Apps for Apple and Android devices can be great fun; from destroying those annoying pigs in Angry Birds, to being able to crack Indiana Jones’s whip on your iPad. However, apps can be useful for your professional life. Here are 12 top apps for making your working life easier.
1. Evernote
Evernote is a cross-platform app that remembers documents and folders across all your devices. It takes notes, captures photos, creates to-do lists, records voice overs - and all of these are shareable and searchable. It helps keep you organised and productive at home, at work, or on the go.
2. LogMeIn
LogMeIn is a cross-platform app which allows you to access your PC or Mac remotely on your device. You can access your files, run applications and control your desktops from anywhere. With everything at your fingertips, you’re finally free to go - you never have to worry about leaving important files at home again.
3. Numbers
Numbers is an app for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch which allows you design innovative and professional spreadsheets in minutes - make tables, charts, photos, and graphics, using just your fingers. Anything you make can be sent by email, shared on the web, or printed to the nearest wireless printer.
4. OmniFocus
OmniFocus is designed to organise tasks and capture your thoughts, break the week down into steps, and review all your projects for the week and make sure that you never let anything important slip through the cracks again.
5. iThoughts
iThoughts is a powerful mind mapping tool for the iPad and iPhone, allowing you to visually organise thoughts, ideas and information. Files can be imported and exported to most desktop applications, and the company provides an educational discount. It also has a doodle feature, allowing you to make notes and pictures with your fingers when you need to jot things down quickly.
6. Penultimate
Penultimate is the best handwriting app for the iPad. Take notes in a meeting, draw a quick sketch, share your ideas - as an Evernote product, your written notes will be saved in notebooks by topic, and then can be seen, searched and shared across all your devices.
7. Pocket
Pocket is an excellent bookmarking tool. When you find something on the web, put it in your Pocket, and the page will automatically sync to your phone, tablet or computer so you can view it any time, anywhere, without the need for internet connection.
8. Mint.com
Mint.com is a cross-platform banking app that allows you to manage your finances easily. Mint pulls in all your personal finance accounts into one place, so you can manage your money from anywhere. Track your spending, automatically generate budgets, and create spreadsheets based on your income and expenses, with a secure password system, and access your finances across devices.
9. Bump
Bump removes the need to carry a business card - just bump two phones together and instantly share files. It’s a cross-platform app that also allows files to be sent to your computer with a single bump.
10. Skype
Skype is not only found on computers - it’s a cross-platform app that allows you to make video calls on phones, computers and TVs with Skype settings. Hold meetings or talk with colleagues easily; you can bring together work colleagues, employees and customers simply and quickly.
11. SignEasy
SignEasy allows businesses and professionals to legally sign documents on tablets and smartphones. Forget the troubles of printing, scanning and faxing documents (or sending them in the post) and sign, stamp and add your logo to any file or paper.
12. Remember the Milk
Remember the Milk is a to-do app that will never let you forget things again. Set priority events, time estimates, due dates, repeating tasks, and a syncing system that saves your notes and tasks online to back-up everything, so you never have to sweat over the short stuff again.
