Name: Thrive! NCHE Homeschool Conference
Start: 2025-05-22T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-05-24T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Winston-Salem, NC

Tagged: iphone apps, technology

This topic has 19 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 3 months ago by missceegee.

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January 13, 2011 at 8:49 pm
missceegee
Participant
I’m finally getting one of these phones when it comes to my provider in a few weeks. I want to know what the most useful (family, calendar, menu, homeschool) apps are? I’m not interested in playing on the phone, but making it my slave!
Thanks,
Christie
Sorry, this should have been in the Let’s Chat category. My apologies.
January 13, 2011 at 8:53 pm
LindseyD
Participant
I LOVE iBooks! You can download tons of great living books for free or $.99. Right now, in fact, my ds6 is reading a Beatrix Potter short story on my iPhone. The reason I have it on my phone is for times when we’re out of the house and I need something for the kids to do. For instance, I had to take both kids with me yesterday to get my hair cut and colored. It’s so nice to hand them my phone and have a good book to keep them enthralled and occupied. I’m not really into all the apps, as I don’t spend much time on my phone, so I’m interested to see what others recommend.
Blessings,
Lindsey
January 13, 2011 at 9:41 pm
LindseyD
Participant
P.S. I really hope Doug posts something on here. In his e-reader video, he mentioned some really cool iPad apps that I would love to check out. Hint, hint, Doug.
January 13, 2011 at 9:44 pm
teachermom
Participant
I’ll be interested to see what others say too.
So far, I’ve found the Kindle app to be wonderful! We use it much like Lindsey….free books on it for when we are out and about or after lights out (no need for a book light). Or for books I want to preview, but not be tied to the computer. (free public domain works) I’ll have to check into the ibooks app too. I’m still learning about the different ebook file formats.
I also have Blue Letter Bible and Olive Tree (free versions) on my phone to use if I’m without a print Bible or want to read after lights out.
I also recently discovered ITunes U, and I haven’t delved into that much, but I did discover there are author talks on there, and I listened to/watched the one by Chris Van Allsburg and thought it was really good. I have the one by Patricia Polacco on my list next.
I do have an app for home stuff called Home Routine that I paid a little for (which I haven’t utilized yet) and also an app that will sync my google calendar to my phone which also I paid a small amount for….Oh, and a couch to 5K app that I really like (though a little off topic…. 🙂 )
-Kim
January 13, 2011 at 10:38 pm
dmccall3
Participant
Hi! Congrats on the iPhone!
I also use the book apps: kindle, google books, kobo, but mainly iBooks.
I got Home Routine and I love it. You can get pantry, fridge, and freezer inventory apps too. I got a couple but I’m not organized enough to use them.
Mint.com has a free app. That’s for budgeting. It’s also free online.
There’s an interesting iluvmozart app. I like it but it’s not for the classical music expert. 🙂 (and it’s not just Mozart)
There’s a Shakespeare app worth looking at.
I love Use Your Handwriting app for jotting notes down on the run.
For spiritual I like PrayerJournal, Verse by Heart, and ReadingPlan.
For kids outside of the book apps I like different drawing apps, ibird lite, and animal sounds around th world.
HTH,
Dana
January 14, 2011 at 2:10 am
stipegang
Member
I finally found a grocery shopping app I like: shopshop – simple yet effective. I also like To Dos for my to do list. Plus, the Wikipedia and Dictionary apps for info when we are curious for a quick answer on something. Hi to Future Self is a new one I’ve been playing with. It is an app that sends reminder notes to you, on the time and date of your choosing. Like I just set one to remind me an hour before I leave to go to a friend’s house that I need to take a certain game with me.

Also, if you “friend” FreeAppAlert on facebook they send out a list daily of apps that are temporarily free.

Have fun!

Cindy in VA
January 14, 2011 at 3:19 am
Megan
Participant
Some of these are free…some are maybe $1 or $2….
This is funny, but it’s my favorite one and I use it all the time because I can never find a flashlight! 1ClickFlash – It turns on your LED light and leaves it on so you can use your phone as a flashlight. It’s free.
The You Version Bible app is the best, most user friendly Bible app I’ve come across. Bible.Is is another great one – it has a great dramatized recording of the whole Bible to listen to, and even had a “listen to the Bible in a Year” plan…it’s free…the kids love it!
Here are some educational things that the kids enjoy from time to time…not too often though and we have a sitting down rule – they can’t walk around with the phone – I’m nervous about them dropping it – my husband dropped his once and the screen cracked.
Tangram Puzzle Pro Free – Like Tangoes puzzles
i SpellDown is one I just found for spelling practice…you build your own spelling list and can even record your own voice saying the word and definition.
Starfall has two apps – the ABC page from their website and a Snowman one.
I’d love to find a good Bible app for kids I need to look – I bet there is one.
Basically there is an app for anything and everything that interests you…once you get your phone check out the app store, and search for what you would like – then you can look at samples of the app and read the ratings and reviews.
I must admit, it’s pretty handy…I do feel a little funny using the Bible on my phone at church though – I mean, it shouldn’t matter what others think, I know, but I do hope people don’t think I’m texting during the sermon…plus I love my real Bible
Have fun!
Megan
January 14, 2011 at 5:57 am
missceegee
Participant
What is the best/most user friendly calendar and task manager? I use paper now, so what do you recommend?

