Top Twenty-Four Apps.

In the spirit of giving at Christmas, we are giving you the gift of the top twenty-four apps all in one little list.  We know... you're welcome.  You should know, though, that there was no way we were going to spend Christmas day typing a blog post (even for you), so we actually typed this last week (twice, if you need to know- we deleted the first one... nice.  Ya, we were pretty happy about that.).  So, you ask, how did we type it last week and have it post on Christmas?  Did we get up at the crack of dawn Christmas morning, rush to the computer, and hit the "publish" button?  Did we hire elves?  Did we actually type it on Christmas after all (you know, third time's a charm)?  No.  No.  And, no.  If you want to know how we did it, click here.

Anyway, on to the list.  So, in no particular ranking, but in the order in which they were published, these are the twenty-four apps we reviewed:

1.    Evernote
2.    SoundHound
3.    Better Christmas List
4.    Postagram/Sincerely Ink
5.    Lose It
6.    ePrint
7.    Pandora
8.    Words With Friends
9.    Alarm Clock
10.  Fantasy Monster Football
11.  Capture
12.  Glo Bible 
13.  Silent Film Director
14.  Grocery IQ
15.  SnapTell
16.  All Recipes/Epicurious
17.  Nike Training Club
18.  Pages
19.  App Advice
20.  Card Shark Deluxe
21.  TripIt
22.  Greeting/Holiday cards by Cardmon
23.  HootSuite
24.  BlogPress

Day Seventeen. App Seventeen. Nike Training Club.

It's been a few days since we've tried to motivate you to get some exercise, so we thought we'd give it a try again.  Because we have other things we'd like to do besides exercise, we're big fans of the quick, get-it-done, and get-on-with-other-things type of exercise. So, we have an app for that... and today we're sharing our review of it with you.

That app is Nike Training Club, which bills itself as "your personal trainer. anytime. anywhere."  When you open the app, you can choose whether you want to "get lean, toned, or strong," or do a 15 minute focused session (that's the quick one we like).  Once you've made your selection, the app provides you with both visual and audio instruction (that actually isn't annoying like some).  If you are unclear about the instruction, you can tap on the picture and it will take you to a more detailed video.  Then, once you're done, you can access information about your progress and unlock badges to make you feel good about your exercise.

We like it.  We use it after we've overindulged (see yesterday's app review)... and some other times too.

Day Five. App Five. Lose It.

It seems to us that you've been spending a lot of time sitting around on your computer lately.  You need a little motivation to get off your tush and "move it move it."  That's what we're here for (not really, but if you need a personal coach, we can try to be that for you today).  Anyway, the app for you today will help you see that walking to the mailbox (75 times) really will count towards working off that egg nog.  Yes, folks, that app is Lose It.  Now, despite what you might think by our quick-witted banter and light on our feet sound, we are not always the best at getting off our comfy spots and heading out to exercise.  However, Lose It makes it easy to keep track of food we eat and makes it feel a bit like exercising is a game (we like games).  All we do is enter in the food we eat (by scanning a barcode or choosing from an insanely extensive list) and logging the exercise we do (even that mailbox move you're trying to count could be figured in!).  The app keeps track of how many calories we have left to eat in any given day/week depending on the goal we've set for ourselves.  Our current goal is just to maintain (we're optimistic realists when it comes to holiday eating and exercising)...you can too!  So, get that app and start those mailbox reps!