Plant Identification Apps

Recommended:

Leafsnap (Free) iOS and Android – Developed by researchers from Columbia University, the University of Maryland, and the Smithsonian Institute the app allows users to identify trees in the United States and Canada by taking a picture of a leaf. There is another app Leafsnap UK for trees in the United Kingdom. Both apps have great high resolution pictures that users can browser the leaf, branch, flowers, and fruits of trees. There is a game that helps users build-up their knowledge of trees based on leaves, flowers, or fruits. The down side is that while the database is extensive it does not have every tree in Canada and the United States as I found out while trying to identify some trees. Also the fact that it is only trees limits the app’s use.

http://leafsnap.com/

myGardenAnswers (Free) iOS and Android. Not one of the strongest apps in the identification game but you can search the name of a plant or tree and see pictures and descriptions. If you have a flowering plant you can take a picture and the app will try to identify it. The app has an option to do a Google image search using the picture you have taken.  If you have a non-flowering plant or you are not satisfied with any of the other options, the app offers expert identification services for a fee.

http://www.gardenanswers.com/

Garden Compass (Free) iOS and Android. The app has a lot of interesting features for those who like to garden: articles, tips, care calendar, community, cooking in the garden, and much more. The identification portion of the app gives users three expert identifications free each month. Additional identifications are available for a fee. I tried it and the expert would tell me what they thought it was and asked for additional pictures or information to try to get an exact name of the plant. The app has a very friendly and easy to use interface with high quality graphics. I really like the “How to Use the App” videos to help users get everything they can out of the app.

https://www.gardencompass.com/ 

Do Not Recommend:

LikeThat Garden (Free) Android only – This app was promising but in the end extremely disappointing. It is very simple, you take a picture and the app is supposed to identify the plant or tree. The camera portion looked distorted and was hard to use. The graphics were poor. Several times the app could not bring up matches and when it did many did not produce a correct match. The app crashed multiple times.

Coloring apps

There has been an increasing interest in adult coloring, coloring for mindfulness, mandalas, zentangles, and related activities. It can very simple or get very complicated. I learned this when I received some special coloring pages for Christmas and none of the markers or pencils worked on the glossy pages. App makers have decided to try to get in on the action and make coloring available on mobile devices. Most apps are free but they charge for additional coloring pages, color palettes, and filters. I tried each of these apps and thought I'd give a "highly recommended", "recommended", "not recommended".

Highly Recommended

Pigment (Free) iOS only. This app impressed me the most. You can color with pencil, marker, or paint. You can control how much area it fills in and how large a pen, marker, or brush stroke. While coloring you can choose an area to confine your color to or you can draw outside the lines. If you have a newer iPhone / iPad the pressure sensitive screen allows for different saturations of color. The app allows you to save or share, as all the ones I tested do. The pictures that they give and color palettes to choose from are generous. There are only pop-up ads to buy premium features when you want to save or share. You can subscribe to get a new coloring book added monthly and all the premium features. The images used for coloring are vector images which means no matter how much you zoom in or zoom out there is no pixelation, everything looks smooth. This was the best app by far. Subscription prices vary. http://pigmentapp.co/

Colorfy (Free) iOS, Amazon, and Android. A lot of reviews and coloring app users rave about this app. The first thing that disappointed me was that the images are raster images meaning that they getting blocky and distort when you zoom in to fill in small areas. There are less color palette choices. I liked to see the library of other coloring / art people had created. The app allows you to convert pictures that you take into coloring pages. They do have an interesting selection of coloring pages. They have about as many pop-ups trying to sell their $2.99 a week subscription. http://colorfy.net/

Coloring (Free) Android only. There are some really beautiful coloring pages. It has some helpful settings options like left handed, blending colors, soft lines, and giant pencil. The feature that I really liked had to do with creating your own custom colors and then having an eye dropper to duplicate that color you created and used later. Like most coloring apps you just fill the black spots with color and you don't color like it in. There were no ads and I did not encounter any annoying pop-ups trying to sell me premium features. If you wanted additional coloring pages, you pay for them which seems fair. https://goo.gl/qKo0Ve

