Every Monday morning, the Spry Digital team gathers for our company-wide All-Hands meeting to set the stage for the week. Many join from across the country on Google Meetings. One of our core values is ‘grow together,’ so we encourage discussion about what we’ve learned or discovered recently. Here are a few interesting apps that have been mentioned.
productivity
Being present is top of mind these days. The app Forest encourages you to stay focused on a task (work, studying, even dinner with friends) and not use your phone by planting a virtual tree—if you leave the app, the tree dies. The more trees you grow, the larger your ‘forest’ becomes. Every tree represents focused time. And the company partners with Trees for the Future to plant real ones, too! When users spend coins earned in the app to buy a real tree, Forest creates a plant order with the organization.
weather
Team members are raving about Carrot Weather, an app with current, hourly and daily forecasts. They love the details, user interface and snarky comments. This is not an app for your children, but if you like a good laugh, it might be worth checking out. Personally, I am a fan of Weather Underground.
financial
There are two financial services apps that are popular: Robinhood and Albert. Robinhood allows you to invest in stocks, options, exchange-traded funds and cryptocurrencies without having to pay a commission. Albert is a tool to help you manage your money, invest it and reach your financial goals. The Albert app is perfect for students heading off to college in August. It will help them understand how to live on a budget and see where their money is going, and it alerts users when balances are getting low.
educational
On the educational front, lifelong learners can take classes, get certifications and earn degrees on Coursera and EdX. Coursera is connected with universities such as Johns Hopkins, Duke and the Georgia Institute of Technology, and edX offers courses from Harvard, MIT and Berkeley among others. Both have numerous options if you want to become certified in a specific technology, and they also make it easy to post your certifications on LinkedIn once you are done.
I always love hearing what everyone has discovered in the world of technology. We are fortunate to have avenues for learning and exploring right at our fingertips! Be sure to take advantage, and let me know your favorite app or website that you can’t live without.
Sheila Burkett is an information technology expert and CEO of Spry Digital, an interactive design agency delivering smart digital solutions. Follow Spry Digital on Twitter (@Sprydigital), Facebook (facebook.com/sprydigital), Instagram (@sprydigital) or LinkedIn (linkedin.com/company/spry-digital-llc).
