Monday, January 30, 2012

iGeek - Part II

I am that person who tries to buck a trend when it comes to technology.  I never got an iPod, opting instead for the cheaper version of an mp3 players (which now explains why I'm an iTunes idiot).  I thought that having a Garmin unnecessary since there are sites like Google Maps and Mapquest (which explains how I get lost while driving quite frequently).  And as cell phones got fancier, I was always pretty content with my simple phone with a small screen and keypad.

Oh boy how things have changed... 


This chick just got an iPhone... and I LOVE it... as much as a person can love an inatimate object.

I used to give Josh a hard time about always being on his phone, but now I have to restrain myself from looking at it constantly.  And for the first time in my cell phone having days, that bad boy is on me at all times, which makes my husband happy since I am finally answering his calls!  But the best part? Yep, you guessed it... the apps of course!  Here are some of my favorite (all free!) discoveries so far:

Words With Friends:
Ok, so I already knew the joys of this one as I'd play on Josh's phone or iPad every now and again, but now that I can have my own ongoing Scrabble games, I like it even more.  I can already tell that many of my opponents have way more practice than I have had though!
YouVersion:
I had downloaded this on my computer, but to have it with me at all times has been awesome.  It's an online Bible, so you basically have that big, heavy book with you all of the time, in every different version.  I like reading from the New Living Translation (NLT) since it's the most understandable for me, but I can reference other versions as well if I need something worded differently.  My favorite, feature, however are the reading plans, and there are many to choose from such as 30 days of encouragement for busy women, the Bible in a year, the New Testament in 30 days, etc.  And the app will even read the Bible to you, which has been great for me, since I'm not a great reader and often fall asleep!  I tend to read a whole page while my mind wanders to other things and I get to the end of the page with no clue as to what I had read!  Yesterday I was able to get 35 minutes on the eliptical machine while listening to a few chapters and it was perfect for the busy season of life we're in.  I give it five stars.  :)


Lose It:
My whole family is using this one right now (which is a lot like myFitnessPal I'm told) since we're competing in a 10-week Biggest Loser competition.  It's so simple to use... you enter in your current weight and age, your goal weight, and how many pounds a week you'd like to lose.  Then it takes all of that and gives you a daily calorie budget.  I thought it would be a pain to log in all of my food and exercise, but it's surprisingly kind of fun!  It has tons of food already in there to search and it has a barcode scanner, which makes looking up any meal a breeze.  More than anything, however, it has been incredibly eye opening in terms of what I've been putting in my body!  Many foods have a whole lot more calories than I would have ever imagined and so it's motivating me to eat healthier and exercise more so I can still work in some goodies from time to time!




Instragram:
As much as I love taking photos, this one is a must!  It's like having a mini (and very easy) version of Photoshop right in your pocket and you can upload your pictures straight to Facebook, Twitter, or wherever!



If you don't believe me, I'll just have to point out that our favorite photo from Christmas is an Instagram picture and we added the border, "antique" look to it, and the black bars on the top and bottom:


And for the little guy, the PBS Kids app is pretty great.  Granted, Jacob can use an iPhone like nobody's business, unlocking it and scrolling through the pages until he finds exactly what he wants.  He even somehow manages to search YouTube videos for Thomas the Train, Elmo, and Signing Time, although we occassoinally find him watching something like a squirrel dancing in a tutu.  Since I downloaded this app, however, he spends more time on here and less time on YouTube, and this app ensures that the videos he is watching are age appropriate!  They have several of their show segments on there, so he doesn't get bored.  We try not to let him use it too much, but it's nice to have when we're out to dinner and he starts to get squirmy.  Kudos to those of you who raised children without this nice distraction!

He also recently discovered that my camera flips around so you can take self-photos.  He cracks up when he sees myself and I cracked up when I scrolled through my camera roll the other day:


Now I guess I just need to teach him how to get his whole face in the frame!  What a silly boy.

Yes, I am a bit obsessed... it really is as good as people say it is and I am officially a phone snob now and will perhaps start being a bit more likely to jump on technology bandwagons in the future... maybe.  I'm married to a man who has to have the next big thing right now, so maybe we just balance each other out.  Either way, the one thing I am sure of is how much I love this thing.  So now I have to ask all of you "trendier" folks than me... what are some of your favorite apps?  

2 comments:

  1. I didn't even notice that we were using iMessage when I texted you on your bday! Ha! You should get HeyTell, too - it is an app to do short voice messages. Kinda like voice texting :)

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  2. I am so jealous of you .... I am currently rocking my droid2 with a missing cover... so the battery happens to fall out .... ummm all the time. Haven't brought myself to redneck rig it with duct tape... i could always get some zebra print duct tape and no one would know the difference at a glance right??? I'm totally upgrading to the iphone when I can ... which isn't until May lol!!! UGH... anyway! uber jealous..

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