Advice Needed on Smartphone Apps

I’m asking readers to recommend the best smartphone apps to load when you buy a new device.

I smashed another smartphone this week.

Now, my glass screen looks like the front windshield after a fatal car crash.  If you’ve received any text messages from me lately, and you’re puzzled as to why there were so many typos, it’s because I couldn’t see my texting through all the cracks.

That’s my story anyway, and I’m sticking to it.

Three smartphones demolished within six years.  Par for my course.  I figure a phone should last about two years, so probably it was time to buy a new one anyway.  I’ve owned two Apples (which were both excellent).  My latest, now broken, the smartphone was an HTC (which was even better than the Apple).  And now, against the golden advice of Dan Goldman, who has been my “go-to” technology maven for more than a decade, who advised me to run now walk to the Costco and buy a Samsung, I ignored the advice and decided to stick with HTC.  I ordered their new “10” model, which is being released today.  The tipping point on my critical decision was that HTC comes in silver while the Samsung only comes in black or white.  Yes, I admit — to being ridiculously superficial.

The new cell phone is scheduled to be delivered today (I’ve been without service for the last 24 hours and I’m about to have a nervous breakdown).  So, if you’ve tried calling and I ignored your call, it’s just that I’m phonefucked at the moment, at least until the FedEx truck pulls up and rescues me and reconnects me to modern civilization.

Which now brings me to a serious cry for help.

True confession:  I’ve never been much of an “app” guy.  I don’t use my phone for entertainment nor amusement.  I’m busy, well, kinda busy.  My smartphone is purely a communications device and a source of information.  That’s all I care about.  Okay, I do listen to music on it sometimes, but I have no interest nor time to indulge in teen fads or play mindless games or do anything else that wastes my precious time and diverts my attention away from gambling away money on poker and sports.

This time, I want to start fresh.  I want to be a new man.  I want people to call me the “king baller.”  I want to enter my next smartphone chapter with a totally open mind, except for all the shit I hate.  I might even try out some new things.  I want to become the guy people go to when they want to know how to set up their main screen, the patriarch of apps.

My request is as follows:  I’m asking my readers to list one or two smartphone apps that they find absolutely essential.  In particular, I’m looking for apps that aren’t as commonly known.  I’d also like to hear about top-notch security apps which protect passwords and keep confidential information (bank accounts, etc.) private.  In short, I’d like to hear about the apps out there on the market which are:

(1) state of the art

(2) lesser-known

(3) useful

(4) user friendly.

Of course, every smartphone user is different.  We all have different interests and needs.  Accordingly, our apps will reflect those very personal interests and needs.  Mine is pretty easy to guess — road navigation (driving), restaurants, wine and cuisine, music, sports betting, poker, Las Vegas events, shows, travel, and so forth.  Anyone who reads me can guess my interests.

A few nights ago at a local wine dinner, a friend showed me an app where the user snaps a photo of a wine bottle (label).  Then, the app reads the label and within just a few seconds assimilates that information, and then lists the price of the wine and where it’s available for purchase. Hey now, that’s an app I can use.  That’s what I’m talking about.

Obviously, BRAVO is an essential app for any poker player who lives in Las Vegas.  And, I have downloaded a SportsConnection app for mobile sports wagering.  Those will be the first two apps I will install on my new cell phone.  Forget about any GAME app.  I have no fucking time nor interest in playing Angry Crows or Heartstone or whatever the latest bullshit time-waster is that’s the current trivial vogue.  NO GAME APPS!

Where in the hell is that FedEx truck?  Isn’t it here yet?  Lazy driver.

I’d really like to read about apps you can’t live without.  While I’d prefer they were free, I don’t mind paying a few dollars if it’s a really essential and functional source of information.

Please post your favorite smartphone apps in the “comments” section below  Or, you can do what most readers do, which is to go and post on Facebook, where I’m sure the conversation will spin wildly out of control and be hijacked.  By the end of the thread about smartphones, we’ll be arguing about politics.

I really need your help with this.  Here’s to hoping I don’t smash my new smartphone.

Help, I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!

Note:  I’m posting this publicly because I presume there are other readers who also might be interested in hearing about some lesser-known smartphone apps.