Recommended

Colorme (Free) iOS and Android. Extremely easy to color and the pictures don't take long to finish. There were an abundant selection of coloring pages and colors. Lots of ads. Apple: https://goo.gl/YJW7qf Android:https://goo.gl/UxdFQj 

Colorfly (Free) iOS and Android.  The app seems like a lesser quality version of Colorfy but with some added coloring pages, colors, and a ton of ads. There are a lot of addons that cost between $1.99 - $9.99. Apple: https://goo.gl/XFlBSn Android: https://goo.gl/rBvBHK

Recolor (Free) iOS and Android. One of the features that was different about this coloring app was if you tapped on an area to add color but you decide you've made a mistake you can tap a second time and it will undo it. There are a lot of cool filters once you are done coloring like water color, crayon, pencil, but also video filters that add movement to the drawing. Apple: https://goo.gl/1gKLzt Android: https://goo.gl/V0nkak

Mandala (Free) Android only. This app has a lot of fans and there are a lot of positive reviews. There is a limited assortment of coloring pages that are all in the same theme and I felt that the color selection was constrained. There is a banner ad at the bottom but not much else trying to sell users. Very basic and maybe good for children or adults that want something really basic. https://goo.gl/rfDnJc

Adult Coloring (Free) Android only. Good selection of coloring pages and colors, there are additional ones that can be purchased. Not a lot of ads. Nice filters that can be added after you are done. An easy to use app. https://goo.gl/QwIhrH 

Not Recommended

1000 Dot to Dot (Free) iOS only. This app was recommended in one of the articles that I read. I tried it on two separate days and ran into a lot of problems. It really isn't a coloring app but dot to dot and each is about 1000 dots. If coloring is supposed to destress and be calming, this is the opposite and made me want to throw my phone across the room.

Adult Coloring Book (.99) iOS only. Another app recommended in an article, it doesn't work well and uses "adult" sophomoric humor that I thought was dumb instead of funny (and trust me I laugh at some dumb things). Besides that there isn't a good selection of colors or pictures.

Apps That Pay You

There are a bunch of apps that will pay you to do certain things: scan barcodes, check-in at stores, take photographs, eat healthy, etc. I downloaded a few and tried them out so you can find out if they are worth your time or not. There are some more apps in this category that I have not gotten around to trying so I may do another round of these in the future.

Foap (Free) Android and iOS. Take pictures and make money by selling them as stock photos to companies. You make $5 each time they sell one of your photos. There are also campaigns where they direct you to take pictures of certain scenes or products. The campaign winners can win between $100 - $1000, depending on the campaign. There is a nice  community of people that are taking pictures all over the world. I have had the app two weeks and it has been fun but I've made no money. https://www.foap.com/

Pact (Free) Android and iOS. If you are a healthy or fitness minded person this one is easy money but you have to be committed. You sign up for a "Pact" there are three to choose from I will visit the gym or workout for 30 minutes a day, five days this week; I will eat five vegetables or fruit in a week; I will track my calories five days a week using the MyFitnessPal app. The app helps you track your exercise, vegetables / fruit, and calorie counting. There is a downside if you do not follow through you are fined $5 per action you failed to do. There are ways to put a "pause"on your "Pact" but I believe you have to do it at the beginning of the week. If you complete all your "Pact" actions you can expect to make between $1.70 and $2.50 a week. I have had it for over a year and have made about $80 total and never paid a penalty. http://www.pactapp.com/

iBotta – (Free) Android and iOS. Receive rebates on things you buy at grocery stores, mass merchandise stores like Target, liquor stores, convenience stores, and movie theaters. Now they have team bonuses for reaching certain rebate levels with friends. When paired with coupons or store specials you can save a bunch of money on a single item. The rebates are paid by Paypal or Venmo gift cardhttps://ibotta.com/

Checkout 51 – (Free) Android and iOS. Very similar to iBotta but it has different rebates, each week the app includes some generic items like milk or bananas that you can get a rebate on. They also have an incentive that each user that uploads a receipt is placed in a weekly drawing for a gift card. I have used this app but have not found much to get a rebate on. http://app.lk/AaP

