Saturday, April 16, 2011

Top 10 Free Apps for Moms

1. Postino (pad/phone/pod/droid) - FREE Yes, you can always e-mail a cute phone snapshot of the kids to the grandparents. But withPostino, you can send an actual snail-mail postcard of a photo on your phone. Pick your shot, add a border if you like, type an address and a message, sign it with your finger (or have your kid sign it), and press Send. The company prints your custom postcard and mails it. All you have to do is pay the postage.
Tip: For a fun, easy thank-you note that's a cut above e-mail, send a snap of your happy kid with a new toy or a pic of the giver's child having fun at your kid's birthday party.

2. Mom Maps (pad/pod/phone) - If you're getting tired of the same old, same old playdate spots, take a look at Mom Maps to mix up your get-togethers. There are 27 metro areas in the app, with more being added all the time. The app uses your phone's GPS to pinpoint nearby playgrounds, restaurants, and museums, and it vets your choices with parent reviews. Then use Meetup to call a group together.

3. Lucy Phone (pad/pod/phone/droid) - FREE It's always annoying to wait on hold for a customer service rep, but when you're trying to feed a baby or have a toddler who's about to wake up, it's the worst. Good news: LucyPhone can do the waiting for you. Hang up, and LucyPhone will call you back when a real person is on the line. Score one for moms.

4. Fake a Call Free (pad/pod/phone/droid) - FREE If you're heading to a playgroup and you knowthat mom will be there – you know, the one who can't stop bragging about how advanced little Oliver is – you can program Fake-A-Call to ring you. The app can either call you whenever you ask it to or after a designated period of time. Your phone rings as it normally does, handing you a graceful exit.

5. ColorSmart by Behr Mobile (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch) - FREE When you look around your living room and see only toys strewn all over the floor, ColorSmart lets you envision a time when your rooms won't look like mini cyclones have hit them. With the app, you can play decorator, previewing a huge gallery of rooms and altering the colors of the walls and moldings. You can even take a picture of a wall in your house and dress it up in a different color to see how it'd look.

6. Rest Area Finder (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) - FREE Pregnant women and mothers of the newly potty-trained, rejoice: Next time you're on the highway, Rest Area Finder will locate the stops closest to you. It also tells you if they have dog walking areas, vending machines, and gas stations.

7. Trip Case (iphones/pad/touch/blackberry, droid) - FREE TripCase keeps track of every piece of information you need for a family trip – from itineraries and confirmation numbers to the locations of restaurants that friends have assured you are worth a stop. Plus, your flight status is updated in real time, so you'll be prepared to occupy restless kids if there's a delay.

8. Dragon Diction (iphones/pad/touch/blackberry) - FREE When Erin Kane, a.k.a. one of the Manic Mommies and a blogger for Real Simple, goes through her mental checklist of to-dos and wants to make sure she doesn't forget anything, she usesDragon Dictation. This genius app uses voice recognition software to transcribe what you say, great for those all-too-common moments when you really can't spare a hand. "When I commute by car, I use Dragon Dictation to draft e-mails, reports, even blog posts," says Erin. "It's super helpful for getting those thoughts down before you forget them."

9. Yap Voicemail (iphone, droid) - FREE Yap transcribes voicemails to text messages (or e-mails), so you can quickly skim the message from your mother-in-law about bringing a dish to Sunday dinner without having to listen to the long, drawn-out message. It's easy to set up and lets you quickly go through your messages at a glance without the hassle of accessing your voicemail.

10. Moms with Apps (iphone/pad/pod) - FREE Yap transcribes voicemails to text messages (or e-mails), so you can quickly skim the message from your mother-in-law about bringing a dish to Sunday dinner without having to listen to the long, drawn-out message. It's easy to set up and lets you quickly go through your messages at a glance without the hassle of accessing your voicemail.

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