iPhone app - Tag Archive

Ten Smartphone Apps That Improve Your Sleep

13 Replies michellegordon

Studies and surveys consistently show that most of us are not getting enough sleep each night. And while modern technology such as smartphones are often implicated as one of the culprits keeping us up, the truth is that there are many apps out there that can actually improve your sleep.

This article details ten great apps that can help you get a better night’s sleep.

ShutEye (Android)

This app was initially created for research at the University of Washington. This app notifies you when you should take a nap, exercise, relax, eat, take caffeine, or go to sleep.

All of these activities have an impact on your sleep, so keeping track of when you do them can help improve your sleep. This app helps by increasing your awareness of your habits and how they affect your sleep.

Sleep Cycle (iPhone)

This app claims to track your sleep cycle based on your body movements. The app uses this information to wake you with an alarm at the best time during your sleep cycle.

Sleep Cycle iPhone App ScreenshotThe idea is that if you are awakened when you are in your lightest stage of sleep, you will be less disrupted by being awakened. The app uses the accelerometer to measure your body movement.

Sleep as Android (Android)

Similar to SleepCycle, this Android app aims to wake you at the optimal time.

The app also includes the ability to record the sounds you make while asleep and allows you to rate and comment on your sleep. It even includes music to help you get to sleep.

ResMed (iPhone)

This iPhone app is a test for sleep apnea of sorts. The app allows you to record audio of yourself sleeping, and then compare that audio to recordings of people who have been diagnosed with sleep apnea. By comparing the two, you can determine if there is any similarity and whether you should seek further testing for sleep apnea.

Relax Melodies (iPhone)

This app helps you get to sleep by playing ambient sounds while you fall asleep. The app includes 70 different sounds that include crickets chirping, running water, birds singing, and rainfall.

The app has the ability to layer different sounds over each other to create custom relaxing melodies. This is a great app if you have trouble falling asleep in silence.

White Noise (iPhone, Android, Blackberry)

Like Relax Melodies, this app is an ambient noise generator. This app is multi platform, so you can use it no matter which smartphone you have.

Sleep Tracker (iPhone)

This is a sleep journalling app for the iPhone. It lets you record how long you slept and how you feel afterwards. Journalling is a great way for you to notice patterns in your sleep and mood. This app presents your info in an easy to reach chart, which helps you spot patterns.

SleepBot (Android)

This app is similar to Sleep Tracker for the iPhone. It is a sleep journalling tool that lets you record mood, notes, and sleep times. The sleep tracking function uses a simple clock-in and clock-out interface and includes a sleep questionnaire.

Count Sheep (iPhone)

This app digitizes the old standby of counting sheep to fall asleep. The app has sheep jumping over a fence while it plays soothing music from the app or your own tunes. The screen is dimmed to avoid keeping you awake longer and you can set the app to automatically turn off after a certain amount of time.

Spot (unreleased)

This upcoming app aims to test your alertness levels by testing your response time. Great for late night driving, this app can let you know when it is time to pull over and get some rest. The tests are based on the Psychomotor Vigilance Test.

So rather than using your smartphone to keep you up all night playing games and surfing the internet, download these app and turn your smartphone into a powerful sleep aiding tool.

To find the apps just search for their names, and you should be able to find them. Please be aware that some of the apps do cost.

7 Apps You Must Have on Your iPhone 4S

6 Replies johnedget

iPhone 4S in black and whiteApple has made computing very easy by integrating some of the special functions of computer on mobile phones. The iPhone is a smartphone series made by Apple. These products are becoming increasingly popular that everybody boasts of owning one.

There are several things that your iPhone can do for you, if you just have the right app for it. From multimedia applications to GPS tracking applications, there is barely anything you can’t find for your iPhone in terms of applications.

The new iPhone 4S released by Apple is a super smartphone. Just in a few days after the launch of the mobile phone, several million copies have been ordered online and ISPs like AT&T have made more sales than ever from it.

But this iPhone 4S might only look more interesting if you have some apps that can make your iPhone 4S livelier.

1. Plants vs. Zombies

There is thrill in playing game on an iPhone. But, I’ve not been as thrilled as I was when I first played Plants vs. Zombies on an iPhone 4S. I’ve always played the game on my laptop computer and it’s always fun.

The truth is that everyone hates zombies, which justifies the reason you want to kill them. Install this game on your iPhone 4s and unleash your fury on these virtual zombies. But you have to be cautious when you start seeing the Michael Jackson Thriller dancers coming after you.

