You would think that the Apps4Truckers guy would be talking all the time about trucker apps. Well, not so fast. There are many different kinds of apps geared for truckers but many mainstream apps are very useful to professional drivers as well. Here is just a sampling:
Google Drive (iPhone, Android)
You don’t have to be a Gmail user to make use of Drive and with the 15 GB of free storage that they give you, it is worth exploring just to free up phone space. A big PLUS is that you can set up an account for each email address to multiply your storage. Use it to save pictures, scan documents, create a spreadsheet…heck, you can even make a slideshow if you want.
This is a very versatile app that is like “organized advanced texting”. You can download the app, see which of your contacts are already using it and hook up with them by sending a text, picture or voice message. Send a voice message to your friend and have a conversation where all audio is saved for replaying. It is also a great way to keep connected with the home front.
Formerly known as IFTTT, the IF app is great for making your life easier. Many automated activities can be handled with ease by linking other apps and since they have spawned 3 “children”, known as Do Button (iPhone, Android), Do Note (iPhone, Android) and Do Camera (iPhone, Android), the possibilities have become quite broad.
Facebook may be a staple for many smartphone users but having an app like this that works together with Facebook is very helpful. This app reminds you of friends’ birthdays so that you can send them a free card online or pay to send them a card through the mail. You can even attach a Gift Card from places like Amazon.com to spice up your gift.
Podcast Addict (Android) or Pocket Casts (iPhone, Android)
You should know that the host of Apps4Truckers would be a fan of podcast players. If you got burned out on podcasts in the past, this medium has picked up steam in the last 2 or 3 years and presents some very interesting content. Podcast Addict is free (or paid to remove the ads) and only available on Android. My tutorial video on it is here. The stock podcast app is built into the iPhone, but if you want a little more versatility, Pocket Casts is a paid app that runs about $3.99 and is available on both iTunes and the Play Store.
News Reader by Feedly (iPhone, Android)
Find the articles that you are interested in without searching everywhere with Feedly. The free version is usually enough for most users and you can set it to “hunt” for articles/webpages that have specific words in them and sort them for your reading pleasure.
You don’t have time to read all of the articles and web pages you come across. This is a place that you can save and sort those articles for later reading. This also works with Feedly, all browsers, and most any app that has integrated sharing.
Weather
While this is probably a subject of argument for years to come, this is probably going to be a toss-up between two apps: Weather Underground (iPhone, Android) and The Weather Channel (iPhone, Android) Why? Because they are available on both iPhone and Android and have very similar capabilities (in an independent trial though, TWC app was faster on the draw to warn).
What non-truckers apps do you use daily? If you want to see articles and videos on any of these apps and their features, stay tuned. App Reviews From the Trucker’s View is coming soon.