Daily Mugshot
You know how we were all impressed with that Noah Kalina guy and his 6 year photo project that went all kooky and viral, so much so even the Simpsons picked it up for a parody? Big deal, there’s an app for that now. What I like about Daily Mug is how stripped down and simple it is. The app does one thing: allows you to take on photos daily (JUST ONE), uploads it to the Daily Photo site and then lets you watch all the photos strung together in a “mugshow.” If you get onto the company’s website you can actually access an embeddable widget animation of all your photos and you can edit and caption entries. I’m totally saving up to get to 60 entries to I can order myself a flip book off of the company’s website.
Momento Classic
The last time I actually used a diary it was pink, had a heart shaped lock and was filled with teenage yearnings. This is an adult’s diary. Momento is a simple little app that allows you to diarize your daily life and brings in social media feeds in order to tell the story more completely. This feature of the app reminds me of one of my other favorites, Blacktop, which gives social media context but using it to sequentially tell the story of your day. The contacts-based tagging and free form tagging make searching for entries about specific people or topics incredibly easy. This is the journal for the iPhone era.
Download
Diacarta Planner
Nope, this isn’t your momma’s appointment calendar. In fact, I’m still not even sold on the fact that this is a particularly efficient way to manage my time. But you know what? It sure looks pretty doing it. Diacarta is of the “high design” philosophy when it comes to iPhone apps, and approaches the solution of daily time management in an illustrated method that places icons around the clock, both AM and PM. This app has ultimately proven to be difficult for me to mesh into my really busy days but it’s the perfect app for trust fund hipsters who literally having nothing else to accomplish but riding fixies, drinking, partying, drinking lattes, making art and taking photos with vintage cameras (because there’s icons for all those things.)
Download
EpicWin
Work sucks, there’s just no other way to put it. A to-do list is about as fun as a kick in the face. But with Epic Win, you can imagine tackling that status report the same way you would a mighty dragon, or envision delivering that presentation the same way you would deliver the elder sword to the queen of the kingdom. This RPG (that’s role playing game for the uninitiated) meets to-do list app turns your daily duties into part of a journey that earns you mystical items and mileage on your path to adventure. This is a clever app and the improvements that have already been introduced since the app’s release have made leaps and bounds in its utility.
QRANK Trivia – New Questions Each Day
I’m not a super competitive person, having had no brothers and sisters there was never any scramble for the last drumstick or fight for mommy’s affection. But something about Qrank has managed to build in me 27 years worth of ferocious competition. This daily quiz app allows you to play against your friend in one daily competition with trivia ranging from sports to current events. Much like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire you have a few life line options but the creators have made this times quiz tough to cheat. Seeing my scores compared publicly against my friends and business colleagues has become a reason for me to read the news every day
Download
Miso – Social TV
It’s always so pretentious on sites like OKCupid when people are asked to list their favorite shows and movies and you know they just choose the most affected or socially acceptable shit possible. Oh really? You love True Blood and Mad Men, shocker. Oh, you spend three hours a week watching indie films? You must be so complex. Let’s get honest people, I want to see your REAL viewing diary. I’ll be the first one to admit, I may say I watch Current TV and Nightline on my public profile, but Miso’s favorite list will tell you I’m all about Glee and Sex and the City. This simple app and website has made a lot of progress over the last few months and I’ve tested out a few of the competitors including Couchin and Tunerfish and Miso has still come out on top for recording my viewing habits.
