“There’s An App For That”Great Apps for Your Smart Phone or Tablet

 

Hannah Frey

www.rclreads.org

Introduction: What is an ‘App’?Apps is an abbreviation for the word application. An app is a type of software that allows you to perform specific tasks. Applications for desktop or laptop computers are   sometimes   called  desktop  applications,   and   those   for  mobile  devices   are called mobile  apps. When you open an app, it runs inside the operating system until you close it. It can run on the Internet, on your computer, or on your phone or other electronic device. The word app is a more modern usage, but this is really the same thing as a program. 

How do I download an app?  Every iPhone comes equipped with the App Store. The blue symbol with an “A” made out of pencils is your App Store. This is where you will go if you ever want to download a new app. Use the icons at the bottom of the app to navigate or search for an app. When you have found the app that you would like, select the blue rectangle box with the words ‘FREE’ (or ‘GET’) or a dollar amount on the right hand side to download. You will then select the green rectangle ‘INSTALL’ to begin downloading the app.

*Note: You must have an Apple ID and password to download apps 

Every Android is equipped with an app store such as Google Play, Sideloading, Amazon Appstore, or another third party app store. This functions in much the same way at the iPhone App Store though each is slightly different.

Are all apps free?  Unfortunately, no. Though many of them are! Apps can range anywhere in price from $0.99 to $19.99. But all the apps presented in this class are free. 

Groupon

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*Entertainment & Local Deals

Groupon gathers deals for 50-70% off nearby stuff to do, see, eat, and buy in your surrounding area. Whether you’re shopping for the latest fashion trends, craving a new restaurant in town, or looking for a little pampering, a daily replenishment of deals delivers discounts based on your search and geographical location. Every deal is available to use immediately, and you usually don’t even need to print anything out. Just bring your smart device to the place you purchased the Group from and they can scan the e-mail confirmation. It’s always good to call ahead before purchasing to make sure the deal is still accepted, and that you can make an appointment for whatever the deal may be.

TripAdvisor

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* Travel & Local

There are millions of traveler reviews, photos, and maps from TripAdvisor. Plan and book your perfect trip. With over 225 million reviews and opinions by travelers, TripAdvisor makes it easy to find the lowest airfare, best hotels, great restaurants, and fun things to do, wherever you go. And booking options for hotels, restaurants and flights are just a tap away. Browse millions of reviews, opinions and candid photos by travelers. Find the best hotel for you, including Travelers' Choice award winners. Explore restaurants and reserve tables online and discover cool things to do in any destination.

The Weather Channel*Local Knowledge & Weather

From New York to Haiti and London to Taiwan the Weather Channel app offers radar maps, local forecasts, and weather news available for all parts of the world. It includes a break-down of the weather by hourly, 36-hours, and 10-day forecast options in Celsius or Fahrenheit. Current weather conditions give you the “feels like” temperature, sunrise and sunset time, wind speed, humidity, UV index, visibility, dew point, and pressure. There are also severe weather alerts for storm tracking and tornado activity, along with high pollen counts for specified locations. There are seasonal tools, like airport delays module, pollen counts, and boat and beach planner help you plan your life around the weather. For an aesthetically pleasing interface, background photos match you location and current weather conditions.

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Google Maps*Navigation

Find the best spots in town and the information you need to get there. Comes with a comprehensive, accurate maps in 220 countries and territories, Google Maps has a voice-guided GPS navigation for driving, biking, and walking. Transit directions and maps for over 15,000 cities and towns are provided as well as live traffic conditions, incident reports, and automatic rerouting to find the best route. Google Maps incorporates detailed information on more than 100 million places and a Street View and indoor imagery for restaurants, museums, and more!

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Spotify*Music

Search for any track, artist or album and listen for free. Make and share playlists. Build your biggest, best music collection ever. Get inspired with personal recommendations and readymade playlists for just about everything. Listen absolutely free with ads, or get Spotify Premium. Get your monthly Spotify Premium subscription through the app. If you choose to subscribe, you will be charged a price according to your country. The price will be shown in the app before you complete the payment. The subscription renews every month unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before end of the current subscription period. Your iTunes account will automatically be charged within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period and you will be charged for one month at a time.

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Pinterest*Social Networking

Pinterest is a visual bookmarking tool that helps you discover and save creative ideas. Use Pinterest to make meals, plan travel, do home improvement projects and more. With Pinterest you can: plan a project, look up home remodeling, look at garden redesigns, and other DIYs. Get creative ideas: Recipes to cook, articles to read, gifts to buy and ways to save money. Explore hobbies from comic art and camping to woodworking and weaving. Save travel inspiration, outdoors adventures, family fun, road trips and more. Find your style, fashion, home decor, grooming tips and beauty inspiration. A great app that will have everything you might need to plan your next special something and more. Not just for women, but men as well with tips and projects for just about anything.

