There's an App for That!

Last month I received a hand-me-down Smartphone and an iPad. In the interest of full and honest disclosure, I’m a technological underachiever and don’t desire the “latest thing.” But with my new-to-me electronic gadgets, I was ready to jump into the 21^st century. Then I learned about apps. What an eye opener. I knew that the American Dialect Society voted “app” as the word of the year in 2010, but I didn’t know they are changing the way we live.

For instance, my sister-in-law called from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport because she missed her connecting flight on the way to visit. She was tense and said she needed to meditate.

Confused, I asked, “Is there a class for that in the airport?”

She replied, “No, I have an app for that on my phone.” So, off she went to create a peaceful oasis in the middle of chaos by meditating using her cell phone and ear buds.

After arriving at our house, my sister-in-law admired my phone and patiently showed me how to use it. Joking, I told her I would probably forget most of what she taught me.

She said, “There’s an app to help you practice remembering and increase your brain power.”

Of course there was.

I mentioned that instead of using a game-like app to increase my memory, I should probably be more physically active. She showed me a 7 minute workout app.

Apparently, there are apps for everything. Consider these unusual apps that have varying degrees of usefulness:

·        Tired of blowing out candles on your birthday cake? An app called Blower turns your iPhone speaker into a fan.

·        If you’re vitamin D deficient like 80% of Americans, Dminder can help. It checks your local outdoor vitamin D potential and notifies you when to get sun exposure based on the time of day.

·        Spirit Story Box claims to detect and message nearby ghosts and spirits. It only costs 99 cents!

·        You can combine your iPhone, a metal detector and an app called PETALS to help find unexploded landmines. (I was seriously impressed by this app.)

·        When your teenager makes you crazy, try Annoy-A-Teen. It produces high frequency, undesirable sounds audible only to teenagers. (Does the sound also annoy dogs?)

·        If the aforementioned teen is the cause of sleepless nights, iNap@Work will help you get away with napping at work. It makes “productivity sounds” so your co-workers hear typing, stapling, and mouse clicks instead of snores.

If there are apps for everything under the sun, are there apps for writers?

Appsolutley!

I found a mind boggling number of apps for note taking, journaling, editing, creating character names, and poetry. There’s even an app for people who don’t like poetry, but for some reason have to write it.

Also, there are numerous ambiance apps—gurgling water, Zen bells, waves, birds sounds—to listen to while writing. One of my favorites is Coffitivity which features ambient coffee shop soundtracks. It’s based on research that found low levels of background noise, like chatter and the whoosh of an espresso maker, create the optimal level of sound for maximum creativity. There are three coffee house sounds: Morning Murmur, Lunchtime Lounge (According to my niece, this one is a bit “clangy” because of the silverware hitting dishes while people are eating.), and University Undertones.

But are there specific apps for mystery writers?

Well, that's where I found a distinct appsense. There are plenty of crime and mystery games but nothing to help writers craft a mystery story. After puzzling over this, I’ve decided that while some apps are useful to writers, nothing can replace human imagination and hard work.

Are you comfortable with technology and apps? If so, do you have any advice?