Mobee (Free) Android and iOS. Users get points for taking pictures and filling out surveys at restaurants and stores that they go to. There are a list of places on the app, when they want you to go there, and the number of points that it is worth. It makes me think of "secret shoppers" if you ever worked in retail. Where people come in with a list of questions or items to check that a company or owner wants. Basically this app makes anyone with a smartphone and sometime on their hands a secret shopper. It takes a lot of pints to earn rewards, but if you are out and going to those places anyway it might help you earn something nice.
http://www.mobeeapp.com/

Shopkicks (Free) Android and iOS. You get points, called kicks, every time you go to a retailer. Scan products on the shelves or buy something you get more kicks. These kicks can be redeemed for gift cards. So even if you aren’t shopping or buying and just tagging along you could earn some free stuff. http://app.shopkick.com/wr2/4ZYPFFW-4ZYX536

Receipt Hog (Free) Android and iOS. Whenever you go shopping you save your receipt and take a picture of it using the app. They assign you a point value for each receipt you upload. Receipts from certain places and items are worth more points. It takes a lot of points / time to get enough points for gift cards but if you don't mind and you are shopping anyways, you may be able to score some free stuff. http://receipthog.com/

Google Opinion Rewards (Free) Android only. Answer some surveys from Google and earn credit toward Google Play Store purchases. Once you download the app you answer a quick survey to see if you qualify. After that it offers you surveys based on location, how often you answer, and other data points. I don't use an Android device often but some friends of mine have raved about how easy it was for them to earn credits for their Google account.  https://www.google.com/insights/consumersurveys/google_opinion_rewards

Meditation Apps

Buddhify [4.99 iOS, 2.99 Android] The app has 80 custom guided meditations; tracks 14 activities that affect mindfulness; has a meditation timer; a check-in timer allows Think you to reflect on what you are doing; great statistics tools that create charts and graphs. The interface is bright, colorful, and easy to use.

Insight Timer [Free. iOS and Android] - This app provides several guided meditations by Eckhart Tolle and others, there are 600 total but many of them are available as in-app purchases. The app provides a Tibetan singing bowl sound, you can choose from 8 different ones, to end your session, which you can set to desired length. There are 1,000 discussion groups and 2,000 local meet-up groups to discuss meditation and related topics.

Meditation Timer Free [Free. iOS only] Very nice user interface that is easy to use. Users choose the length of time that they want to meditate, set reminders, choose a background image, and access statistics.

Mindfulness [2.99 iOS, 1.99 Android] With a wide array of features such as guided meditation, silent meditation, reminders, statistics, mindfulness notifications, and more the app is highly rated by purchasers. The app has a simple easy to use interface.

Mindfulness Training App [Free. iOS only] A great app for those that are new to meditation it has lessons from some of the most respected names in meditation and mindfulness. Users familiar with the practices and terminology of meditation will enjoy the discussions on the science of mindfulness. The only disappointing part is that the first two lessons are free but users must purchase packs afterward.

Omvana [Free. iOS and  Android] Simple interface with a huge library of guided meditations, many of which require purchase, that cover a large spectrum of mindfulness topics. The app integrates with Apple watch and the iOS Health kit. Users can record their mood and find the meditation that is right for them. Users can also select background music and track progress. One of the most popular and highest rated meditation apps available.

Relax Melodies [Free. iOS , Android, Windows, Amazon] The app provides a variety of sounds that users can choose from or even mix; sounds include white noise or zen sounds. Using binaural beats the sounds are supposed to be proven to help users relax and fall asleep in 20 minutes.

Stop, Breathe & Think [Free. iOS and Android] Nice collection of basic meditation exercises with a variety of lengths. The app asks a series of questions to get a comprehensive picture and then suggest a selection of meditation practices to help you. For a small fee users can download a pack of meditations narrated by KD Lang.

Take A Break [Free. iOS, Android, Amazon] Beautiful backgrounds, calming music, nature sounds and a custom time that allows users to select between 7 and 13 minutes. For the times you just want a short relaxation period instead of focused meditation.

