Apps to Jump-start Your Spring
After a few false starts and last minute snow days, spring is, thankfully, here. We’ve moved clocks up an hour and coats into the guest closet. With the sunshine finally melting away the winter-weather blues, we’re also organizing outdoor adventures, deep cleaning the house and dreaming of all the delicious seasonal produce. So whether you’re planning your next trip or finally cleaning out the garage, here are the best apps to jump-start your spring:
Localeur
Who doesn’t want to travel like a local? More than just a guidebook, Localeur features experiences recommended by people living in that city. Designed to read like messages from a friend, expect to find fun suggestions like “My Favorite Brooklyn Rock Venues” and “Seven Spots for Art (or Wine) Lovers in L.A.” on the app.
MakeSpace
Spring-cleaning usually means purging, but when you don’t want to throw out items or deal with the hassle of renting and filling a storage space, MakeSpace offers up the ideal solution. The app delivers free bins for users to pack up with items for storage. From there, they pick up and store items after photographing everything and creating a visual catalog of what you’ve stored. Whenever you want something, all you have to do is place a delivery order and you’ll get your stuff back in one day. For only $25 a month, MakeSpace makes storage lockers feel like a thing of the past.
Wannado
Music City has so much going on that it’s easy to get overwhelmed with options. Nashville start up Wannado helps solve that problem with customized calendars that let you know what’s happening in town on any given day. From shows and events to restaurants and workshops, Wannado helps you discover everything Nashville has to offer.
Funny or Die Weather
April showers bring May flowers, and Funny or Die brings the jokes with its new weather app. The surprisingly well-designed and informative app provides real forecasts, from Weather Underground, accompanied by jokes courtesy of some of the funniest folks on the internet. This is the first of a “series of apps” the company plans to release this year.
Waze
Nothing puts the brakes on road trip fun like unforeseen traffic or speed traps. Waze is a community-based traffic and navigation app that has drivers sharing real-time road conditions, accidents and police traps. Waze constantly updates its navigation to provide the fastest routes, helping users avoid traffic and delays whenever possible. This app also has an added safety feature that prevents drivers from typing while their car is moving.
Strava
With weather nice enough to comfortably exercise outside, easily track your runs and rides with Strava. This app is well-suited for those with a competitive streak, as it has a feed showing your friend’s most recent workouts and lets you compete against them in challenges like running the most miles in a 30-day period or fastest half-marathon times. Strava also includes a leader board that features all performances over any given road or trail.
Harvest
If you’ve ever wondered how to tell when produce is ripe or where to store farmers market bounty at home, Harvest is the app for you. Like having a farmer in your pocket, the app provides tips for storage and selection as well as showing pesticide levels so you know when to go for organic items. The app also shows you what’s in season, depending on your region.
Sky Guide
Mild nights and clear skies were made for stargazing. And the Sky Guide app was made for learning which stars you’re staring at. Having won an Apple Design Award, this gorgeous and intuitive app acts as a digital planetarium making it easy to see all nearby stars and constellations. If you want to learn more about what you’re gazing at, all you have to do is tap the screen to read more.
This post also appeared in The Tennessean, where Concept Technology has a bi-weekly feature in the Business section.
