Today we are sharing the game-changing apps to add to your phone ASAP! We're even breaking them down into categories – life organizers, spiritual resources, health & wellness, hobby helpers, and just plain GENIUS ideas! Clear up some free space in your storage because you're going to want to try some of these yourselves!

Woohoo, this is the first blog post in our new Freebs Community Collective series – where we start a conversation with YOU and share some amazing life hacks, tips, advice, favorites, and recommendations! This week we are covering all things smartphone apps.

The world is at your fingertips with smartphone apps, quite literally. We asked Freebs Nation (FYI, the Fun Cheap Or Free community is lovingly referred to as Freebs. You are officially one of them. Welcome!) what apps are on your phone that you could not live without, and you straight-up DELIVERED. These are genius and we had to share!

To make things a little more organized, depending on your interests, we've put the top recommended smartphone apps into various categories to share with you but we'll start with Jordan's Top Picks! And of course we're skipping straight past the email, banking and social media apps that we all already know and love. Here are some awesome resources you might not have even known existed! Get ready to be mind. blown!

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Jordan's Top Picks

• Amazon: Okay, I know we've all heard of this one already but if I'm compiling my most-used apps then this definitely has to be on my list! I honestly rarely shop from anywhere else….I've really become an Amazon fan because it saves me time and money not having to drive to stores, and I really like their return policy. I always select the return option where I can just drop it off at the UPS store because they package and deal with the shipping back to Amazon for you. Or you can drop your return off at Kohls and get free Kohl's cash to use shopping in their store that day!
• Apple Music: I think it's totally worth paying for it if you're a music person! I introduced my dad to it because he's a music buff and his life was totally changed. It allows you to download UNLIMITED music and gives you access to music from all over the world.
• Been: Have you ever seen those maps that you scratch off the states you've been to? It's like a digital version of that! It allows you to log all of the destinations you've traveled to, so it has the entire world. You can log countries, states or cities and then it shows you the percentage of the world that you have visited!
• BusyKid: This is what we use for our kids' allowance and money! Basically, you can set a price for chores and they are able to check off their chores on the app and use a synchronized debit card. Our kids don't have smartphones, so we don't use the kid check-off feature but we do use the BusyKid debit cards. It helps them develop autonomy over their own money.
• Day One: The best journaling app. What I LOVE is that it syncs with the photos on your phone, and prints everything into photo books that are actually pretty affordable!
• GABB: You all know how much we love GABB Wireless, for both their child-safe phones and watches (they don't have internet access!). The app for the parents allows us to track our kids' phones and devices with GPS, so we know where our kids are and we can also track a device if it was lost. It tells us about their texting and screentime data as well. (You can always use code PAGE10 on Gabb Wireless for $10 off your first order!)
• Game apps: I love playing games on my phone. With my ADHD, I can get a little antsy when I'm sitting and watching a movie. My three favorites are Candy Crush, Phase 10, and HeadsUp.
• Google Maps: I keep debating if I should include this one, but it is my TOP MOST USED app on my phone so even though I know you've heard of it, I want to keep it here! (I prefer Google Maps over Apple Maps!) I use it every day, even if I know where I'm going because they have better real-time traffic tracking and can find the faster option if there is a wreck or construction. I also use Google Maps to store common addresses, like carpool addresses, because it makes it very easy to share them with someone else.
• Just Between Us: A private messaging app for couples. It's encrypted and uses facial scanning to keep the conversations within the app totally protected from anyone else seeing them on your phone. It's my husband and I's way of sending sexy texts to each other….shhh. 😉 We don't worry about kids seeing our messages. If there is a photo in the message thread, the photo is automatically blurred and only unblurs once you press and hold the photo so that you can always choose to view in your own private setting. Even if it's not necessarily sexy content, we use this app to talk about vulnerable topics that we don't want on the cloud or on our devices!
• InShot: The app that I use to edit videos, like reels or other longer form videos for Instagram. I use it for some photo editing as well, particularly for thumbnails or collages.
• Last Pass: One of my friend's brother's career is to try to hack into the government systems. The government hires him to try to find any vulnerabilities and see if there are any hacker opportunities that need to be addressed! He is the one that told me that Last Pass is the only password-saving software that he would use, it's as safe as you can get. We use it as a team at Page Company, and I use it personally. We don't save any passwords anywhere else, ever! We have our passports, our insurance information, or credit card information. That way if something were to happen to me or Bubba, everything we need each other to know is in our Last Pass account.
• Marco Polo: I love this way to keep in touch with friends! One thing I've had to work on in my life is creating deeper one on one conversations with face time, although you don't both have to be participating live. You're essentially sending each other video messages in a back-and-forth conversation.
• Netflix: I like the app version because it allows you to download shows and movies and then watch them even when you aren't connected to any internet.
• Pandora: I'll make fun of myself with this one because it definitely shows my age. I've always preferred Pandora over Spotify because it introduces me to new music. I like to pick a genre, and it will aggregate a station with similar artists and it's my favorite way to discover new music. I also like they have settings that I can make it kid-friendly with no explicit lyrics. (I pay for the ad-free version.)
• Sora: Similar to the Kindle app, but once it is connected to your school then it is free! It might not be affiliated with every school yet, but you can always talk with your school's administration and ask if they are willing to register their school with this program. It's an amazing resource for kids where they can download ebooks and audiobooks right on their devices and enjoy them for free.
• Shazam: If I'm ever somewhere like the grocery store or a workout class and I hear a song I like but don't know what it is, I can “Shazam” the audio and it will let me know the artist, song title, and allow me to sync it to Apple Music.
• SleepWatch: If you sleep with your Apple Watch, it will track your restful sleep. It's been so eye-opening and was helpful while I was monitoring my Grave's disease! Sleep has so much to do with your health, and just because you “sleep” for 8 hours doesn't mean you're getting much restful sleep.
• Tezza: This is my favorite photo editing app. It allows you to adjust the colors, lighting and special effects. It allows you to adjust videos for an additional fee.
• Rakuten: I love it because it gives you cash back for shopping in person or online. I have a referral code for you, which gives you a $30 welcome bonus when you sign up through this link! It's totally free and will earn you money back on your future purchases!
• White Noise Lite: Helps every night when we sleep.

