H is also for Honest, so Honestly I haven’t used the My Fitness Pal app all that much but I do wish to. My reasons for not using it are many, I forget, I don’t know the numbers, the calculations are complex and what not. Mostly it’s just that I’m lazy and that the app isn’t yet making a drastic change in my life.

But I have used the My Fitness Pal app and I see it’s potential, so let me just get into that.

What the My Fitness Pal App’s supposed to do

My Fitness Pal is a tracking app for calories, and these calories are tracked via what you eat, how much you exercise, how much you weigh and water intake.

On the app you can enter details about yourself and then mark your target weight (above or below current). The app then calculates and tell you how many calories you can eat each day.

Each meal must be entered and there are options for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. You can also create recipes, so you don’t have to track ingredients each time. Just say how much of the dish and the app does the rest.

You can also connect it to exercise apps you use so it will auto sync your calorie burn from exercise.

How I’m using the My Fitness Pal App

Sometime back I tried out the keto diet and during that time the app worked beautifully for me, but on a day to day basis and with our normal eating I find it tough to use.

That said, it’s also true that I haven’t created any recipes and that means I have to use generic dishes or add one ingredient at a time, which is the deterrent.

My thoughts on the My Fitness Pal App

Since I have started running, I have been trying to track my diet. Eating right is an important part of running right and My Fitness Pal helps track eating right. There are a lot of options, the app is easy to use and tracking is made simple.

This is a good app to use if you are looking to lose weight, gain weight or eat correctly as it will give you a calories, carb, protein, etc. breakup. Of course the catch is that you must use it and not cheat. 😉

App details and link

Stars – ★★★★☆
Developer – MyFitnessPal, Inc.
Devices – Android, IOS
Size – Varies with device
Installs – 10,000,000 – 50,000,000
Link – Android Store | iTunes Store

Last year was a really tough year for me, it was a roller coaster of emotions, I was lost and confused, didn’t know where I was headed, where life was going. It’s not a new place, most people have been there at some point or the other, I’ve been there a couple of times in this lifetime and yet it was tough.

I felt depressed or what I thought was depression. I didn’t feel like doing anything, I went through the day doing things because I had to, not because I wanted to, I had a long face all the time, I snapped a lot, or cried easy. But along with all this there was also a little voice in my head saying ‘common girl, snap out of this, don’t get sucked in’.

And so, on my good days I tried to find ways to get out of it, i found things to do that made me happy, friends to support me and listen to me, activities and things to help me forward. In my searching I found the Gratitude Journal. An app to record things I am grateful for, and I made it a rule to log at least one thing there everyday [I did miss a lot, but I did add a lot too 🙂 ]

If you are wondering if this is a helpful activity, in her book Thrive, Arianna Huffington says,

“According to a study by researchers from the University of Minnesota and the University of Florida, having participants write down a list of positive events at the close of a day — and why the events made them happy — lowered their self-reported stress levels and gave them a greater sense of calm at night.”

Read more about The Benefits of a Gratitude Journal on Huffington Post.

What the Gratitude Journal App’s supposed to do

The Gratitude Journal is a simple app, easy to use. It allows you to make notes, so you can write what you want, it can be short or long, it can be simple or complex, it can be anything. You can also add photos.

It has a reminder option that allows you to choose when to be reminded. It syncs with the cloud so your notes don’t get lost when you change phones. You can set a PIN so, no one can access your journal but you. There is also an option to export your entries.

How I’m using the Gratitude Journal App

I’ve been using the app for about a year now, though I’ve missed a lot of days in-between or maybe even a month or two but I’ve found it makes a difference when I use it regularly. Being grateful for what I had, made me happier and helped fight the depression.

Over time, it’s nice to go back and look at what I’ve listed out. It’s a nice way to revisit the past year and with this journal there are a lot of happy memories even through a difficult year.

