Make your commute easier and more enjoyable with a bit of technology and these excellent apps.
Sometimes we need a little help getting to work. It could be you need a faster route, more entertainment or a way to do a little work on the move. These apps can help you do all of the above…and more.
Getting ready to go
Make sure you’re dressed for the weather with AccuWeather. This app not only gives you weather warnings, but also will tell you the weather for the next few hours and what it’ll actually feel like outside.
If you’re planning on going underground, on a bus or stopping at train stations, using Wifi Finder can get you connected faster.
And if you want to plan a route that reduces your carbon footprint, try Commute Greener. It will tell you how to improve your commute, how much CO2 you’ve not used and has competitions with friends to see who can be the greenest.
Route planning
For your day-to-day route planning there are a few apps that you need. Google Maps is the go-to, with live traffic updates and millions of smart features that can find you the faster route.
Citymapper is the pretender to the throne, offering in depth costs and time analysis of various route options in major cities.
And for those in London looking to fine tune their commute, try Tube Exits. It’ll let you know which carriage to get on to be closest to your exit.
Entertainment
Keeping entertained on commutes can be tough, especially if you don’t have Wifi or even decent network coverage. But these apps can all work offline.
Pocket allows you to save magazine and newspaper articles to read when you’re offline, while the classic Kindle apps allows you to read your favourite book on a number of devices.
Stitcher lets you download podcasts, or if you prefer music then Spotify is there with your favourite playlists offline.
And for longer commutes, you can now download a selection of its films to watch offline via Netflix.
Work
We can’t all spend our daily commute watching episodes of Stranger Things – some of us have to work.
Wunderlist can help you create to-do lists that you can tackle in the day ahead. It provides reminders and themed lists, which can then be shared with colleagues once you’re back online.
Evernote works in a similar way, allowing you to save notes, links, videos, basically anything in to one spot. Once you connect your phone again, it’ll sync up to wherever else you’ve got the programme installed, whether that’s your tablet or work computer.
And if you simply want to take notes, Monospace is a simple app. Without the whistles and bells of something like Microsoft Word all you’re left with is a basic note taking programme that allows you to focus on the task at hand.
Posted by The Secret Businessman