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PAGE COMPANY TEAM FAVORITE APPS

• CapCut: A free all-in-one video editor with fun special effects!
• Chat Books: After signing up for your subscription in the Chatbooks app, you can add 30 photos to your photo book every single month. You can edit your book to your desire and then just tap to send it to print. 
• Come Follow Me: The goal of the Come Follow Me App is to help members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints build a meaningful and lasting habit of daily scripture study. 
• Insight Timer: offers thousands of free music tracks, meditations, and stories to help you get a better night's sleep. Create the best environment for sleep and rest through meditation, there's something for everyone.
• Here Kitty: A hilarious hide-and-seek game for kids! You hide the phone, and then they walk around saying “here kitty kitty!” and the phone meows back to help them find it 
• Lightroom: a free app that gives you a powerful, yet simple solution for capturing, editing and sharing your photos.
• Timehop: Timehop collects content across popular social networks and photo apps, including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Dropbox, Google Photos, iCloud, and local photos. It shows you your memories from years ago, allowing you to see what you were doing on this year each year prior.
• Venmo:  a digital wallet that makes money easier for everyone from students to small businesses. 
• Yelp: a popular online directory for discovering local businesses with written reviews and user-submitted photos.

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Lifestyle Organization Apps

• Anylist: a digital way to create grocery shopping lists and collect and organize your recipes. Easily share a list with your spouse or roommates, for free. 
• EveryDollar: a free budgeting app created by personal finance expert Dave Ramsey. It supports a zero-based budget, which means you account for every dollar you earn by assigning it to a category, such as bills, entertainment, and savings.
• Evernote: note-taking software that helps you create and organize digital notes—and keeps them synced across all your devices. You can use it as a digital filing cabinet to organize all your notes, whether they're recipes, strategic plans for work, or a daily diary.
• FamilyWall: helps manage your Family's everyday life by sharing everyone's schedules and activities, tracking grocery lists, planning for dinner, managing to-dos as well as locating kids when they are outside. 
• Fetch Rewards: a shopping app that makes saving simple. Just snap your receipts and earn free gift cards from your favorite retailers. Connect with friends, shop custom offers daily and enjoy the rewards.
• GroupMe: a free group messaging app that is user friendly for both iOS and Android users. Each group is given a label and assigned a unique number. Some of the features of the app include the ability to share photos, videos, locations, create events, and emojis.
• Last Pass: a password manager and vault app; enables you to create strong robust passwords and share them securely with others when needed.
• Life360:  designed to keep families, partners, and friends connected and safe. It can be used to locate someone traveling, receive notifications when a loved one requires your assistance, and detect car crashes on impact.
• Marco Polo: a video chatting app to communicate in back-and-forth videos with friends.
• Notes: typically a pre-loaded app on your smartphone to jot down thoughts and notes, which can also use scanned documents and sketches. From your grocery list to long-form thoughts, the Notes app is a blank canvas for you to use as a digital notebook.
• Tile: The Tiles app works when paired with a Tile product. Find misplaced things nearby and far away with Tile trackers and the free Tile app that works on both iOS® and Android™. Add a Premium plan and all your Tiled items will be covered before and after you lose something.
• Tinybeans: a family photo sharing app that helps parents capture and organize their children's life stories using photos, video, and written messages. 
• Todoist: a to-do list and task manager for professionals and small businesses. It combines tasks, projects, comments, attachments, notifications, and more.
• TripIt: a travel-planning apps, with an easy-to-use interface to keep your flights, hotels, and car rental reservations neatly organized in one place. 

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Spiritual Resource Apps

• Dwell Bible: allows you to explore Scripture through daily listening plans, topical playlists, curated stories & passages, and more. 
• Gospel Library:  the gospel study app of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The library includes the scriptures, general conference addresses, music, learning and teaching manuals, Church magazines, videos, audio recordings, gospel art, and more.
• Hallow: an American Catholic meditation and prayer app that provides audio-guided Bible stories, prayers, meditations, sleep, and Christian music.
• PrayerMate: helps you encourage prayer amongst your supporters. Publish prayer feeds to keep everyone up to date, or start prayer groups and get people praying more consistently.
• Through The Word: a guided journey through the entire Bible, one chapter at a time without adds or fees.