My thoughts on the Gratitude Journal App

The Gratitude Journal is one of those apps I highly recommend. It’s really helpful, simple and makes a difference to your life and well being. It’s like that memories jar, where you put in a note every time you are grateful for something, or something made you really happy and then at the end of the year (or when you are down in the dumps) you go through all your notes, this one though is virtual. 🙂

App details and link

Stars – ★★★★★
Developer – Vista Media
Devices – Android
Size – Varies with device
Installs – 100,000 – 500,000
Link – Android Store

***This app is available only on Android but there a lot of other Gratitude apps available for iPhones too. Just search. 🙂

Years ago I first started following blogs and RSS feeds with Google Reader. I used to think it was awesome and nothing would ever be better but then one day they announced they were shutting down and I was scrambling to find another service after using Google Reader for years and years.

Moving away from Google Reader was tough, it was emotionally straining but it also liberated me. The moved helped me clean up my lists and reduce the number of blogs I followed. It also made sure I never got attached to a service again, I learned the hard way that nothing was permanent. 😉

I started to use Feedly, which I also liked a lot and started recommending it. Especially since they went the extra mile to make the transition from Google Reader to Feedly simple and easy. But soon after, things started to awry, the apps acted up, free featured become paid and I just found myself not following my feeds because it was inconvenient.

That’s when I found Bloglovin’, it’s not the best ever but it’s the best out there right now (me thinks). I’ve been using it for a few months now and I’m fairly happy.

What the Bloglovin’ App’s supposed to do

The Bloglovin’ app is supposed to help you follow blogs you like, you can add blogs of your choice to follow, discover new blogs to follow, group the blogs into categories/groups, share blog posts on social media, and save blog posts for later or add them to collections you create.

The app offers a fair range of things you can do and the interface is simple and easy. It is laid out nicely and makes for easy scrolling and reading.

How I’m using the Bloglovin’ App

I use the app to follow blogs I regularly read. I’ve grouped them based on what they are about and that makes it easy for me to selectively read when I’m short of time. When I have more time on hand, I scroll though my whole feed.

I haven’t explored the discover part of Bloglovin’ and that’s because just keeping up with the blogs I want to follow is tough and takes a lot of time.

Setting up Bloglovin’ was easy, I managed to import my feeds from Feedly, resorted them and cleaned up a bit and bam! I was done.

My thoughts on the Bloglovin’ App

Bloglovin’ isn’t the best, I think it could get better but it’s not bad either. It’s simple and makes tracking blogs easier. Adding new blogs and grouping them is a bit tedious but since I’m not constantly adding new blogs, it doesn’t trouble me too much.

It also has a community but I’m not much into that and I use the app just for my reading as of now. This is another thing I find a bit tough, I haven’t been able to understand and figure out how the community works until now. Something on the app also aren’t intuitive or maybe I’m stupid but I’m still trying to figure out all of the app.

But like I said, overall it’s good, has potential and does the job for me. What do you use for reading/following blogs?

App details and link

Stars – ★★★★☆
Developer – Bloglovin
Devices – Android, IOS
Size – Varies with device
Installs – 500,000 – 1,000,000
Link – Android Store | iTunes Store

My husband’s a photographer. Way back we when started seriously dating I gave up on photography, the reason was any picture I clicked, he retook and it looked way better. But being with him over the years has taught a lot and I like to believe I’ve absorbed much from him and become a better photographer.

In recent years I’ve seen him create wonders using just a mobile phone, it was what got me back into photography. The mobile phone is easy to use and always handy, it is the perfect camera for me. But what I quickly learned was that the mobile phone has limitations, some of which can’t be overcome but a lot of which can be dealt-with with editing software.

Over the years I’ve tried a couple of apps – the inbuilt ones in phones, Pixlr Express and Snapseed. My App of choice – Snapseed.

What the Snapseed App’s supposed to do

The Snapseed app is really powerful and allows you to do a lot, from cropping and rotating to selectively fixing and adding filters. A simple mobile photo can be transformed with its tools.