Honorable mentions that you might want to check out: Calm, Headspace, Mindbody Connect, and Smiling Mind

Apps for Entreprenuers

Fuze: The Small Meeting Multi-Tool

Fuze allows you to set up quick videos. Users can host and manage up to three participants, 12 video feeds and 1GB of cloud storage. The best part is that it allows content sharing, you can send and received PowerPoint presentations, Word docs, PDFs and high-

resolution images from the app itself. There are some really cool features such as smart white board that allows users to write on pictures and videos to better communicate their ideas. You can record your meetings and share them later.

If you need to scale, check out Fuze Premium, which can support up to 250 participants and has enterprise management features. The app is free and is available for Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, and Android.

For more information check out: https://www.fuze.com

Flyp: Multiple numbers or Multiple Countries

Flyp allows you to get multiple numbers for your phone. You can make calls or send texts to the U.S. and 15 other countries where Flyp is available (more countries added soon), all within one app.

It works over cellular channels, so it turns all your calls into local calls, covered by your current service plan. It does not incur data charges.

This app is a great help if you have clients across the world, and you need something more reliable and professional than VoIP solutions and at a good price.

Users get one phone number for free and then each additional line is $2.99 a month or $29.99 a year. Available for iPhone and Android. More information available at: http://getflyp.com/

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=flyp.android
iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/app/id940678351


City Maps 2Go Offline Maps: Traveling Without a Data Plan

One of the issues with foreign travel is expensive or nonexistent data, with this app you can download maps of the cities you plan to visit and it will incorporate your GPS to help you get around.

It can still help you find the bars, monuments, restaurants with out needing to connect to Wi-Fi or cellular data.

Only a few maps are available on the free version, so you may have to pony up for the map you need with the premium app.

iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/city-maps-2go-pro-offline/id327783342?mt=8
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ulmon.android.citymaps2go&hl=en

Duolingo: Learn Foreign Languages

Do you have clients, customers, or friends that speak Spanish? Chinese? Japanese? Dutch?

The app allows you to learn languages in a game style fashion that makes it fun. The app will remind

you to practice and if you have friends that use the app you can have some friendly competition.

The website has some additional tools and a section where users can read and translate articles to hone their skills.

Learn more or sign up at: https://www.duolingo.com/
iphone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/duolingo-learn-languages-for/id570060128?mt=8
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.duolingo&hl=en


OFFTIME: Eliminate the distractions

There are times that we need to focus and eliminate all the distractions that our smart phones provide.
OFFTIME allows you to block your calls, texts and notifications, send auto-replies and restrict access
to distracting apps.

The app also tracks phone usage, app usage, and other smartphone activity, but you have to keep the

app running which may decrease battery life.

Some people need the monitoring and assistance to focus, some may just be curious about their phone usage.

Unfortunately for iPhone the app costs $2.99, it is free for Android but only certain features work to

unlock all the features there is a charge.

Learn more: http://offtime.co/
iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/offtime-light-track-how-much/id974022309?mt=8
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.offtime.kit

Three Apps to Help You Get Organized

Subject: Three Apps to Help You get Organized

Organizing Photos with Google Photos
You know all those photos you have taking up room on your phone. Do you really need to hang on to the picture of the dog in his Halloween costume from last year? I know he looks super cute but you don’t need to carry it around with you. Download Google Photo it has unlimited storage as long as your choose “high quality” instead of “high definition”. It allows you to organize your photos in a bunch of different ways, it can also create videos from your pictures called “stories” and its “assistant” can create stylized versions of your photos. Since it is Google you can access your photos on virtually any device.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-photos-store-search/id962194608?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.photos&hl=en

Organizing Your Thoughts with Evernote
Do you have documents that you start typing on your work computer, but you would like to keep working on using your tablet, phone, or personal laptop? Evernote is a great multiplatform app / website that will allow you to type a document, add pictures or sound, doodle or draw diagrams, and so much more. It is available online and as an app on pretty much every device. It also has companion apps and web browser plugins to help you add additional functionality.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/evernote/id281796108?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.evernote&hl=en


