Smart phones have become ingrained in our daily lives. A device that we use almost every waking hour is something that has a major impact on our lives and can also impact productivity greatly. Some might say that smartphones are just a distraction, but I am here to argue that the smartphone is one of the most important things to come about in the personal technology area. The smartphone allows you to stay connected no matter where you are, to be able to make a call or text message to anywhere in the world in just mere seconds. This ability tied to a powerful productivity device can leverage any single person to be able to complete a significantly greater amount of work. The manager can check in on his staff even while he is away, the IT department can look at the status of their networks while at lunch, and the consumer can stay connected with family and friends by surfing social media.
You may have seen one of my previous posts about the HTC One M8, my favorite phone. This is an Android phone and so I will be discussing productivity improvements based on the Android operating system and my point of view. Keep in mind that many of the applications offered on Android are also available on iOS for our iPhone users.
There are so many different applications available for a mobile device sometimes it is hard to choose which to use. Which one will improve your life for the better? That is what I am here to answer. Many of these examples contain applications that I use on a daily basis and that I have seen time and time again improve my user experience. Staying relevant in the technology world is tough and so some of these suggestions may not be for you, but you can at least be made aware of what technology is available to you. Especially something so small it can fit in your pocket.
Sleep As Android
One of my favorite apps comes into play when I am waking up in the morning. Now I have never been a morning person, but leveraging many different sleep applications for android I have been able to analyze my sleep and determine steps that can be taken to improve my sleep duration and quality. Sleep as Android was the first app I used for sleep tracking and it is still the same application that I use today to wake up to. The way many of these applications work is using the build in accelerometer in the phone they track your movement throughout the night and determine your sleep quality and the current stage of sleep you are in. When you are in the lighter stages of sleep near the time you have your alarm set Sleep As Android will automatically begin to softly play your alarm to gently wake you up. Instead of being jarred awake by a loud alarm the process that Sleep As Android is much better and more efficient. Do your sleep cycle a favor and download Sleep As Android today it will change your sleep forever.
Google Maps
Commuting to work has become more prevalent as of recent years with the gas prices soaring many regular drivers have switched to using public transit or other forms of transportation like Uber. Using your cities public transit system may not be as easy as many of the locals make it look. When you input your destination into Google Maps the phone retrieves your current location if you have GPS enabled. Once it has your location Google Maps is integrated with many public transit systems and will have all of the route information that you could ever possibly need. With Google Maps you can scroll through many different time slots and options for getting to your destination, but at the top will be the most efficient and cost effective way according to Google. I have found from experience that Google almost certainly always knows what’s best for you when it comes to navigation. Google Maps uses dynamic routing to move other Maps users along other routes when one becomes congested. This allows you to change your route on the fly and not be concerned about getting to your destination. Google Maps will always change your route in the case of delay or accident it will alert you and offer to change the route around
Urbanspoon
When you are looking for a bite to eat whether it is in your hometown or another city or even across the world. Urbanspoon is the app for you. Urbanspoon is an aggregator of restaurants that are easily searchable by genre, price, location, and others. The unique part of Urbanspoon is spinning it to receive random results. You can pick special criteria like the type of food served or a price restriction and Urbanspoon will generate a list for you to choose from. While on Urbanspoon you can also review and write reviews about the restaurant you happen to be visiting.
Acar
Something that we all are probably guilty of at sometime or another is not taking proper care of our cars. Acar is there to make sure this doesn’t happen again they offer service reminders by mileage or by duration whether it be 2 months or 2 years Acar will remind you. Within the app you can keep track of all vehicle related expenses like gas, repairs, parts, and maintenance. With this kind of tracking you can really keep a good eye on your vehicle and make sure it stays reliable throughout the year. I also use Acar to track gas mileage to see how I am performing and how much money it costs to drive. These lists are all compiled into one easily readable log that is ready to be imported into an Excel document and looked through. This kind of rich data is something that a potential buyer of your vehicle would be very appreciative of as well.
https://youtu.be/jq-Kd0A5joI
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