The app gives you an easy way to make your photos better right there on your phone. You can crop the image using standard presets or size it to your liking. You can tilt it horizontally or vertically, and rotate it if you want to change from portrait to landscape.

Tweak it’s brightness and colour saturation, remove shadows and add warmth using the tune tool. And once you are done with that, play with the various filter options to give it a grunge look, a black & white finish or give it a vintage finish.

Each change is a layer on the photo, so it’s easy to undo. Don’t like something, just remove that layer or edit it. And you can go back though all your layers and remove or edit anyone of them without any others changing (the way the picture looks though, will change).

How I’m using the Snapseed App

I use the Snapseed app for almost all my photos, either to size it right for Instagram, add those little touches, take away some of those nasty shadows [can’t correct excessive light though 🙁 ], and add fun filters.

The app takes some learning but it’s not difficult. You just need to install it, go through the tour and start testing with a photo, any photo. Play with it, try it out, see what each option does and then do what makes you feel good.

Each person sees a photo differently, what I think looks great is definitely not what Che thinks looks great. But I use the app by feel, trying out different options, layering as I go and sometimes going back and editing or even removing a layer. In the end I have a photo I think looks beautiful!

My thoughts on the Snapseed App

If you scroll back up and look at the images from the beginning, you’ll get a snapshot of changes I made and effects I tried on the above photo – from original to finished.

I love the Snapseed app, it’s simple and easy to use, has a huge variety of things I can do, helps me make mundane photos beautiful and I don’t have to be a pro photographer to do that! 😀

App details and link

Stars – ★★★★★
Developer – Google Inc.
Devices – Android, IOS
Installs – 10,000,000 – 50,000,000
Link – Android Store | iTunes Store

 
*** P.S. – If you’d like to see some of Che’s photos, here’s a link to Chenthil’s FB page and Chenthil’s FB profile where personal work goes up. 🙂
 

We live on the outskirts of the city of Bangalore; the upside being the lush greenery around us and the cooler temperatures but the downside is the lack of food places that deliver. Out of the places we have around the area only a handful deliver.

This is where Freshmenu works great. It’s the only food delivery service app that works in our area, that delivers to our home. But that isn’t the only reason I really like them or recommend them. We’ve been using them for about a year now and I really like their food and service. And the prices are affordable too!

What the Freshmenu App’s supposed to do

Freshmenu works through their app or website, that’s the only way to order. You login and take a look at their offerings for the day from main courses, salads and desserts, make your choice and place the order.

The app shows you a picture of the dish, details about it, how much people like it and it’s price to help you make your order. The app also automatically picks up your location and shows you what is available in your area (their kitchens are localised). If a dish runs out, the app updates with the next dish available.

After your cart is filled, at checkout you are asked for your address and payment details. You can pay via, credit or debit card, net banking and cash on delivery. There also seems to be no minimum order!

How I’m using the Freshmenu App

The cuisine offered by Freshmenu is mostly Continental and Mediterranean with a good variety to offer both in the vegetarian and non-vegetarian sections. There is also a wide variety of salads and desserts to choose from, and these are the sections we order from the most. I love their salads!

My thoughts on the Freshmenu App

When we are looking for something to eat that will be delivered fast and is light and easy on the stomach, Freshmenu is our top choice. The app is easy to use, the process of ordering simple, price quite affordable and service excellent.

Freshmenu currently works in Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi.

App details and link

Stars – ★★★★★
Developer – Freshmenu
Devices – Android, IOS
Size – 14M
Installs – 50,000 – 100,000
Link – Android Store | iTunes Store

One day after an hour long call with my bestie as I put down the phone I got thinking about how much we had spoken about, how much valuable stuff was there and how it was all lost now that the call was closed. All that was left of the call was in our heads.

