I'm back after a bit of a reprieve! I got caught up in a stint of working 12 days in a row, and just didn't have the time or energy to think about the 23 Things. Now that that's done, and I've had a few days to recover and get caught up on all the other errands that got set aside, I'm back and we're on to utilities!
Thing three is all about utilities-all the little things you can use your mobile device for to make life that much easier.
The first utility app recommended on the official 23 Things page is a QR code scanner. When I got my first smart phone about four years ago a QR code scanning app was the first thing I downloaded. QR, or quick response, codes were just going mainstream around the time I got my first iPhone, and I was anxious to be in on the trend. While there were initially high hopes for their use (in libraries and in general), it seems their popularity has since dropped off. Still a handy app to have (and there are many free ones to choose from), as I do see QR codes popping up occasionally.
Hands down, my favorite utility app is the flashlight app. It is now a built in feature as of the latest iOS update, but an app version offers some different options like strobe etc should that be of interest. I cannot tell you how often I use the flashlight. Probably every day, whether its to search under the couch for lost dog toys, illuminate the area under a workstation at the library, find an elusive cooking pan in the cabinets-you name it.
I also use the calculator frequently. I'm not a math whiz, so its usually faster and easier for me to just open up my calculator app and do the math in there, rather than trying to work it out in my head or on paper.
I'm not entirely sure that this counts as a utility, but I don't necessarily see a place for it in any of the other 20 things that remain, so we'll cover it here...the Dictionary app! I have the Dictionary.com app and love it. I am a bit strange in that while I have a fairly large vocabulary (kudos to being a reader and taking the GRE for that), I am usually terrible at describing what a word means to someone when asked, even if I know what it means. I don't know why, it has just always been that way. The dictionary.com app gives me concise, easy to look up definitions. It also has a feature that lets you play a proper pronunciation of the word in question. They also do a Word of the Day-usually relatively uncommon words, to help boost your vocabulary. Plus, I use it way more than I would ever use a standard dictionary-whenever I happen upon a new word in a book, when a friend asks what a certain word means, and even during Scrabble and other word games when alternate spellings are questioned.
Those are my favorite utility apps! Stick around as I'll soon be posting about thing 4-Keeping up!
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