Show us your apps!

Okay, so I'm slowly getting used to our iPhone. One thing I'm learning is that it seems to use an awfully lot of data. It's always wanting to update something or other. Same with iTunes, so I don't let it update on the laptop either. And because we are on a fairly expensive pay per use cellular data supply, I now don't even turn on data for the iPhone here at the park. I wait until we go into town for grocery shopping and let the free Walmart wi-fi download all of the updates. One of the mapping apps we use needed to do a 78 MB update!

If you don't keep track of these things, it adds up really quickly.

I know that there are thousands of "apps" available. Some free, and some you need to pay for. It would be a big job to search through them all to find the ones that are most useful, so I figured maybe you could tell us which apps you are using...and maybe other readers will learn about them as well.

First, let me tell you which ones we're already using. I was going to include links to them, but it's just as easy for you to google them because some of you will need the apple apps, and some will need the android ones. So, here are the ones we currently have...

TripIt - A good free travel planning app. Keeps track of all of your flights and flight numbers and confirmation codes. I'm impressed with the fact that when you book a flight and receive the confirmation email, it automatically updates right away. Very cool. Only thing I don't like so far is that it regularly asks you to update to the "pro" version, which of course costs money.

Checkout51 - Coupon savings for groceries. You have to send them copies of your grocery bills to prove that you bought an item they have listed. The list changes (a little bit) every week. They send you a cheque when your balance reaches $20. We started the middle of last summer, and we're up to $16 at this point. Most people would probably get to $20 a little quicker than us, since we're only here part time.

XE - Foreign currency exchange. We like to keep track of the fluctuations between the Canadian dollar and other currencies in the countries that we visit. Includes very cool graphs and price conversion. And you can make a list of the ones you want to watch. Currently, we watch the US dollar, the Mexican peso, and the Colombian peso. All of these fluctuations will affect what our travels cost next winter.

Maps.me - The best free mapping program I could find that works without the need to be online.

MotionX GPS - This is a paid app, but it's only $1.19. It's the best one we've found so far for keeping track of our hiking routes, distance, and altitude. Love it for when we're out hiking!

Flipp - A grocery shopping list app that makes a shopping list and highlights top deals that you're interested in, as well as showing which stores may have a sale on certain items that you're looking for. Still need some practice using this one.

Ultimate Campgrounds - Another paid app, at around $4.00. A huge listing of all public non commercial campsites in Canada and the U.S. Over 22,000 listings, including free and BLM camping areas.

Of course we have other handy apps that we use for banking, and things like that.

So...which apps are you using that you find handy, fun, or worthwhile to have? Please share.

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