When I received an iPhone as a gift on for my high school graduation, I swore up and down to never become “annoying iPhone girl.” However, the allure of the new technology soon broke down my personal promise. It would be fair to say that many of my friends and I in committed relationships with our cell phones. Anyway, since I usually carry my phone everywhere, I decided that I should make it worth it, and have it do as much for me as possible. Here is a list of my favorite and most well used iPhone applications.
except not really…
Instagram:
I had originally dismissed Instagram as artsy-hipster insanity. Then I got an iPhone, and I turned into a hypocrite. Instagram is a blast. It is a great way to update friends from home on the latest Kenyon scenery/studying/weekend escapades. Also, hashtags on Instagram are extremely amusing. Follow the most shallow person you know and take a drink every time they hashtag something obvious, unrelated, or repeat a previous hashtag with the same words in a different word order. Don’t die.
Shazam:
Hearing a song and recognizing it immediately, but being unable to place it is one of the most frustrating things we experience on an everyday basis. This is where Shazam comes in. Simply open the app, press the Shazam button, and the app will identify the song for you. This app can also come in handy when you are trying to figure out the mystery songs on a Mix CD from a friend.
Find My iPhone:
This application is a complete lifesaver and is without a doubt the most useful application on my iPhone. This is a purely hypothetical situation, but suppose you wake up on Saturday morning with a headache and no clue where your iPhone is. After the initial heart attack, Find My iPhone comes to the rescue! You can log into your Find My iPhone account on any Apple device using your Apple ID and it will locate your phone. You can follow a map to your missing device, make it emit a VERY loud noise, and you can even erase all of the data on your phone if you are worried about your privacy.
Sidenote: this app does not work if your phone is off.
Pic Stitch:
Pic Stich is an app that allows you to make collages out of the photos in your camera library. You can choose from a variety of layouts, some of which have up to six photo slots. Then, if you so desire, you can save your Pic Stitch collages to your photo library and then add them to new Pic Stitch layouts (in order to have even more pictures in the final product). Meta-Pic-Stitch! This is the perfect app to compile photos of you and a friend to send to him or her on special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, etc.
Snapchat:
Snapchat is infamous for its notorious implications. The whole premise is that you can send another person a picture and, after a preset number of seconds, the photo gets deleted. Despite the potential for shenanigans, many simply use this app to send hilariously ugly pictures to one another. Snapchat is a great way to showcase your personality or elastic face and crack up your friends on the daily.
Chicfeed:
Chicfeed combines various fashion websites such as Lookbook (“fashion inspiration from real people around the world) and The Sartorialist into an application for the iPhone. You can spend hours browsing through streetstyle pictures of young fashionistas. This app is great because not only is it visually appealing, it is also very useful for finding fashion inspiration. Bonus: the pictures can inspire your own outfit making.
Cardstar:
I am pretty forgetful, and I rarely remember to bring gift cards with me when I go shopping. However, I rarely leave home without my phone. Cardstar is an app that allows you to use your gift cards even when you leave them at home. You type in the name of the business, scan the card with the phone’s camera, and then the app saves the barcodes. Then when you go shopping, you can bring up the barcode on the screen and the cashier will scan it on your phone rather than the physical card.
Nike Training Club:
This is one of the best workout apps that I have encountered thus far. There are selections of interval cardio drills, toning exercises, strength building programs, and even circuits that focus on specific muscles and areas of the body. After you have selected a work out, you can pick a playlist to listen to. While you are doing the exercises, the app will speak to you through your headphone occasionally with tips on form, to countdown minutes or seconds, or tell you when to switch sides on reps.