When you work in a company that is filled with female employees, you are bound to enjoy a lot of opinionated conversations, passionate discussions and persuasive pitches for the latest and greatest. Case in point — I recently stumbled onto an app that I thought was amazing! I immediately wanted to share it with my co-workers, which then led to others sharing some of their favorites, which leads us to this — an article on our StyleBlueprint team’s favorite apps that we think our readers would enjoy knowing about. They run the gamut, as each woman brings something different to the table. Download them for yourself and see which ones you love!
A Few of Our Favorite Apps
Snapseed
Category: Photo editing
Picked by: Cleo DeLaney, SB business coordinator
Cost: Free
Why it’s Cleo’s favorite app: It is very intuitive and user-friendly, is visually clean design-wise and does slightly subtler editing than you can do using just the tools featured on the iPhone. It also uploads directly to Instagram!
Snapseed is a staff favorite app that is great for photo editing.
Ring
Category: Security
Picked by: Cindy Acuff, SB Nashville sales
Cost: $199
Why it’s Cindy’s favorite app: It’s a new approach to home security, missing your packages, visitors, etc. You can see people on your porch and talk with them, no matter where you are.
Ring allows you to be home even when you’re not.
Chromecast
Category: TV/Film/Media
Picked by: Megan Casey, SB director of marketing
Cost: Free app, $35 Chromecast device
Why it’s Megan’s favorite app: Chromecast has changed the way I consume digital content. It is so simple to pull up a YouTube video on my phone and cast it to my TV, or to pull up the Netflix app and be watching a movie in less than a minute on my TV instead of the small phone or laptop screen. Hopefully, I’ll be a “cord-cutter” soon and will be free of the $100 a month TV charges … so it’s also a big money saver if you can take the leap from traditional TV to à la carte.
Chromecast is changing the way people consume digital entertainment.
Waze
Category: Travel/maps
Picked by: Alex Hendrickson, SB Nashville associate editor/lead writer
Cost: Free
Why it’s Alex’s favorite app: At this point, you are crazy if you aren’t using Waze. It helps me beat the traffic and keeps me on the lookout for the fuzz. (SB DISCLAIMER: Alex has a lead foot, not a criminal record, which is why she’s on the lookout for the fuzz.)
Never wait in traffic again thanks to Waze. Unless, of course, you live in Atlanta. Then you really have no options.
My Fitness Pal
Category: Health/fitness
Picked by: Elizabeth Yielding, SB Birmingham sales manager
Cost: Free
Why it’s Elizabeth’s favorite app: Because I am about to turn 40, and the scale keeps inching up, and it’s so hard to go the other way. This app allows me to enter in my goal weight and keeps track of my daily calorie intake as well as exercise. I love seeing the running total of the number of calories I have left in a day and the extra ones I am allowed when I have a good workout.
The My Fitness Pal app is a great way to keep tabs on calories in and calories out.
Poshmark
Category: Fashion
Picked by: Karen Werthan, SB director of regional sales
Cost: Free
Why it’s Karen’s favorite app: It’s free and it’s an app that lets you sell (or buy, but I don’t) your nice items such as lululemon, Louis Vuitton, Kate Spade, Prada, etc. I have made a ton of money selling old lulu stuff that I don’t wear/want anymore!
Poshmark allows you to wear designer brands at a fraction of the cost.
The EveryDollar App
Category: Money/finance
Picked by: Meghan Tinker, SB Louisville sales manager
Cost: Free with the option pay for additional features
Why it’s Meghan’s favorite app: It is the BEST tool for budgeting, and I have tried a bunch! My husband and I look at it together online once a week, and then throughout the week I use it to categorize our spending. It ticks down how much we have in each budget category. I am such a nerd, but totally obsessed with it!
Keep your mind on your money and your money on your mind with the EveryDollar app.
Baby Connect
Category: Health
Picked by: Melanie Preis, SB Atlanta editor
Cost: $4.99
Why it’s Melanie’s favorite app: I got this app when I had my first child (and continued to use it with my subsequent children). It’s a really helpful place to organize details about feeding times, quantities, etc., which is actually really hard to keep track of when you’ve overwhelmed with everything else of being a new parent. You can also add milestones, vaccinations, illness symptoms, sleep schedules, additional kids, etc. Plus it syncs with your partner or whomever else is shared on your account. I still use it when it comes to record keeping and health updates.