Organizing Your Files with Google Drive
Do you work on files with a group of people? Would you like to share a form or file with others but don’t want them to edit or copy it? Would you like a way to easily store e-mail attachments? You can do all of this and much more with Google Drive which is available online and as an app on almost every device. Users can create permissions on files allowing everything from view only to full access. Collaborative files and folders will show you version control which means when others made changes and what those changes were. Google has integrated Google Drive with Gmail and other products so you can easily attach, access, share between apps / programs almost seamlessly.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-drive-free-online-storage/id507874739?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.docs&hl=en

Most Notable Apps of 2015

So I have decided for the sake of brevity and my sanity to not try and give a long discussion of what makes an app "best" or what would make it on to a "best list" instead I decided to point out notable apps. For each of these apps to simply say what it does or why it is notable.  Most, if not all of these apps, are available for both iOS (Apple) and Android. They are all free unless I list a price. I did not include games because that is an entirely different animal. They are listed in no particular order.

Circle of 6 - A safety app that sends friends or family a pre-written emergency message if you are in trouble to up to six people it includes your current GPS coordinates.

Facebook - The king of all social media, if you are into that kind of thing.

Youtube - Watch videos of all kinds: instructional, music, clips from TV or movie, classics, independent movies, video game play, and so much more.

Facebook Messenger - Also one of the most popular / used apps, you can message people that you don't have a phone number for. You can video or voice call and there are lots of cute stickers / GIFs.

Google Hangouts - Video chat with up to 12 people at once or use it as a messenger that is accessible by computer and phone.

Hootsuite or UberSocial - For Twitter power-users or people managing multiple social media accounts.

Signal - send encrypted text messages and make encrypted VOIP (voice over internet protocol) calls has some other hand privacy features.

Wickr - encrypt messages and files and set a deletion date to any file, picture, message that you send.

Periscope - Twitter posted videos, most of the time they are live, comedians and musicians have posted some great stuff.

Bandcamp - find some really interesting independent musicians and purchase directly from the artist

DeaD BeeF Player (Android only) - for audiophiles or people that take their music very seriously, extremely customizable and tons of features.

Hulu - There is some free content but subscription necessary for most things. Great television show coverage and movie selection getting better.

Netflix - Subscription necessary, known for movies but have created some great original content.

Sling TV - Watch 65 cable channels for $20 a month on all your devices.

Slacker Radio - Music streaming, curated by a combination of computer algorithm and human selection.

Spotify - Subscribers get almost any song they can think of and even an offline mode. The free route requires you listen to playlists, artists, albums, etc in shuffle mode and commercials every 30 minutes.

Songkick Concerts - Import your favorite artists from other music apps, then find out when they are playing near you, buy tickets in-app, and even see what time musicians are playing at a festival.

Google Play Music - Allows you to play all music you have purchased (with Google or elsewhere) in a cloud playing account, access user and algorithm generated radio stations. If you subscribe access to most songs  and You Tube Red a new service that gets rid of commercials and allows music to play in background so that you do not have to keep the app open.

Aviary or Snapseed - A photo editor that allows for some interesting effects.

VSCO or Effects Studio - for people who really want to get their photos just right, users can do a lot with this photo editing app and can share their creations with other photography fans, hobbyists, and professionals.

Flickr - It has photo taking / editing but it is most useful for cloud storage / photo sharing.

Instagram - Picture based social media platform.

Instacollage - Make a quick collage out of pictures to share with others or for personal projects.

Vine - Fascinating, funny, weird, eight second videos.

My Fitness Pal - Track your calories, exercise, and weight, connect with friends that can cheer you on to a healthier you.

SleepBot / Sleep Cycle - These apps tracks how well you sleep and will wake you around a certain time based on how lightly you're sleeping. There are premium features that can cost $2.99 - $4.99.

Nike Running - Track your running, see how many miles your friends have run, track the mileage on your shoes, integrate your music into your running, set and break personal records, and more.

Run Keeper - There are two running apps that are used by runners, this is the other and it does all the same stuff.

Yummly - A cooking and recipe that has a really slick layout and some nice features.

Untapped - If you like beer this helps keep track of what you've had, reviews of ones you're considering, and it has some cool social features.

Yelp - Look at reviews for everything from book stores to water parks. Best known for restaurant reviews you can check out reviews for service providers and other business types.

Duolingo - An amazing app that helps you learn any of 26 languages through games. The app will remind you to practice.

