Smartphones are increasingly becoming a huge part in our daily lives. More often than not, we’re using our smartphones for various uses. Here are a few Android and iOS apps that I think are worth having.

iOS

Google maps (Free, also on Android)
Has Apple Maps left you feeling wary about searching for directions on your iPhone? No more driving or walking around aimlessly: Google Maps is now back and better! After being unceremoniously left out of iOS 6, Google Maps 2.0 for iOS returns with awesome, new features such as live traffic updates and voice-enabled navigation. The improvement to the Google Maps has given it an equal footing with the Android version of the app.


Android

Plume for Twitter (Free)
If you are the type who must check your twitter feed oh-so-frequently, this app is hands-down the best Twitter client for you. With its refreshed user interface, ability to split out lists, read from multiple accounts and various other features, there are plenty of ways to tailor Plume for Twitter to suit your tastes and usage.


Both

Evernote (Free)
The first time I heard of Evernote, I thought, “What’s the difference between having Evernote and a notebook?” One day, I forgot to bring my notebook and decided to give it a try. I was so pissed off with myself for not giving it a chance sooner. Evernote is such an amazing service. The app synchronizes notes of all kinds, from text notes, audio recorded notes or voice memos; to pictures and images of papers, and then makes them all highly searchable. It even allows you to create notebooks for different kinds of notes. I recommend using Evernote with its desktop client. Trust me.

Flipboard (Free)
Flipboard’s mission is “to let people discover and share content in beautiful, simple, and meaningful ways”. No kidding. This delicious app curates content from your social networks and the Web based on your interests and turns them into stunning 'social magazine' that is lovely to look at and simple to use. Originally designed as an iPad app, Flipboard is now available as on iOS and Android. Despite a smaller screen size, Flipboard looks surprisingly uncluttered on a 4-inch screen. It feels good to use Flipboard on the go and the ability to subscribe to ‘magazines’ curated by other users or create your own ones is a major plus point. Train rides are now educational times for me.

Pocket (Free)
What happens when you have too many articles you want to read but too little time to do so? Solution: Pocket. This wonderful app allows you to “pocket” articles, videos, pretty much everything you can find online. It’s easy on the eyes and works well with many apps including Flipboard. Pocket also has a browser add-on, which enables you to pocket stuff online on your computer and view them on your phone later. The best part of Pocket is that you can save your pocketed items for your offline viewing pleasure.

SoundHound (Free)
Tired of hearing having a song stuck in your head but having no idea what’s the title? Salvation comes in the form of SoundHound. Simply speak, sing, hum, or type out a song for the music-identification service to identify. The app is available in both a free version and a paid, ad-free version dubbed SoundHound Infinity. I found that SoundHound was impressive in its ability to not just identify both popular music and slightly more obscure tracks but also information like similar artists, a list of albums on which the song has appeared, and even a link to tour dates for the artist. SoundHound is available on iOS and Android for free, although there is paid, ad-free version dubbed SoundHound Infinity.

Labels: android, iOS, Khairi, must have smartphone apps