I suddenly got the itch to find a way to save those moments and that led me to the Automatic Call Recorder. Since then, I’ve saved many calls, most of them are calls between us but I’ve also found the app useful when I’ve had issues with banks, credit cards, abusive callers, crank callers, and what not. With the app I have a recording as proof!

In India the Automatic Call Recorder is the best call recording app available, but if you live in the U.S. there are other apps you can avail for better quality, recording via a third line (so you get super clarity), etc.

What the Automatic Call Recorder App’s supposed to do

The app records all calls that come through the phone (it does not record internet calls, like WhatsApp) and after the call is complete you can choose to save the call. Even that doesn’t have to be done immediately as the app stores more than one call (upto 300 in the free version), so you can save at your convenience.

You can sync your account with a cloud account. I use Google Drive, so all my saved calls get saved on Google Drive too.

There are a lot of options in settings so you can completely customise the app for yourself.

How I’m using the Automatic Call Recorder App

I use a buffer for 20 calls and that’s my sweet spot. Enough backup without requiring me to rush save and yet not take up too much storage space on the phone.

I love that I can record calls and save them, either for memories, content or complaint. It’s a useful app to have, and it’s usefulness is realised only after you have a call you wish you had recorded.

My thoughts on the Automatic Call Recorder App

The only drawback to this app is that it records through the speaker, so the voice of the person calling is very soft compared to your own in the recording. This can be corrected by having the call on speaker mode but that’s just too tedious.

But still this is an app I’m likely to have on every phone I own. I cannot overstate it’s value and it’s a hard learned lesson. Think of every time you call customer service and hear the recording telling you ‘This call is being recorded for quality and training purposes’, well, now you have your own recording too!

App details and link

Stars – ★★★★★
Developer – Appliqato
Devices – Android
Size – 5.6M
Installs – 50,000,000 – 100,000,000
Link – Android Store

Many times I pickup a book and start reading only to realise halfway through the first chapter that I’ve already read the book before. With the number of books I read, over the years keeping track has been difficult.

It was this problem that I solved 6 years ago when I first came across Goodreads. But GR does more than this, it gives me stats about my reading, helps me find like-minded readers, has groups that support and challenge me to read more, shows me genuine reviews to choose my next read, and much more.

As you can see I’m sold on Goodreads and a big fan. Amazon’s take over of GR had me a bit worried but they haven’t changed the essence of the site and I’m glad of it. Apart for the website which is hugely powered by the book community Goodreads also has an android app so you can update book info on the go.

What the Goodreads App’s supposed to do

The Goodreads app allows users to do almost everything that can be done on the website. You can mark the book you are starting to read or have finished reading. Mark books as to-read. Make book updates as you read. Write a review and rate the book.

Follow your groups and friends and stay up to date on what they are reading. Get recommendations. Find the best books of the previous year. Keep track of your reading challenge. You get the gist…

How I’m using the Goodreads App

 
The Goodreads app has a lot to offer but what I use it for the most is to mark books are currently reading or finished reading. i also review books quickly using the app when I don’t have access to a computer or when I want to write a short review and not post it on my blog.

I do use all the other various features the app offers but not so often as I find a lot of them cumbersome to use on the mobile. I prefer the website for detailed browsing.

My thoughts on the Goodreads App

 
Over all this is one of my favourite apps. It’s almost an app I can’t live without because I helps me keep my book list up-to-date and is a great way to track my reading.

This app is a must have for me. I used to use a third-party app to update Goodreads some years back but this app from Goodreads is way better and it gets better with every update!
 

App details and links

Stars – ★★★★★
Developer – Goodreads
Devices – Android, IOS
Size – Varies with device
Installs – 50,000,000 – 100,000,000
Link – Android Store | iTunes Store

Audio books are the rage these days and they have their uses, especially if you are someone who drives around a lot, or does craft or works in a garden (you get the drift). Audio books are a great way to make travel/craft/gardening time – reading time.

