5 Best Apps of the Week: A New Gmail Shortcut + More!
S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y… MORNING! Yes, that is the song I sing every AM when it’s time to talk about the best apps of the week. Today we’re coming at you with apps for your productivity, apps for your idle time and a shiny new update from an old favorite that’s sure to make you drop your other email apps for the OG. And with the release of Homemakers this week, you know I had to throw in an app that will make your home sweet home that much sweeter. Get your thumbs ready; it’s downloading time.
1. Fountain: We gave this one a shoutout when it was in beta but now it’s a real-life, ready to download app that wants to make home improvement a thing that you can DIY with your own personal team of Tim (yep, The Tool Man) Taylors on speed dial. Like Skype meets Tool Time, Fountain lets you video chat your way through a problem, an installation or any casa-related query with home and garden experts ranging from architects and interior designers to carpenters, plumbers and appliance repair specialists or even a master gardener in time for spring. Share drawn on photos that point to the problem or real-time video of the issue in question and get guidance that will cost $7 for 15 minutes.
DL It: Free on iOS
2. BriefMe: Guys, your phone REALLY wants you to be reading the news every day and to make sure you’re doing so it’s willing to make whatever is hot off the Internet’s presses super digestible, easy to flip and scroll through and, like this new download, even socially ranked. This app coming out of Harvard iLabs (are you picturing those guys and gals in a constant Jets vs Shark-style rumble with MIT Media Lab too?) is a Digg-like idea that serves up what the web is talking about each day. BriefMe’s shiny new feature in the news-in-bite-size-morsels world is a unique social ranking system called the BriefMe Score that breaks down an article’s virality and social stats and ranks the “most consumed and shared” articles of the moment. While Digg and News.me before it do and did something very similar, this new spin will make the analytics fan in you nerd out hard.
DL It: Free on iOS, coming soon on Android — sign up for updates here
3. Imgur: Although this app has been around for a while on both platforms, it saw a major upgrade to the iPhone version this week that will change the way you’ll waste time sifting through meme-worthy images and visual stories on mobile … FOREVER. Get lost in the funny, the cute, the super weird and the all-around shareable with an improved interface and better community functions.
4. DeskConnect: I’m slipping in a computer app in here for all of us (yes, guilty as charged) who email photos and files to ourselves to keep our work and personal computers + phones all on the same page. This download is the missing link between all of your devices giving you the ability to send text, images, websites, documents, your clipboard and even start phone calls from your Mac with no usage limits or fees. Bonus — your devices do not have to be in the same room or even the same zip code for this to work.
DL It: Free on iOS
5. Gmail: The keen observers over at The Verge spotted a Gmail update I would be remiss/downright rude not to share with you on this lovely Saturday (sorry, East Coasters, it’s like 70 degrees here… come visit, k?). With the latest update to the iOS app, you can now reply and archive messages straight from your notifications center thanks to those shiny iOS 8 features and shortcuts. Gmail will also now let you open attachments into other apps and share from them as well. The email app will be properly repped in the iOS share screen, so you can take that just-snapped photo and attach it to an email right from your camera roll.
What was your favorite app download of the week? Share below!