Remember when cell phones were simple devices that had a singular purpose? The first mobile phones were not so mobile, and looked pretty ridiculous. After the boxy original, the classic clamshell was next. Though this was a step up, its function was solitary- to make a phone call. The next generations of phone made a big step up in the technilogical world and added a camera to its list of features. Next, it was a full keyboard, and finally, it seems that phone manufacter’s have crossed the final frontier. Phone capabilities are now limitless- one can take, edit, photos, post them on all variety of social networking apps, listen to music, google any random fact, or even catapult irritated cartoon birds at oddly colored pigs.
Even with all these possibilities, after a while every app can get boring. Luckily, there’s always something new to be discovered in the app world, and there’s something for everyone.
In the musical sphere, “Shazam” is probably one of the most handy.
“It’s the niftiest thing- you just push a button when a song is playing and then it finds it for you- I’m always using it in Hollister because they have the best music and I never know what it is,” said senior Elizabeth Montemayor.
Also, it brings a world of music to your fingertips for no cash at all!
To end the dispute of whether it’s “are we human or are we denser/dancer”, “Lyrical” is also a worthwhile app to invest in, because it lets the user look up lyrics at anytime, even offline, which is just an added bonus feature.
For the future Mozarts out there, (or perhaps just to impress everyone with musical knowledge), senior Adam Heyen recommends “Chordfinder”.
“You tap in the notes that you’re playing into a mini keyboard and then it tells you the chord you’re playing-it helps you write and compose music,” he said.
According to senior Maddi McConnaughhay, more recreational music making can be found with “Magic Piano”, a game that lets you play popular songs and build up high scores, or just mess around with an automated mini piano and light beams- what could be better?
The app store isn’t just limited to musical games, it has its fair share of variety as well.
“I limit myself to one game only, because it distracts me too much- but it’s “Bubble Breaker” and I firmly believe it beats “Temple Run” any day of the week!” said senior Grace Rempp. The object of the game is simple- just shoot colored balls to make matches and free the special ones at the top- but it’s a perfect spacefiller for a couple minutes of boredom.
Since a cell phone’s main purpose is to keep owners connected, social media can’t be forgotten either.
“My favorite app is Twitter, because I’m probably on that the most! It’s definitely better than Facebook because there’s always something funny on it,” said junior Dennis Maar.
Though the social media giant of Facebook is still in the picture, new sites have been on the rise! Twitter, #ofcourse, is one of the big ones, and so is the only available through app Instagram. Speaking of photo editing- the focus of Instagram, there are thousands of apps out there to help spiff up, embelish, or animate photos.
“GifBoom” is a neat one that makes it easy to create and share gifs (animated photos) from your phone. Just like Instagram, it’s hooked up to a social network as well, with some very creative stuff going on.
In the past few years, technology has come a long way. With the help of all these apps, there’s always a cure for checkout line boredom, lyric arguements and a way to share more than just a phone call with the world!
