I looked up the definition of a “techy”: a person who is very knowledgeable or enthusiastic about technology and especially high technology. Hence I’m not a “techy” (though I’d like to be, perhaps I once was :-), but I definitely am enthusiastic about technology.

I regularly read the reviews for the devices (iWatch, iPhone, and latest novelties), and best of all the lists of the best Apps out there.

I do download many, try them, and eventually keep or delete. Some Apps I swear for, and it seems I can’t live without. So here are some of my favorites. I’m not listing the obvious, the ones that are useful even if the are either “buggy” or could be improved (e.g.; Skype):

PHOTOGRAPHY: 

ProCamera – I love this one because it lets you shoot RAW and edit directly on the App;

 Camera+2 – This is the one I use the most, I particularly love the Macro feature (although until recently it did crash quite often);

Slow Shutter – New to this, and did not used much yet, except to try. It needs a tripod to achieve good–or even decent–results;

Snapseed – A photo editor; Can’t live without it;

NOTE-TAKING:

Day One – I have a great affection for this App which is with me for years now. I make a note everyday, even if only two lines only, and add the photo of the day, or previous days, if I do not have one. At the end of the year I export the daily entries on a pdf. 

Momento – I don’t do anything special with this one, but it loads all the pics and activities on my socials (Twitter, Instagram, and FB). I may delete this eventually, it depends on the space. It is cute, but not necessary.

OneNote – This is an App by Microsoft. It syncs with all devices, and best of all it allows to save from the web, and in two easy steps on the phone/iPad. It is slow, and I do not like the writing inside a box that tends to “nestle” text, especially when copy&paste from the web. A +plus is the capacity to import Pdfs; the -minus is that it is painfully slow. 

Agenda – This is the best so far. With this App I migrated my Pen&Paper Bullet Journal—which I used to love—to the same system but online. I’m waiting for the update to the possibility to import tables from Numbers, and Excel, and Pdfs. After that One Note will be gone.

FINANCES:

YNAB – this is my favorite App, worth to pay for it. I have my budget for the all year under control at all times. A must have.

Pennies – This is an on-and-off. It is good to check your spending in coffes/aperitivo/lunch out, or at least that’s how I use it. Also, to keep track of quick expenses during a trip when following a budget.

1Password – Well, I could not live without this one. Everything is safely stored there. 

HEALTH:

Runkeeper – the best after all;

MyFitnessPal – whether one likes it or not, this one has the best and most complete database of all, and it is international too. You can find international food as easy as the common US food.

WolframAlpha – Culinary Math – Words – These three sisters are three very useful Apps; The WolframAlpha can help with any question, and calculate all sorts of difficult math—or simple (e.g.; Nov 23 + 125 days = … what date was Thanksgiving in 1948?); Culinary Math calculates calories of any food, or combination of foods, and nutrition, Unit conversion, recipe size conversion, decimals/Fractions/percents, calculate costs, and even Food Economics! While Words gives definitions, synonyms, and all those good intelligent things that makes one smarter.

TRAVEL:

App in the Air – Is my favorite for my itineraries. I love the ntegration with Apple Watch, very useful to have the code for the Boarding at your wrist.

ETA – Useful to have itineraries in memory, especially because it tells the estimated time of arrival.

Citymapper – This is a useful App. I keep it because I need it to know my way around Stockholm (I visit often), but it doesnt have a big database yet. Hopefully soon.

COOKING:

Pepperplate – This is my only App. It is practically my own database of my own cooking. When I don’t know what to cook, I open Pepperplate. In this App I copy recipes from the web or books/magazines etc. (easier to do on a PC), then correct according to my own tastes and needs. 

Culinary Math – see above and below.