January 14, 2011 at 2:58 pm
blessedmom
Member
Cozi is a free household organizer, and I use it with my android phone. It’s great at the grocery store…just check things off your list! They also have an iphone app…
http://www.cozi.com/Features-Overview.htm
January 14, 2011 at 3:38 pm
Gem
Participant
That Cozi site looks great – I am trying it out.
I love the new app from the Motivated Moms housekeeping list that we were all discussing a few months ago. I hope they continue to improve it and add new features.
I am on a fitness kick and am LOVING my couch to 5k app called “Get Running” – it is like having a running coach in your pocket. I also use a free app for food and exercise journal and calorie counting – LoseIt. It is so good I can’t believe it is free!
Of course facebook and twitter…netflix…kindle or stanza or similar bookreader…all free…evernote…flickr…a pdf reader(PDFReaderLite – also a great wireless file transfer app)…I use zumodrive for cloud file storage so I have an app for that.
This part is an unsolicited comment, but it might be food for thought for someone here, since we are all trying to be more frugal: I am very happy with my combination of iTouch and cell phone. My phone is $30/month (StraightTalk from Walmart) and I had a one time expenditure for the ipod (I bought it refurbished from apple online – but the new iTouch looks awesome!). I have a wireless router at home. I tap into wireless in town at restaurants and the library if I need it, but I rarely do.
I use my phone for a phone, and my iTouch for everything else and do not have to pay that $$$+++ iPhone bill every month. For those that can’t (or won’t ) justify the +++$$$ monthly charges, you can still benefit from this admittedly fantastically useful technology.
Gem
January 14, 2011 at 4:09 pm
Sanveann
Member
For my job, housework and other stuff, I use 2Do to keep track of everything I have to do. I think it’s a beautiful app, and it’s proved very reliable in helping me stay organized! I thought about getting the Motivated Moms app, but I “tweak” their lists quite a lot, so I decided against it. I just get their calendar and enter it into 2Do, changing things as needed.
I also really like:
* Reeder for following my RSS feeds.
* Grocery IQ for my grocery lists.
* The CNN app for news.
* Evernote, for syncing and sharing notes, photos, files, etc.
* Pandora and Last.fm for listening to music.
* The Facebook app.
* Audiogalaxy for streaming my own music to my phone from my computer. (I have too much music to fit it all on my phone!)
* Naturespace for relaxing background sounds.
* For games: Angry Birds, Plants vs. Zombies, Pocket Frogs, and Words with Friends.
(Yes, I am considering having my phone cybernetically attached to me at some point!)
January 14, 2011 at 4:21 pm
Gem
Participant
Oh – someone asked about calendar and task manager – still looking for the perfect app, and I am excited to try the cozy – but right now I have my google calendar sync with my ipod calendar – you set that up on the device. I have had it sync with outlook which I loved but my outlook died 🙁 and I can’t afford a new version for my new computer so I am making do with google calandar. I still use a paper calendar in my purse and on the wall because that is just the most convenient to jot things down for me.
I am not in love with any of the to do list apps but one called 2do has worked the best so far for me, but now that I have the Motivated moms list I haven’t checked that one in a couple of weeks, so…? I guess it has been replaced. I use “Do It (Tomorrow)” for simple list making – like right now I have all the potential meals that I might make with my current ingredients listed on it – when I make on I scratch it off the list. This has been working well for me in meal planning with my finicky husband – he can pick what he wants from the list of possibilities and I make it LOL.
I love to hear other’s suggestions for this area; so much potential in the “to do” area and so little follow through with apps.
January 14, 2011 at 11:39 pm
Doug Smith
Keymaster
Okay, I got the hint. My iPhone is full of apps but many of them are for my geeky purposes that most of you probably wouldn’t care about. But here are a few that some of you might like…
iBird for bird identification
SkySafari for stargazing
Google — speak or take a photo of things and it searches for you.
iBooks, of course.
Word Warp — An addicting scrambled letter word game.
Google Earth — Explore the globe with your fingers.
GoodReader — Nice for PDF documents and will help you get PDF files on your device. It also lets you add notes. (There is a separate version for iPad.)
WunderMap — Nice weather app for iPad only.
Pages — Word processor for iPad.
Numbers — Spreadsheet for iPad.
Remote — Controls iTunes on your computer.
Things — A really slick to-do app. It’s a bit expensive at $9.99. The companion desktop app for the Mac is really nice too but even more expensive.
InchCALC — A great calculator for projects around the home because it works in feet, inches, and fractions.
Navigon — My favorite of the GPS navigators. It has spoken directions, etc. This is what gets us to the homeschool conventions.
A Study Bible. There are many to choose from and many have free demo versions.
LED Light — Uses the iPhone 4 camera flash as a flashlight. Simple but very useful.
Guitar Tools — Chords, scales, tuner, metronome.
Virtuoso Piano — A little piano.
Dragon Dictation — Free speech to text that you can past into other apps.
Convert — Easy conversion of just about anything, like feet, miles, meters, cups, teaspoons, square yards, pounds grams.
January 14, 2011 at 11:44 pm
LindseyD
Participant
Yay, Doug! Thank you! I am really excited to put kids to bed tonight and start app-shopping! My husband uses the Guitar Tools app. I forgot about that one. I’m especially excited about the star-gazing and bird identification apps. Thanks again!
January 16, 2011 at 2:41 pm
Sanveann
Member
Forgot to add … my littles LOVE the Tozzle app (little puzzles for toddlers and preschoolers), and are also big fans of the “FirstWords” series (I think we have animals, vehicles and “at home”).