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SleepBot

If you’re one of those unfortunate people who wake up after a sleep feeling tired and lethargic, SleepBot will be a godsend.

Plop your phone in bed beside you and SleepBot will track your movements and nightly noises.

Sounds like a pretty good way to accidentally find out that your house is haunted too! While SleepBot’s usage might seem nonsensical beyond ghost-busting or making fun of your partner’s sleep-time mumbling, it does actually have real uses. SleepBot tracks your sleeping pattern and wakes you up when you’re at the lightest part of your sleep cycle so you’ll have a great sleep.

SleepBot is free and available on iOS and Android.

1Password

Struggling to keep track of the different passwords you use across platforms and devices? Password app 1Password aims to solve that.

Changing passwords regularly and choosing complicated passwords with letters, numbers, and hieroglyphs is the norm, but keeping track of them all is a job of its own—especially when your password looks like you made it by hitting your head against the keyboard.

The app collects all your unique passwords into one safe place and locks them behind the eponymous one password. 1Password integrates into your browser or device and when it’s time to log-in, you enter the 1Password. Just don’t forget that password!   

1Password is available on iOS and Android.

HiFutureSelf

You know how it is: you’ve got something to do so you set a reminder in your alarm app or in your calendar. You never look at the calendar again and you hit ‘snooze’ when the alarm goes off.

And now you’ve forgotten what it was you wanted to do. Instead of relying on blaring alarms and calendars, HiFutureSelf lets you write a text that’ll be sent directly to your inbox on a given date and time. Handy!

HiFutureSelf is free and available on iOS.

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Skyscanner

If you’re a frequent flier, you’ll really like Skyscanner. With over 30 million downloads, Skyscanner is a hugely popular price comparison app and website.

Skyscanner lets you quickly compare deals on flights around the world. With a swipe of your finger, you can compare options and book the cheapest flight. Whether you’re off on a business trip or a romantic get-away with your other half, Skyscanner will get you where you’re going for the best price.

Skycanner is free and available on iOS and Android.

Cloze

If you’re addicted to your social media accounts and constantly find yourself reaching into your pocket to check your tweets or new emails, you’ll understand the annoyance of having to switch between multiple accounts. Especially if you’re a poor soul who is unfortunate enough to use a slow phone. A useful app, Cloze pulls your social media and email streams into one place, making digital communication a doddle.

Even better, Cloze is a smart organiser and sorts all your streams and messages by person per day so you can keep track of everything.

Cloze is free and available on iOS and Android.

Hightail

You know how it goes: you’re just home from the office and an email comes in from a very important person or client looking for an attachment. You fetch the attachment from your email, attach it, and hit send.

The email refuses to budge from your outbox or fails to send because the attachment is too big. You’re on your phone and youreally need to get that attachment to the recipient within the next 15 minutes.

Do you rush back to the office or cross your fingers and hope it’ll be fine?

Neither! You Hightail it. Upload your file to Hightail’s servers and they’ll create a link that you can send. The recipient can then download the attachment from the link. If your phone is an Apple product, Hightail even lets you directly upload and send large files, as well as offering file storage and the ability to digitally sign documents.

Hightail is free and available on iOS and Android.

Plex

Turn your phone into a one-stop media powerhouse with Plex, an app that collates your photos, videos, and music files to one portable place—your phone. Bring all your media wherever you go, share your files with friends and family, or stream whatever you’re watching directly to every TV in your house.

If you want to watch or access your favourite media on the go, then Plex is the app for you.

Plex is available on iOS and Android.

Luminosity

The brilliant Luminosity is daily brain-training in a game.Whether or not you believe in the science of brain training, Luminosity is a great way to keep your brain sharp.

The app’s interface is gorgeous and super navigable and you can pick different skills and games to improve different brain functions, like memory or concentration.

If you practice every day, your score should rise alongside your brain power and cognitive skills. While the science may still be up in the air, Luminosity is a fun and addictive way to pass the time when you’re on a bus to work.

Luminosity is free and available on iOS and Android.

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Carrot Fitness

If apps had personalities, Carrot’s would be described as grumpy. A fitness app with a difference, Carrot makes fun of you when you fail to hit the targets you’ve set yourself.

If motivation is missing from your life, Carrot will soon kick you into gear. Warning: not for those of us with sensitive souls.

Carrot Fitness is available for iOS.

Duolingo

Want to learn a second language? With over ten languages to choose from, Duolingo can teach you a whole new language in a couple of months.

While Duolingo might seem too simple to be useful, millions of people have downloaded it. Earn points for correct answers, race against the clock, and level up via Duolingo’s gorgeous interface. The lessons are bite-sized and can be consumed on the go so even the most reluctant of learners can progress at a pace that suits them.

Duolingo is free and available on iOS and Android.

Zombies, Run!

Want to get fit but think running is really boring? Or are you lacking the motivation to pull on those expensive runners you bought especially for your health kick? Try Zombies, Run!, an app that pits you against a rampaging horde of zombies.

Using GPS or a pedometer, Zombies, Run! turns your boring morning jog into a game, with a storyline playing in your ears via your headphones. Brilliant voice acting and writing really adds to the immersive quality of the game. While it’s no The Walking Dead, it’s a great way to get out and running.

Fail your fitness kick and you’ll doom all of humanity to the zombie apocalypse. No pressure.

Zombies, Run! is free to download on Android and iOS.

IF

Put the internet to work for you with IF, a tool specifically designed to let you create connections between hundreds of apps like Facebook, Twitter, Fitbit, and more.

IF sets up actions in a deceptively simple, accessible way so your phone can run a set of steps based on the principle of if this then that.

Let’s say you’re a photographer who usually uploads a photo to Instagram and then posts that photo to Twitter or Facebook or your ten other social media accounts. Instead of doing each step yourself, you can ask IF to do it for you.

IF can even operate on a more in-depth level with tools like the Nest Thermostat: when you leave home, IF will tell Nest to turn the temperature down.

With thousands of possibilities, IF lets you organise huge chunks of your life—and all with the touch of a couple of buttons!

IF is free and available on Android and iOS.