This month’s Writer Wednesday is all about the apps. I have so so many apps, like most peeps, but here are 5 of my faves that I think everyone should have on their phone:
Sl
ack – Think group texting on steroids, but obviously you need to have some slack buddies to converse with in order to make this app useful. I’m a part of three writing/critique groups that use Slack. It takes our conversations off of Facebook or a group text message and puts them in a place where we can easily categorize by channel (aka topic), post documents, and photos. It’s got really great keyword search functionality, which makes it a much better option than Facebook AND it’s not as much as a time suck because you don’t get distracted by checking your FB feed. If you have a chatty group that needs to stay organized online – give it a try.
Starbucks – Okay – it’s time for me to admit that I hav
e a serious addiction to Starbucks iced coffee. Venti with 4 shots of vanilla, 4 shots of Classic and cream, to be exact. I love that I can order from my driveway and by the time I get to my neighborhood Starbucks, my order is ready and waiting. And I love the rewards and being able to pay with my app. It’s actually far too easy…
On
eNote – I use OneNote to keep track of so many things, most notably my writing projects. For instance, the notebook for my latest novel contains lists, outlines, scenes, pictures, ideas, notes from my agent, pretty much anything related to the novel that I need to keep track of. I love how you can search by keyword so if I don’t remember exactly where something is in my notebook, I can easily find it. The beauty of OneNote is that you can sync your notebooks from your hard drive to the cloud and then access the cloud via the app on your phone. I can see my book notes from phone!!!! That means if I have an idea when I’m out and about, no need to grab a scrap piece of paper that might get lost. I can type (or dictate) into my phone, draw/write on the screen, and even upload photos and audio files. OneNote is a phenomenal tool I highly recommend.
SkyGuide – I love stargazing, and this app helps me identify which constellations and celestial 
objects I’m looking at. You simply aim your phone at the sky and voila, it layers the phone screen on the nighttime sky, indicating what is what. Super cool. If you’re into learning the history behind the celestial objects, you click on the little information icon and up pops a wealth of info, including the pronunciation and ancient legends related to the star. I even use this app for novel writing research.
WordSwag – This is a phenomenal app for adding typography to pictures. Not only can you use photos 
from your camera roll, they also have images in their library you can use. There are tons of fonts and font colors to chose from. I love posting quotes on social media, and this is my go to app for making them look fabulous. I just made this one with a photo I took on Sunday while flying the friendly skies.
Of course, I have tons of other apps that I LOVE, but these are five of my favorites. I’d love to hear which apps YOU can’t live without, so let me know in the comments. Also — some of my authorly friends are sharing their favorite apps. Check ’em out!
Girl, I’ve never heard of some of your apps– where have I been hiding?!? I am totally intrigued by Slack and Wordswag. I’ll be checking those out ASAP! Thanks for the tips!!
Absolutely!! Let me know how you like them. 🙂
These are fabulous apps! Thanks for sharing them. I had no idea I could order from Starbucks and have it waiting. I’ve never heard of Slack and I’m intrigued. And I love the other three. I can’t wait to try them out although I may have to wait until I get a phone with more than 16 gig of storage!
Ordering ahead is seriously THE BEST. 🙂 You’ll have to let me know if you like it as much as I do.
I’ve tried One Note (computer version) but it just doesn’t work for me. I’m not quite at ease with cloud based stuff. But then, I learned to type on a manual typewriter, so I’m probably doing well to operate a smart phone (or a computer) at all.