by Alexandra Nicole Nuralam
These Are the Apps You Need in Your Life Right Now
It’s not news anymore, but we’re living in an app-driven world. There are numerous smartphone apps designed to fulfil your every need, be it ordering a car or food, and we don’t even need to get into social media.
Whether you’re struggling to remember to stay hydrated, or need a pick-me-up in the middle of a workday, here are the apps you should download ASAP.
Shine
Cost: Free, or GBP14.49/month for premium membership
Available for iPhone and Androids
Think of this self-care app as a pep talk in your pocket. Every morning, you’ll receive a message full of positive self-affirmations, self-care advice, and the Daily Shine, a short podcast-meets-meditation. You can also journal and meditate along with the library of articles and guided meditations.
The premium membership allows you to join the Shine Squad, a space where you can get real-time advice from other users.
Eve by Glow
Cost: Free, or USD79.99 for lifetime membership
Available for iPhone and Androids
The original Glow app is one of the better-rated fertility tracking apps on the market, but the Eve version focuses primarily on tracking your period and sexual activity. It lets you fill out a comprehensive sex and period log (along with cute graphics) to help you get in tune with your cycle, highlighting your symptom trends and forecasting your moods.
Plant Nanny
Cost: Free
Available for iPhone and Androids
Staying hydrated is crucial to your health, but many of us are guilty of not drinking enough water. Well, having gentle smartphone reminders might just help with that.
One of the better-known water drinking apps out there, Plant Nanny is an adorable app that has interactable plants that depend on you to grow. Not meeting your daily water quota has real consequences for your little plants, which can and will die. It is an excellent — and fun! — way to remind yourself to stay hydrated throughout the day.
Aloe Bud
Cost: Free, with in-app purchases for custom reminders
Available for iPhone only
Living in this digital age means being on our phones all the time, but it is important to unplug sometimes. This is where the uber-cute wellness app Aloe Bud comes in.
It lets users track virtually every aspect of self-care; you can customise gentle reminders to prompt you to drink water, take a phone break, do some deep breathing or get up and stretch. The app offers you two ways to note that you’ve done the activity: you can do a one-tap check-in, which just records the time and the fact that you have done it, or you can do a reflection, where you can actually write down what you did and any additional details you want.
Sleep Cycle
Cost: Free, or GBP38.99/year for premium membership
Available for iPhone and Androids
If you want to know how you slept, the Sleep Cycle app is for you. It tracks your sleep patterns and provides tips to optimise your downtime. Plus, it has an alarm clock that gently wakes you up when you are in your lightest sleep phase so you wake up feeling refreshed. Of course, keep in mind that any sleep tracker is not 100% accurate, so do see a specialist if you are struggling with sleep issues.
