From helping you unwind, to DJing up a storm, to elevating your road code knowledge, our phones can really be the virtual assistant (and friend) we need! We have 10 apps to recommend this month that will help you live your best life.
1. Mentemia
Free to all New Zealanders, Mentemia is the app to help unwind your mental stress coil. It provides mental wellness coaching after getting to know you a little through some personality quizzes and what focus areas you have, like sleeping better, stressing less, or helping support a loved one.
There are easily digestible videos that guide you through some activities like a worry map, breath training and mood tracking. Major plus, the videos feature Sir John Kirwan (who is a massive mental health advocate) and his ways of approaching life that help him on a day to day basis.
This app is easy to navigate, is a local initiative, and feels like the natural way to support your wellbeing.
2. Groovepad
Have you ever watched a DJ perform and long to create beats of your own? Groovepad is the music making app that will make it easy and fun. Pick your genre of choice and you’re off!
The app offers lots of different lessons in how to start your track off, but to be honest you can dive right in and start pushing buttons feeling like the next Calvin Harris.
You get a 7 day free trial before the app kicks in a subscription service, so set a reminder for 7 days to cancel if you find the DJ inside you should stay that way.
3. Messenger – Kids
Did you know Facebook Messenger had a Kids version? It works just like normal Facebook Messenger except parents can manage the contacts list and kids control the fun!
The app comes with a Parent’s Dashboard where you can see the Activity, the Contacts list and the Controls tab (like popping status on Sleep mode). Kids can make decisions on who they chat to from the controlled contacts list, and can use their creativity in using stickers, GIFs, emojis, games and drawing tools.
The app doesn’t have any advertising or in-app purchases which is great too!
4. Smule
Miss singing your heart out at karaoke? Smule gives you the chance to pick back up the microphone and sing solo, or connect you with someone to sing a duet with!
The app has every song you could want, which you can sing live to followers and friends, or record and fine-tune. Don’t worry, if you’re a little rusty Smule can also polish your vocals with some studio effects. You can even create a music video once you have your final recording!
5. Storybeat
Storybeat will up your social media story game! With a massive library of sound effects and music, you can add anything to your videos and post to a host of social platforms. You can even narrate the video by recording a voiceover.
It’s simple to use, just select the video clips or photos you want to use from your camera roll, preview on the app, add your chosen sound and then share direct to your pages! This is a great way to differentiate and elevate your social media.
6. Depop – Fashion Marketplace
Want to connect with the local fashion community in a sustainable way? Depop is a fashion marketplace app where you can buy and sell clothes, shoes and accessories. Do that wardrobe clear out you have been putting off and upload your goods to your Depop shop.
The app is free, obviously shopping will cost some dollars, and Depop takes a small fee when successfully selling an item.
This is a great way to reduce fabric waste and give your old clothes a new life with someone else. This is the future of shopping!
7. North Star – Your Goals
Did you know you are 45% more likely to achieve a goal if you write it down? North Star will help you break down your goal into milestones to track progress, make a planner (with reminders) and help create habits that will help achieving that goal through a habits tool.
You can trial the app with one goal and see how it goes – if you would like to input more goals then you will need to pay a subscription fee.
Run a marathon, find your dream job, eat healthier. Whatever your goal is, North Star is a great virtual assistant to get you to the finish line.
8. NZ Driving Theory Test ($4.59)
If you or someone you know still needs to get their Learner license, then this app is perfect for practising the road code – and even if you have your license and just want to brush up on some theory!
It is super easy to use and upskill quickly. The app has some features like indicating if you have previously gotten a question wrong, bringing up incorrectly answered questions again in the next rounds, charting your progress, and timed tests!
The questions cover rules for cars, motorcycles, heavy vehicles and general categories like behaviour, emergencies and parking!
9. Tasty
You have probably heard of Buzzfeed, the entertainment and news outlet. Tasty is Buzzfeed’s cooking spinoff channel! It hosts over 4000 recipes (with YUM being the main ingredient in all of them) with step-by-step instructions and videos!
Qualities of the app include keeping your phone awake while having a recipe up (the screen doesn’t go dark – winning!), recommended recipes based on ones you have made and liked, customising your feed so you are shown recipes you can eat (low carb, vegan, GF etc) and keep all the recipes you are interested in your recipe folder under ‘My Recipes’. Easy! Happy cooking.
10. LinkedIn Learning
It’s like the YouTube of productivity! Upskill by learning from some of the 16,000+ courses in business, tech and creative thinking. You can take a marketing class, get some management training, learn graphic design and so much more. Watch online or download to watch offline later.
Display your LinkedIn learnings / certificates on your LinkedIn profile – making you that much more hireable!
There’s many free tutorials waiting for you, and an even bigger library of industry specific and master classes a subscription fee away!