Linkedin*Social Networking

Build and nurture your professional network, stay up to date with the latest business and industry news, and find your next dream job. It all starts with your LinkedIn profile. It’s more than just your professional resume — it shows the world who you are and what you’ve accomplished in your career. Stay up to date with your professional network. Search for and connect with people, jobs, companies and groups. Share articles to establish yourself as a thought leader in your network. Update your professional profile right from the app to polish your resume wherever you are. Follow companies to get job postings, business updates, and suggestions to connect with people you may know.  

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Duolingo*Education

Learn Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Danish, Swedish, and a multitude of other languages for free. There are no hidden charges or ads. Learning has once again become free. You have fun while learning with leveling up and competing with friends. Who said learning a language couldn’t be fun or exciting. Learn outside the class room and make the world seen that much smaller.   

Dropbox*Productivity

Dropbox is the place for your photos, docs, videos, and other files. Files you keep in Dropbox are safely backed up and you can get to them from all your devices. It’s easy to send large files to anyone, even if they don’t have a Dropbox account. Create and edit Microsoft Office files from your Smart phone or tablet. Back up photos and videos automatically if you choose. Share links to your largest files without using email attachments. Access your files offline.   

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Adobe Photoshop Express*Photography Editing

Photo editing made fun, fast, and easy. Touch your way to better-looking smart phone or tablet pictures using slide bar adjustments, or let automatic one-touch fixes do it for you. Want to do more with your photos? Photoshop Express lets you combine multiple photos into a single image, reduce camera blur and apply content-aware fill. It also has amazing photo retouching that lets you fix a wide variety of imperfections in your photos. It includes tools like: crop, straighten, rotate and flip for your photos. Remove red-eye or use auto-fix, a one-touch adjustment for contrast, exposure and white balance, and blemish removal. Or you can control the clarity, contrast, exposure, highlights, shadows, temperature, tint and vibrancy manually with sliding switches. Choose from more than 20 eye-catching effects! And control the intensity of Looks.  

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Additional Free AppsCamScannerThis app allows you to take photos of documents, receipts, and other such pamphlets and turns it into a readable document that is clean and looks professional. It is a great way to quickly scan something on the go or if you’re in a rush.

GasBuddyGasBuddy allows for users to fill up their tanks by helping them find the cheapest gas near them and find it by city/zip/postal code. People also report gas prices themselves to help others know when and where the gas is cheapest at that given moment. There is also a way of earning points for reporting gas prices and a way to win awards with those points.

Urban SpoonUrbanspoon is used to find nearby restaurants with honest restaurant ratings and reviews by consumers and food critics. Whether you’re craving the top-rated cheap eats in your neighborhood or you’re trying to discover great meal while you travel, Urbanspoon helps you to find all the local favorites! Discover Restaurants – compare food choices by rating, distance, and cuisine. You can also sort and map by popularity or distance within the restaurant directory.

PacerGet Active, lose weight, lower your blood pressure, live longer, and feel better. Pacer tracks your steps all day long whether your phone is in your hand, pocket, jacket, or in an armband or purse. No wristband or other hardware required. It tracks your steps, calories, weight, BMI over time, distance, and active time. Works in tangent with outdoor activities like: running, walking, and biking through the use of GPS.

Fitness PalA great app that is geared towards weight loss through a fast and easiest-to-use calorie counter, nutrients log, and exercise log. Fitness Pal includes the largest food database by far (over 5,000,000 foods) and amazingly fast and easy food and exercise entry that will help you take those extra pounds off! You can connect to others in the Fitness Pal community, set goals, get helpful tips and articles, as well as track your caffeine and water intake.

HuluCatch up on the latest seasons before new episodes arrive. Watch the latest episodes of shows Once Upon a Time, The Last Man on Earth, and The Voice. Enjoy previous seasons of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Last Ship, and American Horror Story. Hulu lets you stream popular kids programs, Hulu Original series, and much more.

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Computer & Tech HelpDo you need extra help on the computer, tablet or other piece of technology? Are you searching for a job or working on a resume? Let us answer your questions about surfing the Internet, setting up an email account, or working with documents. Registration

not required.

e-Book and e-Reader HelpHave you purchased a new e-reader or tablet computer?

Are you curious how to use your new device with the Library’s e-book services, Overdrive and 3M Cloud

Library? Help is available for your questions. Bring your Nook, Kindle, iPad or other device for some hands-on

instruction. Registration not required.

Roseville

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