Cherry-picked Apps for This Summer
It’s finally summertime! And that means one thing: the livin’ is supposed to be easy. We dream of Roman holidays, roaming the wilderness, or hitting the open road. Some of us want to stroll through golden sands and stare at the night sky, while others plan backyard barbecues, pool parties, and family picnics. Whatever you dream of doing, there’s an app in store for you. So take a break, grab your iPhone, and check out our recommended apps to make planning your summer activities a breeze. Choose your adventure, call your friends and start downloading…
1. Oh, Ranger
The summer brings families and friends together for all kinds of activities. Exploring, backpacking, camping and hiking are definitely on top of the list for many summer adventurers, and for the same reason, the Oh, Ranger app is on the very top of ours. It does it all and it does it everywhere in the U.S. It will look up the best spots for camping, swimming, hiking, boating or bird watching. It will even show you where the nearest frisbee golf course is! No matter what park or activity you have in mind, Oh, Ranger will find it. And its most amazing feature – this jam-packed app is free!
2. Settle UP
Gas, drinks, parking, throwing a party, ordering pizzas for the pool–whatever expenses you share with your friends, we advise you to keep a tab on them. Record payments into this neat little app, and at the end of the trip it will show you who owes whom and how much. Besides beautiful graphics, it has very useful features. It also saves you cash that would get lost when trying to make sense of paper receipts. By making it easy to share costs, Settle UP keeps your summer events relaxed and fun.
3. Flashlight
As Douglas Adams would say, if he had this app: “A flashlight is to a summer traveler what a towel is to an interstellar hitchhiker. You’ve simply gotta have one!”. There are plenty of flashlights out there, but this one shines the brightest. It is simple but has everything you need from a flashlight – fast start, continuous and pulse mode, strobe mode, and emergency SOS mode. It is also battery optimized, so you can explore the dark side of the universe for a little bit longer.
4. Packing Pro
You may choose to unplug during your summer adventures, but don’t forget to download this amazing packing app first. If you do, you may wind up in Timbuktu with no sunscreen, or in Vegas without your lucky charm. With the new full iCloud support, your lists are virtually everywhere so you can add things whenever and wherever they come to mind. Packing Pro gives you options to create your own lists of items, or you can use their master catalogue. You can also edit your lists with Excel, Numbers, or Google Docs.
5. Star Walk
You don’t have to be an astronomer to fall in love with this fantastic app. Just imagine having it in your phone when you’re walking with your loved one during those warm summer nights. This app will take care of the romance for you. It shows, in real-time motion, which stars are currently above you, where the little asteroid B-612 is, and if there is an ISS flying over your head. It will
even point you to the position of Venus, and, who knows–it may even tell you what she’s got in store for you.
6. Trippy
With this app you’ve gotta hit the road, jack! It really takes the hassle out of planning vacations. With Trippy all you have to do is set up a trip, choose the destinations, and pack your bags. No need for travel guides or detailed itineraries. Your friends and followers will recommend all the places worth seeing and all the things worth doing in your chosen destination, and you just pick the ones you find interesting. Once you set off, you can start creating your own trip boards with notes and photos – it’s like a detailed Pinterest for travelers. And if somebody asks you, “Tell me what you did last summer”, you don’t have to panic–it’s all stored in your iPhone or on the web application.
7. GrillTime
A juicy steak, grilled veggies, and your friends sipping cold beers… and while everyone else is chillin’ you’re the one stuck with the grillin’. With GrillTime, even the “grillmaster” can socialize. So download the app, fire up the grill, select the thickness and type of the meat you’re cooking, and set the timer. The pop-up notifications tell you when it’s time to flip, so in the meantime you can open a beer and hang out with your friends. Well done!
8. 360 Panorama
Whether you visit Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Big Apple, or the City of Light, summer trips are full of opportunities to capture stunning views in full scale. This app makes your wishes come true as it captures 360-degree panoramas in real time. All you need to do is pan your phone around and it stores the results in your device. You can post your panoramas directly on Facebook, or you can email them to friends and family, who can then zoom in and out inside the picture. Just don’t upload every photo you take, or you’ll make your friends a little dizzy!
Have an amazing and unforgettable summer of 2012! And if you decide to download and enjoy some of these useful apps, keep in mind there’s always lots more fun outside your iPhone!
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