Google Maps - one of the best map apps allows users to find pedestrian, bicycle, mass transit, routes in addition to driving directions. It also shows a good amount of location information: hours, pictures, reviews, and more.

Waze - find the best route; get information about accidents, obstacles, speed traps, closed roads, etc. Users can find the best price of gas and location information.

Google Translate - Take a picture of a sign or page from a book and it will translate it. Two way voice translation. Type translation for 90 languages!

Pinterest - A social media platform where users  create boards that have pictures of items that represent websites with more information. Good for finding ideas, recipes, art, and so much more.

Shop Advisor / Red Laser- These shopping apps help you find the best price and the best time to shop and get the best deal.

Calibre Companion (3.99) The best eBook / eReading app, you can organize and customize more than any other app of its kind.

Comics - The go to app for reading digital comic books.

Flipboard - Find great news stories about topics that you are interested in and curate categories for further reading or for others to browse / follow.

Pocket - Save webpages and articles for future reading, including offline.

OverDrive - The first and best library eBooks and electronic audiobooks app.

Axis360 - Library eBooks and digital audiobooks, it is very good at digital picture books.

Stitcher / Pocket Casts ($3.99) Both are for listening to podcasts, and Pocket Casts is the best and it has some really great features including the ability to listen on multiple platform where you left off but for those people that do not want to have to pay Stitcher works really well and has some cross platform support.

Firefox - One of the best mobile browsers, it supports extensions and has helpful privacy tools.     

Chrome - What I really like about Chrome is the ability to have bookmarks and historical look ups available on my laptop, desktop, phone, or tablet.

Weather Underground / Yahoo Weather - There are a lot of really good weather apps, these just happens to be my favorite.

Wikipedia - There is so much you can learn from Wikipedia and for basic fact checking they are really good. {Full disclosure: I donate money to the Wikimedia Foundation}

Astro File Manager (Android only) - Delete, move and organize files within your device or import items from other media on to your device.

Google Photos - Back-up an unlimited number of photos, and what is really cool is Google will create videos or edited versions from your photos using its "Assistant" feature.

Microsoft Office Lens / Cam Scanner - These scanning apps make it possible to send people PDF versions, make copies, and use the Optical character recognition (OCR) to edit or import text.

Swift Key Keyboard - Some people find it faster / easier so swipe type. If you do not like the stock keyboard on your device try this one.

Push Bullet -  Share files between devices or with friends easily.

Seconds - Create timers for exercise or projects, if you want the ability to save them for repeated or future use it costs $4.99 for that feature.

Charity Miles - If you are a cyclist, runner, or walker, this free app logs your miles and donates money to a charity of your choice.

Shopkick - If you shop, window shop, or have to go with your significant other this app gives you "kicks" for going into stores, scanning products, and/or making a purchase. The kicks are redeemable for gift cards.

iBotta - Get rebates for buying things at stores (most of the items are grocery store related).

Star Wars - There was a lot of great content for fans of the series on this app. If you have a Google Cardboard there were some amazing virtual reality videos.

Last Pass / One Password (subscription costs vary) - These apps provide users with the most secure ways to make passwords, store them, and have form fill capabilities.

Evernote - Users can type notes / documents, hand draw, record audio, take pictures, save content from websites, and so much more. The more you learn how to use it, the more you will love it.

Google Drive - Save your files and make them accessible to yourself or others on almost any platform. Users can set permission on files to limit what others can do with a file. Integrates with other Google products seamlessly.

Khan Academy - Learn art, business, economics, math, science, and much more with videos and interactive activities.

True Caller - shows you the name and information of people that are not on your contact list, shows you when numbers are from "spam callers", has some other helpful tools

So I have been thinking about what my predictions are for 2016 technology-wise, here is a list:

Virtual Reality will begin to become mainstream

Internet Speeds will start to drastically improve in major metros

Battery life / charging will become a focal point for smartphone innovation

Hybrid devices (think Surface Pro) will continue to be pushed more by tech companies

Gaming hardware makers will continue (maybe more so) to try to make money on backward compatibility

The wearables market will lose some device makers that just could not cut it

- So, this time next year we will look back and see how accurate I am.