I’d tried my hand at audio books a couple of years ago but I didn’t take to it and that was that. But I decided it give it another shot a couple of months back and this time, I found I quite enjoyed them.

The first time round I had tried out a fiction book and this time a non-fiction. For me, listening to a non-fiction works better, as I listen harder and my attention wavers less. Plus if my mind does wander away, it’s easier to find the point of wander in a non-fiction than in a fiction book.

I’ve also found that the narrator is important. Some books just don’t work and it’s not the book, it’s the voice that puts me to sleep and gets the mind wandering.

What the Audible App’s supposed to do

 
The Audible app allows you to buy books and download them to listen at your convenience. The app allows bookmarking, variable narration speed, and syncing across devices along with listening controls.

Audible has over 18,000 titles to choose from – bestsellers to classics and works on a credit system. You pay a monthly fee and get 1 credit every month. The credit can be used to buy a book and most books cost 1 credit. If you want more books, you can buy more credits.

How I’m using the Audible App

 
I have used the app to listen to one book until now and download three. I have been listening to Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed in fits and bursts, and so have used the app to mark every time I’ve stopped. Other than that I haven’t done very much more with the app.

My thoughts on the Audible App

 
The app has been simple and easy to use. The options are straightforward and navigation intuitive.

There are other audio book providers but I quite like (Amazon’s) Audible, as it has a wide variety of books to choose from and a good lineup of narrators. They also offer a no questions asked return policy if the narrator doesn’t suit you.

Once a book is bought and downloaded it stays on the device even if you discontinue your subscription, so technically the book belongs to you.

My only complaint is the price. Their 1 book a month plan costs $14.95 and that’s a lot of rupees – Rs.900 (approx.). That’s almost 4 times (or more) the cost of a paperback. The price needs to be reworked for India and made affordable in rupees.

I gave their free trial offer a spin, and you should too. Get one book for free and listen when you can’t read. 🙂

App details and link

Stars – ★★★★★
Developer – Audible, Inc
Devices – Android, IOS
Size – Variable (Based on books downloaded)
Installs – 50,000,000 – 100,000,000
Link – Android Store | iTunes Store

I’m not one for playing a lot of games on the phone. But I do like playing some type of games. One of the games I have got hooked to recently is 2048.

This at first glance is a rather simple game. The objective is to achieve the number 2048 by adding equal numbers. The board is a 4×4 grid and the game gives you 2’s and 4’s for every move you make.

You can move up, down, right and left. If there is are same numbers next to each other when you move, they get added up. So, 2 and 2 gets added to 4. If you have a 4 and 4 lined up they will add up to 8.

You will then need to 8’s to make 16 and so on until you arrive at 2048. If the board fills up and you can’t move around anymore, it’s game over.

Getting to 2048 is fairly simple, once you get a knack for the game but the game doesn’t end there. You can continue doubling numbers until you max out the board at 131072 (or 217). The maximum possible score is 3,932,156 and the maximum number of moves is 131,038. After this there are no more moves possible in the 4×4 board.

I haven’t managed to get to 131072 yet. My highest is 65536 until now. Or rather it was until a month ago when I changed my phone and lost all game history. Now I need to start again from 2. 😀

The original 2048 is a single-player game created by Gabriele Cirulli, a 19-year old Italian developer. Cirulli created the game over a single weekend in March 2014. The game was a clone of Veewo Studios’ app 1024 and inspired by Sami “Saming” Romdhana’s clone 2048. Currently a lot of 2048 clones are available on the store which offer variations on the original.

This is a highly addictive game once you get a hang of it. It’s my favourite game on the pot in the mornings. 😀 The Wall Street Journal has described 2048 as “almost like Candy Crush for math geeks” and I completely agree with them except for the math geeks part.

I’ve found that all age groups love the game and get hooked to it. You should see my Mom at it. If you haven’t tried 2048 yet, you should! It’s available on the Android store, the iOS store and even online. Get it now!!!