5 of the Best SmartPhone Apps for Productivity

This is a guest post by Chris Marling. If you’d like to guest post on this blog, click here.
Whether you’re working from home, keeping busy on the move, or trying to keep on top of your work-life balance, smartphone apps can help you stay productive. And to save you from wasting valuable time trying to find them for yourselves, I’ve pulled together a few of the best productivity apps available today.

I’ve grouped five smartphone apps that make fantastic use of the cloud and syncing up your information. You’ll be able to seamlessly move from home PC to smartphone, tablet or laptop, without any messing around. And, even better, you can do it securely.

If you link these 5 best smartphone apps in tandem, it’s as if you’re using your home or office computer wherever you are in the world. You can be on your phone,on someone’s computer, or in an internet café.

1. LastPass

We all know that we shouldn’t use the same password for everything but the amount of people that still do is staggering. Sure, it’s hard to remember a bunch of different passwords, especially random ones. But what if you didn’t have to? LastPass is a brilliant widget you can add to Chrome, Safari, Explorer and the rest that is also now an app for all the major app platforms. Via your one central encrypted password (OK, you’ll have to remember that one!) it will create secure passwords and remember them for you, autofilling where you need them (including web forms). Then you just log out at the end of the day to keep them all safe.

2. Xmarks

Another fantastically simple resource, across all four major app platforms, Xmarks remembers your internet bookmarks for you. This is another great time saver when on the move or on an unfamiliar machine. With a simple download, all your bookmarks are at your fingertips, all in the right folders and ready to go.

3. TripIt

Taking trips can see us juggling a huge jumble of information: train times and tickets, hotel info, and car rentals. It’s a time-wasting pain to manage and can really slow you down at every step. With thousands of travel sites in its database, TripIt takes all this annoying information (all you do is forward all your confirmation emails to it) and puts it into one easy-to-manage agenda. This itinerary is then available in your smartphone (all major platforms), in time and date order, whenever you need it.

4. Dropbox

This is a simple app (iOS, Android, and BlackBerry) that is exactly what cloud computing was meant for. Dropbox simply allows you to make folders on one machine that you can then access anywhere, as long as either the Dropbox app or PC/Mac download is available. Simply log in and the files you’ve shared with your Dropbox account will be available. But better still, you can share them with friends and colleagues who also have Dropbox. You can collaborate on documents and share files and photos.

5. Yelp

Yelp has been online since 2004, collecting more than 27 million reviews from its users. You’ll find ratings on everything from restaurants and nightlife to shops and businesses. The Yelp app (for iOS, Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone) will serve up all the good places to go in your vicinity via the wonders of GPS mapping. Knowing just where to go for that essential item – or equally essential swift drink – can be a real time saver!

You should definitely consider these 5 smartphone apps if you are looking to increase your productivity. Technology has certainly given us the ability to use our smartphones to enhance our lives. Take advantage of these productivity apps and you’ll be glad you did!

This guest article was written by Chris Marling who is senior editor for Mobile Broadband Genie, the consumer advice site for broadband, tablets and smartphones.

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