There are loads of interesting apps out there. As an entrepreneur or tech enthusiast, what are the apps you are using? Check out this list contributed by a young entrepreneur.
Good morning – Pulse News app (iPad)
Pulse news app provides beautifully curated links, RSS and feeds you have subscribe to. Waking up in the eastern part of the world, it is handy to update yourself with the entire buzz in the west while you were asleep. It completely replaces the newspaper and brings the best of what you subscribe like NYTimes, Mercury News, Hacker News, TechCrunch, YourStory, TheTechPanda, Wired, Crimson Daily, etc.
Breakfast – Tweetbot (iPhone)
In startups, I guess, we hardly need to get ready for work! Like I wake up, brush, sit on the breakfast table and then to the work desk all wearing the same pajama until there’s a need to really cleanse yourself.
Twitter is another epic source of news. I would say I personally derive my 20% of world news from it. It is even better because it comes from the people who really matter to you. And I doubt there’s a better twitter client than tweetbot !
Nothing makes a geek happier than sitting on the breakfast table, munching cereal and having a big list of retweets, follows and favs on twitter.
Tweetbot brings life to twitter with its crisp UI and little whoosh noises (like seconding your cereal munch).
Work Desk – Hacker News App (iPhone or website), Mac Notifications (OS X), Spotify (OS X)
I have this urge when I hit the work desk to get pumped up, like any athlete would on a treadmill or Stairmaster before hitting the weights, to check out the latest on Hacker News. Good thing they released their new iPhone app, since opening another tab while 10-15 already open, feels like a sin!
All the while during work intermittent subtle notification on Mac from people from whom I choose to get individual notifications keeps me up to date and also minimally distracted.
Spotify needs no introduction. I luckily have been given an official access from a Spotify executive employee, which i heartily cherish. The music play all day, when not on my loud sound system then on my Sennheiser headphone. I at least listen music 7 hours a day, so it’s a complete bliss.
Lunch – Summly or Circa (iPhone)
Its time to dig in to lunch and also time to dig into some wholesome news by Summly or Circa, both curate the news across the world by in-house editors. The news is so well curated that you’ll almost feel pampered and be happy to be living in this tech age. There had been quite some rivalry between the both apps since both ventures aim at the niche market of news curation.
On one hand Summly has colorfully aesthetic UI but lacks in providing a good interaction, it feels very convoluted when you start using it but eventually you’ll like it (not the best strategy when sailing the uncharted seas of a niche market), on the other hand Circa is clean and has a basic UI with standard interactions/experience as one would expect in an iPhone.
Post-Lunch Work – Facebook App (iPhone/Android/Website) & 8track (iPhone)
Following a good lunch, I often tend to budge towards Facebook, because it is more than half of a day and I gotta know what my friends are up to ! I need not speak much about Facebook, its common, also a good way to catch up with friends and old acquaintances. This successfully avoid me from wanting to take a nap. It is amazing how more people are using Facebook on mobile than on web; for me it is almost 80% !
8track is an amazing app with hand curated playlists. For a music junky like me, this app is an absolute bliss. The EDM playlists are just off the charts. Apart from common singles and albums the playlist superbly curate rare mixes which otherwise would have been missed or overlooked. For me this app runs at least 5 hours a day.
Afternoon/Evening – Analogue meeting with friends, chatting – Phone App (All phones), Whatsapp(Most Smartphones)
Time to be more human !
I go out and meet real people, family and friends. If I am not out then there’s traditional phone call. Whatsapp app also suffices most of the time. All of this with a drink or ice cream and good folks to talk with, just makes you feel so good. It’s a necessary break from life behind a LCD!
Dinner – Television & Facetime (OS X)
Catching up with some soaps, no I am kidding, but surely Homeland/Greys Anatomy/Last Resort/Lost. We all hate the smart TV so I won’t mention, as if otherwise I would have used it!
Meanwhile if siblings or parents are up then a Facetime with them. Some gossip and updating with the latest from their world or from the lives of some the relatives is just good for the soul.
Bedtime – Quora App (iPhone/website)
Now this is what keeps me, or may be most of us awake late at night.
I literally pray not to bump across anything viral but fail most often.
Checking on the credits, replies to your questions and a few answering , in other words soaking information from the prime geek community adds closure to a good geek’s day, at least mine!
Goodnight – Rise App & Sleep Cycle App (iPhone)
Its not end yet !
I set the alarm on Rise. A good-looking app with a pretty UI helps make a banal job look glamorous. It also features setting up a playlist of songs to help you sleep, but pose no tools to automatically switch it off, weird !
Sleep Cycle app is really interesting, attracting only the geekiest or the fitness freaks. It runs all night while laying adjacent to you on bed and in the morning you can view how well you slept. It shows a graph Dept of sleep vs time. It also has a feature to wake you up in the morning when you are shallowest in sleep. But it often misfires and wakes me early, so I choose not to set an alarm.
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About The Author
Asis Panda is a young entrepreneur who started while he was a student. He is an Apple fanboy and a Steve Jobs disciple. He loves to hack and is the founder of QonnectApp.
