Five apps you need in your life right now
Some will revolutionise your routine, while others are just plain silly
Pillow
Pillow is a free, interesting app that tracks your sleep pattern at night. To use it, you simply place your phone by your pillow and set an alarm for the next morning. Throughout the night, Pillow will track your periods of deep sleep, light sleep and REM sleep.
In the morning, it wakes you gradually, so you don't get the jolt of sound like a normal alarm clock. It then gives an overview of your sleep in the morning, showing a chart and some statistics on how well you slept that night. It also picks up any sounds made during the night, which is a source of entertainment the following morning if you've been sleep talking.
It works surprisingly well - on the days I have woken up feeling refreshed, the statistics provided by Pillow have been high on the "good sleep" scale. Comparatively, on the nights I have woken up in the middle of the night, or had a restless sleep, Pillow has detected my movements and has recorded these time periods, which show up in the statistics. For a free app, this is certainly something to take a look at for those who are interested to see how we function at night.
Melory So
Dollarbird
With summer here, everyone now has lots of time to go out and spend time with friends. However, this comes with the financial burden of restaurant bills, transport, entertainment and the irresistible urge to buy new clothes for the coming school year.
It's a good idea to keep track of your finances, and Dollarbird does just that. With a user-friendly format that's also nice to look at, the app helps you to note down your income and see what you're spending the most money on. Here's to a wallet-friendly summer!
Jemima Barr
MapMyRun
If you're ever feeling lazy but determined to be physically fit, this app is for you. Once you start the app, it tracks the route you run, jog or walk through GPS, how long you're running, how far you're running and how many calories you're burning in relation to your body mass and age.
In a way, it's very motivating as it monitors your progress, making you feel a sense of achievement once you finish your workout. And it's free!
Snehaa Senthamilselvan Easwari
Lumy
This app tells you exactly when a photographer's coveted "morning magic hour" - sunrise - and "evening magic hour" - sunset - will occur at a specified destination around the world.
As all amateur photographers know, the soft light at sunset and sunrise is best for taking photos. The attractive and easy-to-use Lumy app lets you set a calendar for your location and date and enables notifications alerting you to when the golden hours occur. It also gives you a heads up about the weather for even better planning. If you're ready to step up your photography skills, you can double tap the main screen and get seven more photo-centric times, such as morning astronomical twilight or evening nautical twilight. The best part? You can access the information offline.
It's easy to accidentally miss "morning magic hour" if it's at 4.30am. While the app notification is really useful, you still need to set your own alarm. It would also be really great if the developers could create a community home where Lumy app users could share their photos.
Los Angeles Times
Dubsmash
If you've ever enjoyed a lip-sync battle, you'll understand the appeal of Dubsmash. Pick a sound, whether it's a song or a famous line from a movie or even just a weird noise, and record a video of yourself mouthing the noises. As stupid as it sounds, once you're hooked, there's never going back.
Once you're done experimenting with the sounds, you can get really professional with your "dub" and share it. Facebook, Messenger, Whatsapp or a message - it's up to you!