Our phone is our lifeline. Our phone is our best friend. Our phone is our worst enemy. Sometimes you hate to love your smartphone. Or sometimes you just purely love it.
Whatever your feelings are towards your smartphone, there is no denying it plays a huge role in your daily life. Every time a new app catches on, it’s interesting to see how people react and how long the hype lasts. We’ve watched apps like Snapchat become popular and secure its location on our home screen. On the other hand, we’ve watched apps like Yik Yak or Flappy Bird live their minute of fame.
HerCampus found the top 5 hottest apps right now that “everyone and their mother” is using. They will make your life easier, more entertaining and put your pricey accessory to better use.
1. Venmo
In college, cash is constantly changing hands between students. Having actual cash on hand, though, is much less popular nowadays. Venmo saw the rising popularity of carrying debit and credit cards and took advantage of a void that needed to be filled. Venmo makes transferring money simple and fun. By allowing you to follow all your friends through syncing your contacts and/or Facebook, you can see who paid who and “for what” by the captions that you can add to payments. Transferring money is easier and more efficient than the hassle of transferring it through your individual banks. Not to mention you get to see what your friends are up to and who they’re indebted to.
2. Two Dots
Whether you’re a gamer or not, this is a must have. It is addicting, but it also is perfect for filling gaps. Two Dots can act as a stress reliever or distraction, entertainment when you’re bored, competition between you and friends or something to kill time while you wait for an appointment. The user experience and overall design make this app especially aesthetically pleasing to its audience.
3. VSCO Cam
While still young, VSCO Cam has been around for a few years and is just now starting to gain heavy popularity. When you see a link on an Instagram account bio that ends in “.vsco.co” this indicates a VSCO Cam profile. VSCO Cam is one of the many photography apps but stands out from the rest. VSCO has its own editing tools and filters. VSCO focuses on the nature of the photographs and the stories behind them. Perhaps one could call it an “artsier” Instagram. These profiles can be viewed in a webpage from either your mobile phone or from a desktop which is a differing point between the two.
4. Bumble
A reinvented Tinder. Bumble eliminates awkwardness by making sure that the connection is mutual. In Bumble, it only shows you those who interest you and in order to have a connection, both have to swipe right. From that point, the girl has 24 hours to make the first move or the connection is gone forever. For same sex connections, either person has 24 hours to make a move. This is a refreshing version of previous dating apps and breaks societal “norms” when it comes to dating. Long-held notions believe the guy should make the first move… well not anymore, gentleman.
5. Tilt
Our last hottest app is here to Tilt your world. Perfect for your friend’s birthday, ordering an XL Pizza on a Saturday night, raising money for your club/organization/philanthropy, hosting an event or planning a trip, Tilt makes collecting money from a group or for a group nearly effortless. The perks of Tilt are what make it especially brilliant and hot right now. Tilt’s website claims that “the average tilt makes 192% of its goal!” and for nights when you’re ordering that pizza at 2am, your card won’t be charged until you’ve received payment from everyone.