7 Cool Smartphone Apps You can Use

Smartphones can add a lot of fun and convenience to our lives, especially with the aid of apps that can be installed in them. Here are 7 cool smartphone apps that are not just helpful but entertaining too!

In February, we did a feature on apps that can assist seniors in everyday life. Here are some more senior-friendly smartphone apps that we hope you’ll find useful and enjoyable:

1. Evernote: Evernote is an app designed to take notes, organize, make task lists, create reminders, etc. In other words, Evernote, if used well, can help you stay on top of things. “I am absolutely dependent on Evernote. All my recipes, writing, shopping lists, important information, expenses, pictures, etc., are filed there. That’s my most important app,” says Sumana Chatterjee from Bangalore who can’t recommend this one enough.

2. Dunzo: Have you run out of milk in the middle of the day? Need to send over freshly made gulab jamuns to your daughter’s home two hours of traffic away? Download Dunzo. If you live in Bangalore, Gurugram or Pune, Dunzo can do the running around for you, whether it is to bring groceries from the neighbourhood kirana shop or whet your appetite for a Magai Paan. Or need to send over a parcel by courier and don’t have the energy to step out? The app can be really handy for older people as it manages to take care of fairly small chores that can add to your workload but need to be finished anyway. Of course they’ll charge you for it but hey, you save on the fuel too!

3. Pacer Pedometer: Most elders these days try to lead an active, healthy life. Walking briskly, even for 30-40 minutes a day is said to have great health benefits. One of the best ways to keep track of how many steps you take is to install apps like Pacer (there are many others – search as Step Tracker and you’ll get options). They also have exercise videos thrown in as a bonus often and you can even join community fitness challenges like 10k steps a month to stay motivated.

4. Q+: Q+ is a hearing aid app that can accurately evaluate hearing loss through your smartphone. It can then make your hearing experience better on the phone with what they call, ‘adaptive sound processing and controllable listening experiences.’ That means the app is intuitive and can adapt to different environments (noisy, quiet etc) based on what your hearing level is. Indrajit Chatterjee, who uses it regularly, feels that it tests the hearing level and also helps in increasing the hearing efficiency.5. Photo Editor apps: While this may sound very millennial to many readers, apps that help you take better photographs or edit them to your requirement are great if you are creative or run a home business. Cookbook author Bridget Kumar is a regular user of apps like Pic Collage which can edit photographs, make greeting cards, etc. She also uses social sharing apps like Instagram where she is available as @bridgetkumar and shares photographs of the food she creates regularly. If you are a creative person or love to cook, Instagram could be a fun app to have.

6. Lumosity: Lumosity is a brain game app with over 50 cognitive games. The complexity of the games increases as you continue playing. There are puzzles and mental calculation and solution games designed to keep your brain active. It’s a great way to not just pass your time, whether you are 16 or 60, but also a good way to test memory and give your brain cells a bit of a boost.

7. Otto Radio/Audible: Podcasts are digital episodes, books or news that one can listen to. Many older people have problems with reading the fine print, making books difficult to read as they age. Podcasts on the other hand can keep you engaged with audio syndication of documentaries, interesting news series and even books. Give them a try today.

And while we are on apps, if you have a smartphone, chances are you have tried your hand at taking photographs. Join our Smartphone Photography workshop this weekend if you live in Bangalore and enhance your photography skills. You’ll be surprised at how much you can do with your smartphone camera!