Katrina H. (@<katrinah>) is known for her in-depth app reviews and lists on Appolicious. Katrina is a social strategist based in San Francisco, when not wandering the planet.
1. Tell us about yourself – where you live, your job, things you like to do.
I am based in San Francisco, though I’ve been spending quite a bit of time in Mexico and Brazil recently. I love to travel, experience different cultures, and help people and businesses with digital strategy and mobile app marketing. I am addicted to learning the latest in innovative technology, and right now my world is all about mobile apps. In my free time I enjoy helping nonprofit causes I support, listening to live music, and learning (Brazilian) Portuguese. I am a big fan of Appolicious!
2. Which iOS device or devices do you own? Why did you choose iPhone or iPad?
I have an iPhone 3G operating on the 4.2.1 iOS. It is jailbroken and unlocked, which makes life easier when I am traveling. I love the iPhone specifically for its design and apps. With over 300,000 apps and growing in the Apps Store, the iPhone should really be renamed iEverything – because most of the time I am using it for everything except as a phone!
3. Is there a particular category of apps that interests you the most?
Social Networking! And apps in the music and travel categories that have a social focus to them.
4. What are your top 3-5 apps and why?
The top apps that I have been using a lot lately include: Skype, Foodspotting, Instagram, Social Questions, and Facebook.
With the Skype app, I can make international phone calls for free using my iPhone, which is amazing. Foodspotting is my preferred “check-in” location-based app. It is “the foursquare for food” and a great app for discovering recommended cafes and restaurants locally or when you are in a new city.
Instagram is my current favorite photo sharing app – it enables me to apply a variety of filters to my photos to give them a professional look, and with its built-in social features it enables friends to connect with one another through comments and images. Social Questions is the app I use to keep track of new questions and answers from the community at Quora, a question & answer site guaranteed to make you smarter. With so many great insights shared by entrepreneurs and experts across sectors, Social Questions is one of my favorite go-to apps when I am away from my laptop, have time to spare, and want to learn something new.
Facebook – do I even need to explain why I use this? ; ) With over 500 million+ people on Facebook, this is my #1 app for staying in touch with friends and family. I also use it to keep up-to-date with favorite brands, businesses, and musicians.
5. What apps are popular among your colleagues and friends?
My friends and colleagues tend to be early adopters of new technology, and many are also developers or marketing professionals focused on social networking. As a result, check-in and location-based apps such as foursquare and Gowalla are very popular among them, in addition to group messaging apps like GroupMe and Beluga.
6. Give an example of a time an app was truly useful to you.
AirBnB saved me from a lot of stress recently when my travel plans changed at the last minute and I needed to find a place to stay. I used the AirBnB app to find possible accommodation options, message potential hosts, and then reserve and pay for a great place, all within the app. The best thing about AirBnB is that it not only helped me to find an amazing apartment to stay at in a great neighborhood, but it also introduced me to a new friend in the process. Fabulous!
7. What other Appolicious member do you admire the most and why?
Shara Karasic is awesome! I am constantly learning about new apps thanks to Shara’s reviews, lists, and great posts about apps on Facebook and Twitter. Thanks Shara!
8. Do you have a blog?
For anyone interested in mobile app marketing and digital strategy, I blog at katrinah.com. I try to create posts that may be valuable to readers; hopefully I am making progress. : )
9. Anything else you’d like to share with the Appolicious audience?
I’d love to know what other apps I should try out. Feel free to leave a comment below with recommendations or tweet me @katrinah. Enjoy your iPhone!
