Look around you the next time you’re taking public transport, sitting in a coffee shop or even walking along the street and every other person you see will be staring at a screen. Like it or not, the smartphone is an indispensible tool that’s here to stay – so, to avoid electronic enslavement we must figure out a way of making it work for us, rather than the other way around!
Here are six of the best mobile apps to help you increase productivity on the move.
A cloud storage system that’s so straightforward you’ll wonder how you managed without it, Dropbox prides itself on its simplicity and ease of use. It’s also an affordable option, with options ranging from a free 2GB account to US$100 per year for 1TB of space, and is compatible with pretty much every system on the market. Share files in just one click from Android, iPhone or Blackberry, enabling you to update on the go while automatically syncing across all your devices at once.
These days, most companies dedicate considerable time and resources to managing multiple social media platforms for their business. HootSuite makes this process a cinch, freeing up your marketing team to focus on operational matters. In its simplest form, HootSuite is a social media dashboard, allowing you to schedule, edit and track posts, tweets and other online content from one convenient place. You can also bolt on detailed analytics, along with customer service, business development and online marketing tools, effectively turning the app into your company’s virtual brand manager.
Anyone who finds themselves inundated with email will love Mailbox, an app that collates all your mail accounts, allowing you to filter, label and organise your messages into a more manageable, less overwhelming system. The clean, highly useable interface will be familiar to anyone already using an Apple device, and intuitive enough to anyone using Android.
Quip is a word processing app that enables multiple users to edit collaborative documents in real-time using the integrated messaging function – making ugly “track changes” mark-ups a thing of the past. Ideal for creating straightforward text documents, you can also add links, tables and images, with all users’ changes displayed as a simple, easily understandable thread. Up to five users can use Quip for free, and there’s also team pricing available (US$40 for up to 20 people).
If your wallet is overflowing with receipts, you’re processing business expenses or you simply want to rid your desk of paper clutter, Genius Scan will get you organised. Using your smartphone camera, snap a shot of your document then crop, edit and save in either JPEG or PDF format. You can then export your files to your email or cloud storage directly from your iOS, Android and Windows phone device.
If you find scheduling meetings a struggle then Doodle will save you time, effort and stress, seamlessly helping you to coordinate everyone’s schedule and find a time slot to suit everyone. Available on Android and for iOS, this simple-yet-effective app syncs with your calendar and enables you to create a simple poll requesting everyone’s preferred date. Once you have your responses, Doodle automatically generates a calendar appointment for the entire group, ensuring that no one misses the appointment. The premium and business versions will also send out meeting reminders and request attendees’ contact information, while SMEs will appreciate the functionality of the “Book Me” and “Meet Me” add-ons that automatically schedule client appointments online.
If your business is just starting out, talk to us about how we can help you increase your productivity. From virtual offices to company formation we can take away some of the pain of setting up a business so you can focus on making your company successful.