My favorite iPhone apps
Like most millennials, I'm addicted to my iPhone. Of course, I spend a lot of time on the usual apps—Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest—especially because I'm a blogger and I've been slowly working on growing my audience on those platforms. However, there are a few apps I love just as much or even more than the social media apps. I've rounded up five of my favorite lesser-known iPhone apps for today's post! Are you also a fan of these apps? :)
STYLEBOOK
Big surprise! If you've been following for a while, you know how much I adore this app. I basically talk about it at any chance I get, haha! Every article of clothing I wear is in this app (unless it's loungewear), and I'm seriously on it every day. I usually wake up and immediately open this app to pick out my outfit for the day. The best!
I love how you're able to create looks and add them to the calendar to keep track of what you wear. The app also tracks cost-per-wear and what items have the best or worst cost-per-wear. It really opened my eyes to how little I actually wear each item in my closet even though I may feel like I wear something a lot. I also used to buy things thinking I'd wear them once per dollar spent, but that's increasingly not the case. I usually get bored of something before I hit that dollar-cost-per-wear.
The app does cost $4, but it was so worth it for me. It's hands-down my favorite app. If I ever lost or broke my phone I'd be most upset about losing this app and all of its data! (The initial import took a lot of time and effort!)
If you're interested in reading more, I wrote about the general features in my closet inventory posts (first edition and second edition) and the packing list feature in a couple of academic conference-related posts (here and here).
A COLOR STORY
Ever since this photo editing app by A Beautiful Mess launched a couple of months ago, I've been hooked! I used to use VSCOcam exclusively, but it never got my photos as bright and white as I wished it did. (I also have Afterlight, but I didn't find it easier to use than VSCOcam and didn't put the time into really learning it.) A Color Story is free to download, and the Essentials filters are included with the download. I splurged for the rest of the filters since I had some unused iTunes money sitting in my account, but I definitely didn't have to since I use only a couple from the paid packs. My current favorites are 'Lite Bright' from Essentials and 'Palm Springs' from Good Vibes. I also love 'Tulip' from Fresh and 'Pop', 'Everyday', and 'Sharp' from Essentials.
In addition to the filters, A Color Story also offers effects that you can add to your photos (i.e. flares, light leaks, etc.) and regular editing features. There's even a curve tool that I haven't quite mastered but it's fun to play with and see how much you can change about a photo without ever touching the filters.
When I first started using the app, I hated that the filters layer on top of each other, but now I love that you can layer them. (You can change how strong each filters is!) Another bonus? You can save custom filters, so if you have go-tos you can easily save them to apply with one touch!
POSHMARK
When it's time to part ways with my old clothes, I either turn to eBay or Poshmark to sell them (or donate them to my cousins or Goodwill). I've had a bit of success with selling on Poshmark. It is a little bit of work because it's like another social media in that there's a lot of following going on and sharing of items (both yours and others'). Sharing increases the item's exposure, and sometimes if you share someone's items, they'll return the favor. Three times a day, there are what's called "Posh parties"—themed parties with hosts where you share items that fit the theme to gain more exposure.
I like that it's super easy to list items (only allows for four photos) and that shipping is convenient (buyer pays shipping—$6 for priority—and then Poshmark emails you the shipping label). Downsides include low-ball offers from buyers and perhaps things not listed accurately. Some sellers are also slow at shipping items (I'm currently waiting for the shipping confirmation for an item I bought three days ago). Poshmark takes $2.95 if an item sells for $15 or less and 20% if it sells for above $15.
If you're interested in giving it a try, sign up with my referral code, PQURR, and earn a $10 credit towards your first purchase! You can also shop my closet here.
SUDOKU
Sudoku is my favorite game, and it's the only game I play on my phone. Basically anytime I'm bored, tired, or feeling like my brain needs an extra boost, I do a sudoku puzzle or two (or three, or more...ha!). I actually downloaded this app within the past few months, and I really don't know what I did without it! I guess I spent more time on social media sites. It's great to play on flights because it doesn't require an internet connection.
This app has puzzles at four different levels: easy, medium, hard, and extreme. I mainly play the easy- and medium-level puzzles. I got pretty fast at the easy-level puzzles, but I've also had some pretty easy medium-level puzzles, haha. I just recently started doing the hard-level puzzles, which take a lot more time and usually require that I use the pencil function (I've never used that before now!). I also like how each of the numbers are highlighted when you click on one.
There are a wide variety of sudoku apps to choose from, and the one I chose is the Sudoku (Full Version) by genina.com. It was free, and there are somewhat annoying flashing ads sometimes, but I really like it!
SLEEP CYCLE
This app is the newest addition to my phone. I added it in February after seeing it mentioned on another blog. I was curious about the way it worked; how could it accurately track how I sleep without being plugged into me somehow? It utilizes the microphone, and with the microphone pointed towards you (with your phone on a nightstand), it somehow can tell when you're awake, sleeping, or in deep sleep. I definitely don't know how it does that, and I think it's not the most accurate because I'm pretty sure it picks up on when the cats are jumping on/off the bed and when Chris gets up in the morning. Sometimes it also thinks I fall asleep way faster than I do because I often lay awake in bed without moving.
I also downloaded the app (which is free unless you want to track trends and such) because one of the features is an alarm clock that "gently" wakes you up at a time when you're most "awake" in your sleep cycle, ideally waking you up a a time when you'd be the least groggy. You give the app a 30-minute window to wake you up. The downside to this alarm clock is that it is extremely easy to "snooze", but the snooze times decrease as you get closer to the end of the window. I'm not sure what happens if you try to snooze past the window. Luckily I haven't needed to set a backup alarm, but sometimes if I'm still tired I'll set a later alarm. ;)