2. iTunes Movie Trailer

iTunes Movie Trailer allows you to watch trailers of movies in HD. You don’t want to miss any new movie and want to remain up to date about latest films. This app has an interestingly slick interface. You can also see popular trailers from various categories.

3. Starbucks

Isn’t it fun? You can now get all the information about Starbucks from your iPhone, directly through this application. You don’t need to start looking up the internet for useful information on Starbucks again.

Among the features of this application are store locator, food and beverage information and it also makes it easy for you to send gifts from Starbucks to your friend.

It also has amazing features like mobile pay. You can load your virtual Starbucks card with funds and can also have your personal barcode scanned at the register.

4. iMovie

Edit your movies on iPhone 4S with iMovie. iMovie allows you to make good movies in minutes by allowing you to add pictures, clips and music to help you bring out masterpiece movies.

iMovie is the one of the best tools for video editing. You can customize your video to your taste and likening. I think this is one of the most interesting apps for multimedia Apple has made for the iPhone.

 5. iCloud

Back up your important files on the cloud with iCloud for iPhone. Once you have iCloud on your iPhone 4S, you don’t have to worry about losing your files. It has also helped me with my weight watchers discounts and edits coupon blog.

It also makes it possible for you to have multiple backups for your special files. You can use you Mac, iPad and iPhone to backup the same file at a time, all secure and safe.

6. Angry Birds

Angry bird is a very popular puzzle game. Take revenge for the birds by attacking the green pigs busy stealing their eggs. The birds are who you fight for, and they are your weapons, too.

Angry birds looks perfect on iPhone 4S for the advanced player and is also challenging and along the line interesting for the new players.

7. Skype

You love to make video calls, who doesn’t? Skype is arguably the best video calling application you’ll have around. Make video calls directly from your iPhone 4S with Skype installed on it. Calling from Skype is also cheap.

You probably have tried it on your previous iPhone series? Well, it’s going to be more fun with iPhone 4S since the new iPhone model has a better and higher camera power.

Try out these apps on your iPhone 4S and come share your experience with us. You’ve tried them already? That’s great. Please share what you think about them with us.

Improve your cooking experience with an app

26 Replies RonF

Having a tough time inside your kitchen? Cooking is not an easy task, especially for those who feel it is strenuous and time-consuming. Favorite Recipes is the app that changes those notions and adds a new dimension to the overall cooking experience.

Developed by CulinartMedia Inc. for iCook2day, Favorite Recipes has a bunch of delicious recipes with clear explanations on how to prepare the dishes. Their collection is divided into categories like soups, salads, seafoods etc. On choosing a particular recipe, you can easily add it to the menu list by checking the orange circle given alongside.

Favorite Recipes iPhone appPreparing a dish is really exciting as each recipe has awesome images and details like cooking time, preparation time and the level of difficulty. You can see the ingredients for each recipe and easily add them to your shopping cart by checking the required ingredients.

There is an option called ‘Serve‘ on the top right corner of the screen. It indicates the quantity of ingredients needed to cook a particular dish for a certain number of people. This ingredient calculator provides options to cook for only 4 or 6 people. It would have been good if there was more flexibility so that users could have a wider choice, may be from 2 to 10 people.

I also noticed that the app crashed in this particular area when I tapped the ‘Cancel‘ button.

The ‘Directions‘ tab gives you an explanation of the steps to be followed while cooking. You can see the text version in the landscape mode and text with associated images in the portrait mode, which is a cool idea from developers. The ‘Shopping List‘ is a convenient option to collect all the ingredients you need to purchase for different dishes. You could place your order via Email or take your list along with you when you go shopping. Ingredients which you already have at home can be easily removed from your list.

Favorite recipes iphone app shopping list‘Menu‘ option is similar to the add to favorites section, where you can add recipes to the menu thereby deciding on the dishes you will be cooking for the day. Apart from all these great features in the app, there is a collection of Chef Michael’s cooking videos! This section has a list of dishes with detailed videos on the making of each recipe. It’s quite less in number and I feel a version update with more new recipes and videos would be welcomed.

This app is well-designed with beautiful photos of finished recipes, high-quality videos and some interesting features. The developers should have kept the user’s perspective in mind while developing the app’s interface. Apart from some minor bugs like the app’s tendency to crash, Favorite Recipes is a much recommended one!

You can download the Favorite Recipes app here.