Parenting, simplified, with the Baby Connect app
YouVersion
Category: Reference
Picked by: Ginny Staggs, SB director of sales
Cost: Free
Why it’s Ginny’s favorite app: YouVersion has every imaginable version of the Bible, searchable by topic, with audio options. Stumped by the meaning of a verse? Just switch versions for a different look.
Listen to a higher calling with the free YouVersion app.
Tripcast
Category: Travel
Picked by: Sally Walker, SB Memphis editor
Cost: Free
Why it’s Sally’s favorite app: A couple of reasons! First, it is super-easy to create photo albums from trips, and keep them organized in one place.You just name a trip, then hit the + icon to load the photos. There’s a great mapping function as well, so if you’re traveling abroad and can’t remember where that cute little tapas restaurant in Barcelona was, it will appear on your map. Next, you can share the link with a small (or big) group of friends back home, who can view it on the app or on a desktop version (perfect for Grandma and Grandpa, who aren’t into apps on their phone), or — and this is the best part — you can invite everyone on the trip to share their photos into the one album. That’s brilliant!
Make travel a fun collaboration with the Tripcast app.
Vivino
Category: Food & beverage
Picked by: Elizabeth Fox, co-founder of StyleBlueprint
Cost: Free
Why it’s Elizabeth’s favorite app: You can take a photo of a wine bottle label, and it tells you info on the vineyard and what it’s worth. Great if you go to a discount wine store to find a value and also, if someone brings you a cheap bottle of wine for a hostess gift, you can regift!
Bust the cheap wine gifters with the Vivino app.
Schoold
Category: Education
Picked by: Ashley Haugen, SB managing editor
Cost: Free
Why it’s Ashley’s favorite app: This thing is absolutely amazing — you can look up majors and which colleges are the best for them. Or you can look up colleges, and it tells you everything from the student/faculty ratio to annual cost to the school’s Instagram handle — it literally has EVERYTHING. Plus you (or your child) can track the likelihood of them getting into that school based on their GPA, SAT and ACT scores, etc. AND on top of all that, you can add in any scholarship or grant money your child is getting, and it will deduct from the tuition to give you a realistic view of what you can expect to pay out of pocket. It’s so very cool!
Set your college-bound kid up to succeed with the Schoold app.
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Bonus points:
Three members of the SB team offered up some additional options that they enjoy. These include:
Word Bubbles
Cost: Free
I love word games, and this sucker is fun (and also pissing me off) as I’m at a point of where it’s super challenging. I can technically pay for clues, but I refuse because I am too stubborn and would rather throw my phone across the room. It’s really addictive, and I tell myself that it’s helping me strengthen my brain muscles … but it’s probably just raising my blood pressure. — Melanie Preis
Buddhify
Cost: $4.99
Meditation is something I have always wanted to master but have a hard time sitting down to practice. With this app, you can select your meditation track based on your activity (working, traveling, sleep). It also has tracks that are as short as 5 minutes, so I can no longer use lack of time as an excuse. Sometimes you just have to give yourself a few minutes to recenter. — Alex Hendrickson
RootsRated
Cost: Free
Started by a few young guys, RootsRated scouts the the best hiking and biking trails (and more) in specific areas. It is easy to use when you are on the road and is super helpful in unfamiliar places. They are always discovering new places and are able to give you what feels like insider tips. — Alex Hendrickson
Night Sky
Cost: 99 cents
Take a photo of the sky and it identifies the stars … super fun for kids! — Elizabeth Fox
StyleBlueprint App
Cost: Free
Want to know our most favorite app of all? It’s the StyleBlueprint App, which we just call the SB App around here. It’s a handy guide to four of our fabulous Southern cities — Nashville, Louisville, Birmingham and Memphis. Where to shop and eat and what to do … and so much more! No worries, Atlanta, Charlotte and more will be coming … BUT, even more awesome for everyone else, you can access our daily articles from the top left corner and the mobile display (via Apple News) is gorgeous and easy peasy to navigate between cities. “Live well. Live local!”
