Cool Apps on my iPhone

Ohlala, I must have about a hundred different Apps on my iPhone! Some of them I don’t actually use at all, others only occasionally. But some have really grown on me over time, because they are so useful and make my life easier or because they are simply funny. Here are some of my favourites:

coop@home: little helper in the case of an empty fridge

Well, life is hectic and time is short. Personally, I find nothing more annoying than wasting my time fighting my way through busy supermarkets, queuing at the till and carrying heavy shopping bags home. That’s why the coop@home app comes in so handy! Whether on the train, at home or on the way to some place: click click click, and I can put all my favourite products in the virtual trolley and – click again – have them delivered fresh and on time to my front door whenever I desire. The best: I enter “freefrom” and in a second Coop’s entire lactose free assortment is displayed, which is particularly useful for me. And: shopping lists can be composed so that you don’t have to start all over again every time you go on your virtual shopping stroll. Saving time doing my weekly shopping = having more time to myself. That’s what I call lifestyle!

BoomBoom! App: for moments of Guerrilla Goodness

In a time where one has the impression that only bad or sad news are being diffused on TV, where cigarette buds are thrown on the street without consideration and plastic stuff left everywhere polluting the environment, the BoomBoom! App is surprisingly refreshing. What is it all about? Any act of underground goodness can be posted here. Example: somebody charges the parking meter for you so you won’t get a fine, a colleague is particularly nice or somebody helps an elder lady over the street, then – hopp! – use your BoomBoom! App and dedicate a little post to them. Not to be underestimated also: reminding yourself of your own goodness. Have you done good today or has somebody been really nice to you? If so, you have experienced BoomBoom! And like a boomboomerang, so the rumour goes, all the good we are doing is coming back to us. So be good and multiply!

Paperboy: from print media to the web

The kooaba Paperboy App really isn’t a bad idea at all. It makes print media interactive. You particularly like an article in your favourite newspaper or magazine? Then – click, snapshot – and the app connects you with digital extras on the web. In that way you can post interesting articles on Facebook, get background information or save articles for reading them later. Although the technology is not yet available for all newspapers and magazines more and more of them are working with kooaba. In Switzerland the following can currently be used with the Paperboy App: 20 Minuten, Blick, Blick am Abend, Die Weltwoche, Eurosoccer, Kinki Magazin, NZZ am Sonntag, Sportwoche and STUmag. But also annabelle; and that is where I actually found out about the App.

PurePeople: celebrity news pushed to your iPhone

What’s happening in the world of the rich and famous? What’s the gossip about this and that star or starlet? The PurePeople App delivers info about what is hot directly to my iPhone. I think at the moment it is only available in French and English but – voilà voilà – when you are knee-deep in stress, sweating over your project plan or just had an argument with your beloved, then knowing that – ding ding ding: Angie and Brad are enjoying some beach fun in Hawaii – makes a welcome change. Shallow? Absolutely! Love it.

Status Hopper: what do I say to whom online? Easy! 

So, let’s go back to the real, digital, virtual world. Virtua, a Digital Agency based in the French speaking part of Switzerland has developed the Status Hopper App. At „Le meilleur du Web“, a competition that aims to select the best web projects, the Status Hopper has won first prize in the category „Technology & Innovation“. This is why I had to have it, obviously. You can connect several different of your online accounts with this App and from a dashboard like interface you can manage your status updates according to the target audience in a specific channel. The secret: not one post for all, but the right post for all in a particular channel. That’s indeed quite useful as you don’t want to say the same thing to your LinkedIN connections as you would to your Facebook friends. That is particularly true on a Saturday night when you had a little drink or two already. You see what I mean? And whose idea was it? Yannick Burky the man is called!

What Apps have you got on your smartphone? Which ones are particularly cool, funny or useful? Let us know!

E., lifestyle blogger for coolbrands.ch

This post is also available in: French