Great iPhone Apps for Moms

Since purchasing an iPhone back in February, I can safely say that it has changed my life.  This doesn't surprise me, being that it's an Apple product.  However, I was not prepared for just how much easier it would make so many aspects of life for me. In the words of the great Ferris Bueller, "if you have the means, I highly suggest picking one up.  It is so choice."

When I got my iPhone I was overwhelmed with the zillions of apps available, and was interested to hear what my friends' favorites were.  Originally I was going to share every one of my app's, but even that seemed to be a bit overwhelming.  So, I'm going to start with a few of my favorite apps for Moms in general.  (I'll share some more that I use for other reasons down the road, such as games, business apps, travel apps, etc...)  I'd love to hear your favorites if you have any I haven't listed!

Total Baby - $4.99 - I literally use this one all day and all night long.  It gives you one place to keep track of nursing sessions (or bottle feeding), baths, diaper changes, and doctor appointments for several kids.  You can even enter journal entries and photos to record baby's milestones.  I bought this when my 2nd baby was born, and it was worth it solely for the nursing timer!  I pretty much only use the timer, but do make occasional journal entries to record the date of a milestone.

2Do Lite - FREE - Keep track of all your to-do lists and organize them by categories. Very simple and intuitive...my husband uses this one as much as I do.

Shopper - $0.99 - Create shopping lists by entering items manually or scanning barcodes.  Connect your lists to actual store locations, and even get coupons and browse their weekly ads. You can even see what stores in your area may have coupons or sales for each specific item in your list.

Kare 11 - FREE - Great for getting our local Twin Cities weather and top news stories for the day.  I don't like how basic the standard weather app is, so this one will give me radar and a more detailed and extended forecast.  If you don't live in or around Minneapolis, see if your local news station has a similar app.

AllRecipes Dinner Spinner - FREE - This is from my favorite recipe website, and I've found a few great recipes using it.  Choose the type of dish you want to make, the main ingredient, and the amount of time you have, and it'll pull up a list of recipes to fit your criteria.  Save favorites to your recipe box!

Gate Guru - Free - Find out what's where in the various gates/terminals of your airport.  Great to find out what type of food is where, where the airline clubs are, restrooms, etc!

Sit or Squat - FREE -  From the makers of Charmin, this app will use the GPS capabilities of your iPhone to locate the nearest restrooms.  I haven't had the pleasure of requiring this yet, but I'm imagining that with two little boys, I'm safe to assume that some great fecal catastrophe is likely to befall me while out driving.  It's really only a matter of time.

SnapTell - FREE - Take a photo of the front cover of any CD, DVD, book or video game and you'll get a description, ratings, and links to where you can buy it!  A great way to find out more about something on a store shelf, and know if you're getting the best price.

Mall Maps Mobile - FREE - Great place to find maps of whatever mall you're in.  I've used this a couple times, since I do live in Bloomington, Minnesota, home of the Mall of America.  It's big.

Dog Parks - FREE - Great for dog owners.  Maps out your local area dog parks, and connects you with their websites and user reviews.  This would be especially handy if you are traveling with your dog and need to find a place for Fido to run off some energy and do his business.  But don't forget the poop bag!

Lose It! - FREE - If you're trying to lose a little baby weight, this is a surprisingly good app for being free.  Enter your weight goals and record the food you eat and exercise you do, and it will guide you to your goal.

CraigsPro - $0.99 - You'll get a warning that this has adult content, but that is because of it's unfiltered access to CraigsList ads.  I've used CraigsList way more since I've purchased this...it makes it so much easier to sell and buy stuff with an interface much nicer than the actual website.  You can save certain searches, and if you want to sell something, just snap a picture right there with your phone, enter your description, and you're done.

iGarage Sale - $1.99 - You've already heard about this one in a previous post, but it's a definite favorite.  Combines the GPS capabilities of the iPhone with the garage sale listings on Craigslist to give you an interactive map of sales in your area.  If you're a serious garage saler, it's TOTALLY worth the $1.99! I use this every week now that it's garage sale season!

RedBox - FREE - I love using the RedBox and paying only $0.99 to rent a movie.  I hate standing at teh machine browsing through screens of movies while a line of waiting people breathe down my neck.  With this app I can set my local RedBox location, and browse the movies available at that kiosk before I go pick it up.  If I know what movie I want, I can find out which kiosk has it, and have it reserved for me.

Craft Finder - FREE - From the folks at Family Fun Magazine, enter your child's age, amount of time you want to spend, and occasion, and you'll get a list of fun crafts with step-by-step instructions!





If you have a favorite app that I haven't listed that you'd recommend for other moms, please do share! I'm always looking for more!