5 GREAT FREE APPS FOR AUTOMATING MUNDANE TASKS
BULK-INSTALL SOFTWARE,
BACK UP YOUR PHOTOS, PRICE-MATCH YOUR PURCHASES, AND MORE.
So many clicks,
swipes, and taps; so few hours in a day. These apps can make short work of
otherwise annoying tasks.
Trigger (Android) is a handy app that can minimize time spent poking around your
phone’s settings menu. For instance, when you get to work and your phone
automatically connects to your office’s Wi-Fi network, you can set it to lower
or mute notification tones so you don’t interrupt meetings. Or once you get in
the car and automatically connect to your car’s Bluetooth system, you can have
your phone open your favorite music app.
Visit Ninite (Windows) for a great click-and-pick selection of
popular Windows apps. Whether you’re setting up a new computer or want to
update a bunch of your apps to their latest versions, the site will build you a
customized onetime installer that packages up the programs you want and
installs them all in one fell swoop. No need to go from site to site, sit
through download after download, or weather installation after installation.
There are plenty of
photo services on the market, but Shoebox (Android, iOS, Mac,Windows)
is worth a look, thanks to its simple synchronization features and generous storage
limits. Install the app on your phone, and it’ll automatically back up all of
your photos in high resolution (10-plus megapixels). Install the app on your
computer, and you’ll be able to access your photos without any cumbersome
transfers. The free version gets you unlimited photos and 15 minutes' worth of
videos, while the paid edition lets you upload photos at their original
resolutions and houses up to 10 hours of videos.
Slice (Android, iOS) is an excellent free package tracker in its own right,
with push notifications and map-based visual voyages of your shipments. But the
app pulls double duty to monitor products you’ve purchased from popular
retailers for price drops. If it spots a discrepancy, it’ll let you claim a
price match right from within the app.
No need to comb
through and delete your embarrassing weekend posts every Monday morning; Xpire (Android, iOS)
lets you set your social updates to self-destruct at various times. The iOS
version is far more fully featured, hooking into your Twitter, Facebook, and
Tumblr accounts (the Android version just handles Twitter for now), but both
versions facilitate quick deletion of past posts, offer easy expiration
settings for new ones, and analyze your updates to return a "Social
Score" that highlights potentially risky content
No automation list
would be complete without If (Web), perhaps still better known by its old name
of IFTTT. If you’re looking to get your various services to play nicely
together, this is a good first stop. A few clicks to get set up can save a lot
of clicks down the road.
BY DOUG AAMOTH
http://www.fastcompany.com/3051213/app-economy/5-great-free-apps-for-automating-mundane-tasks?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fast-company-daily-newsletter&position=3&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=09192015
No comments:
Post a Comment