facebook, apple podcasts, I use all of those every day. I have NPR one that I listen to most days for news. CVS is a drugstore app I sometimes use, and Safeway is a grocery store app I use. Audible and Libby definitely. I used duolingo for awhile when I was planning my trip to France, but since I came back I have blown it off entirely. I have instagram but rarely remember to look at it.
Oh I didn’t know there was a wordle app. I used to play that with the husband.
I also have Libby which I use almost daily but forgot to mention it since I didn’t use it at all last month.
Your apps are very streamlined for efficiency compared to mine.
This was so interesting! Can I also say… I found it weirdly refreshing/ comforting that you are not trying to be an “app minimalist”? Sometimes when I read things about phone/app use there is so much talk about trying to decrease all of that that it ends up making me feel guilty or somehow like a “bad person” if I’m, I don’t know, using an app to take notes instead of etching it into stone like in the olden days. Ha.
I also played around with a closet app called Acloset this summer which I was super excited about. I feel I have a LOT of clothes that do not get worn enough, despite being perfectly good. I started loading pics of my clothes into it, but then I got busy and it kind of fell by the wayside. Hmm. I should consider picking that up- tracking my outfits was pretty enlightening.
Haha definitely not an app minimalist. This is only a fraction of what is on my phone. I should have included some screenshots I guess.
I did a big decluttering earlier this summer when my phone ran out of space but I keep Download most of the apps again so… yeah not a minimalist.
I’ve not heard of the Acloset app but I did try out a few before downloading Stylebook. It is fun but setting up is time consuming for sure
Most of all, I spend most of my time in Slack, Discord, the Google suite, c:geo, Reddit, Kindle, and Joplin for note taking.
How do you like Duolingo, compared to other language apps? I’ve been thinking of starting with some sort of language learning app but not sure which are any good.
I haven’t really tried any other app besides Duolingo but I really think the app does a great job in teaching. It has gamification included which definitely helps me stay on track. You can use a free version which takes longer but also you can’t “cheat” which I like too. Every once in a while there is a goody and you get to use the paid version for a limited time and then I just do the exercises I’d otherwise couldn’t and spend more time in the app.
I am not familiar with some of the App you are using. So interesting
This is so interesting! I enjoy reading what others find to be helpful or annoying on their phones.
I use Instagram loads (I enjoy your posts and stories). I deleted Facebook in 2020 – numerous reasons – might do a post on it sometime haha!
Whatsapp can be a pain if you get added to loads of groups like I was at one stage. I enjoy catching up with family who have it as my parents and sister live a few hours away so Whatsapp is convenient. I exited a few groups last year – the relief was awesome!
Luckily I am only in some family WhatsApp groups and occasionally in a birthday one. My sister doesn’t have WhatsApp because she doesn’t want to be in all the parents and activity groups.
Setting boundaries is so important. Glad you managed to get out of some of those groups
We use some of the same apps! I love Overcast for podcasts, too. I also use Instagram a lot. And I loooove phone games. I get so sucked into them! Happy Color, Cooking Fever, and the NYT apps are my faves for games. And I’m almost at 100 days with Duolingo (I had to use a streak freeze, too, lol).
Not only one to be honest but with so many vacations lately it slipped my mind.
I do play some phone games too. I love Blockudoku