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Health & Wellness Apps

• Day One: a journaling app, free with unlimited entries with the ability to make them private and safe.
• Gluten Free Scanner: uses your mobile phone camera to scan the barcodes already found on the products you buy. We maintain up-to-date the largest database of food and drink products available in the US, to detect the presence of gluten.
• Greatness: a lifestyle management app that helps you build healthy habits and daily routines to improve your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. It can be used to track certain habits daily.
• Huckleberry: Huckleberry is a daily tracker for babies and toddlers, particularly with sleep. It pairs pediatric sleep experts with AI to create a custom sleep plan with your unique family in mind.
• Ovia and/or Flo: both are menstrual cycle tracker apps, allowing you to predict ovulation, upcoming periods, and log symptoms. Both are FREE!
• Think Dirty: educates users on potential toxins in household, personal care and beauty products. Just scan the product barcode and Think Dirty will give you its ingredients to be cautious of.
• Yuka: a free mobile app that allows you to scan the barcodes of food and personal care products and instantly see their impact on your health.

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Hobby Helper Apps

• All Trails: This app is commonly used for outdoor activities such as hiking, mountain biking, climbing and snow sports. The service allows users to access a database of trail maps, which includes crowdsourced reviews and images.
•  BeReal: a social sharing platform that encourages users to share themselves unfilited and unedited. The app sends out a notification at a random time each day, giving users two minutes to share a two-sided photo of their surroundings in order to view what others have posted that day. 
• Canva: a graphic design tool with free and premium versions; makes designing beautiful creative assets easy for everyone. From social media images, videos and gifs to posters, websites, booklets, multimedia presentations, you can work with their premade templates or start from scratch.
• GoodReads: a free service for book tracking, recommendations and reviews. 
• Hoopla: a digital streaming service offering access to eBooks, eAudiobooks, eComics, music, movies, and TV shows.
• InShot: an editing app for videos and photos. A video maker with music, you can easily use to make basic video and even advanced assets like video collage, smooth slow motion, stop motion, reverse video and more.
• Libby App: connect your library card to your own local library with this app in order to borrow ebooks and digital audiobooks.
• 1 Second Everyday: a video diary to capture a quick moment from each day and turn it into a video montage.
• Pinterest: I'm sure EVERYONE has heard of Pinterest by now. But if not, it is a visual a search engine for finding ideas like recipes, home and style inspiration, and more. You can save each “idea” you find to specific boards with their own topics to keep them all organized. Follow Jordan Page on Pinterest here!
• Scribd: lets you listen to, read, or access any of its digital books, audiobooks, magazines, and more as much as you want for as long as you're in a free trial or paid subscription.
• Strava: GPS Cycling and Running App. Strava lets you track your running and riding with GPS, join Challenges, share photos from your activities, and follow friends.
• TV Time: a tool to organize the shows and movies you love and keep track of what you're watching.

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Just Plain GENIUS Apps

• Color collect:  a color picker for the real world. When you pick colors on your photo, manually adjust the circles for your ideal shades. As long as you can see the colors, the app captures them for you. 
• Flipp: your one-stop marketplace for savings and deals. Browse weekly digital flyers from retailers near you, or search for the items you need.
• Freecycle: a location-based donation collective; get rid of stuff you don’t need anymore by publishing a donation, help other people in need, and reduce waste. Or find recycled treasures in your area to pickup yourself!
• GasBuddy: uses your location to show you all nearby gas stations with their current prices, allowing you to find the best deal on gas and save money.
• Seek: a nature identification app that allows you to take photos of plants, fungi, bugs, and even animals and the app will try to identify the name and species.
• Shazam: Use Shazam to identify what you're hearing on the radio, in a store, on your device (with or without headphones), or anywhere else you hear recorded music. Find your previous Shazams in the Library, where you can preview songs to discover new music.
• Splitwise: an app for splitting expenses with your friends. It lets you and your friends add various bills and keep track of who owes who, and then it helps you to settle up with each other. 
• Sweepy: the app that helps you keep your home clean and organized. Create your house cleaning schedule to split your chores with your family and turn your cleaning routine into a game.
• Waze: a community-based traffic and navigation app, Waze was created as a social navigation tool for private cars.
• Windy: lets you display observed wind and temperature, forecasted weather, airports around the World, collection of 55,000 weather webcams and 1500+ paragliding spots right on the map.

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From productivity and creativity to mindfulness and exploration, there's an app for almost everything! It’s so much fun to learn about new resources that are out there from fellow Freebs that we otherwise would have no clue about! Thanks for sharing all of your suggestions & we hope you took a few new suggestions from others as well!  

Happy app-ing!

You'll also love these other great blog posts!

• Money Management Apps: Help Stick To Your Budget!
• Our Top Productivity Tips! Find Out How We “Do it All”
• How To Create a Family Command Center