By Chaitra Somasundar, Staff Writer
Apps fit into our lifestyle with ease in today’s smartphone dominated world. Apps have not only made our day-to-day lives easier, but are connecting us to the outside world as well. But are we really leveraging this piece of technology fully? Is using Facebook and Twitter the sole purpose of our smartphones when we can make so much more of the resources available? To answer this question, I compiled a comprehensive list of free, useful, easy-to-use and fun apps, compatible with both iOS and Android phones.
1. I Can’t Wake Up!
Category: Alarms
For those with trouble waking up on time due to the infamous snooze option on your phones, try the I Can’t Wake Up! App. You need to solve a simple puzzle or do memory, math and other problems to silence your alarm and voila! You are up! You can configure and customize the intensity to set it as per your personal preferences.
Android | iOS (Currently under maintenance)
2. Quora
Category: Q&A
One of the best platforms to get your questions answered and you can also share your knowledge by answering the questions of other users. The topics are diverse, ranging from politics and finance to humor and psychology of everyday life. You can expand your knowledge by creating a profile and following topics, friends and trends you are interested in.
3. Robinhood
Category: Stock Trading
Eliminating the conventional $10 charge per trade, Robinhood has gained fame as the stock-brokerage app for buying and selling stocks listed on the NYSE. One has to be of the age 18 years or older with a legal U.S. residential address and SSN to be an account holder of this app. Once a member, trading is made easy and enjoyable on this cost-efficient app.
4. Turo
Category: Car Rentals
Once signed up on Turo, you can rent your neighbor/peer’s car. At the end of your trip, replace the gas used during the trip and return the car to your neighbor. If you are a car owner, you can even list your car on the app and make money by renting it to other people! Turo covers your car’s liability insurance and even provides safety assistance 24/7, making the process safe and easy for car owners.
5. Splitwise
Category: Finance
If you are having trouble keeping track of collecting and owing money to friends/colleagues, Splitwise is the app for you. You can divide your rent and other monthly expenses with your roommates or even split a particular bill among people. You can “settle up” as soon as your payables and receivables are cleared, therefore setting the counter to zero.
6. Square Cash
Category: Finance
When you do keep track of expenses on Splitwise, you can make sure everyone gets paid via Square Cash. In simple, terms, Square Cash is money transfer made ridiculously easy and safe. All you need to do is link your debit/credit cards to your Square Cash account. Once linked, you can make transactions that are almost instantly reflected on your bank accounts. You can even send cash requests to people who owe you for free – all you need is their telephone number or email ID.
7. Skiplagged
Category: Airfare
Skiplagged is a savings-oriented app for consumers looking for economical airfare rates. Apart from standard fare, Skiplagged is an app that detects hidden-city fares, round-trips and even system inefficiencies and leverages it to provide the best flight deal for a given destination.
8. QuizUp
Category: Games
Love Pub Trivia? You can have something like it on your phone! With topics of every field present, you can sign up and follow your friends. You can play real-time with your friends and like-minded individuals and learn so much more for free during this fun process.
