I simply remember a few of my favorite apps...

i am addicted to my phone.  no, really.  i am starting to forget whether this is a gadget i purchased two years ago, or if it is just a natural growth forming off my hand.  i have left my apartment without my keys or debit card loads of times, but somehow i never forget my phone.

sure, i could survive without it, but...why?

since i'm on my phone so often, i thought i'd share some of my most beloved apps with you.  i become embarrassingly obsessed once i've discovered a new app that makes life just that much easier or fun.  i hope the following apps make you just a little bit obsessed, too.

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{a beautiful mess}

this app was recently released by elsie and emma, sisters who write one of my favorite blogs, a beautiful mess.  the app lets you grab old pictures off your phone and edit them with different filters, much like instagram.  but this app offers so much more, including backgrounds, cool artsy borders, text over your pictures, doodles, the works.  no photoshop needed.

{afterlight}

another one of my go-to apps on a daily basis.  this app lets you take pictures or pull old ones off your phone before editing them with dozens of fun filters.  you can also independently change the contrast, exposure, and clarity of each photo.  but my favorite part about afterlight is the photo timer.  i use this constantly.  you can set the timer at 3, 7, or 10 seconds to take self portraits with your friends with your higher megapixel camera option, without trying to hunt around your iphone screen while posed for the camera button.  this feature, my friends, is beautiful.

{relax melodies}

i am a very light sleeper, unfortunately.  it seems the only thing that doesn't wake me up is my alarm clock.  i really wish this weren't the case, but blinking lights, repetitive ticks, or noisy neighbors keep me up all night, boiling over with frustration.  some quick searching on my phone led me to the (free!) relax melodies app, with numerous white noise tracks to choose from.  the oscillating fan option is the most similar to actual "white noise" to me, though there's everything from stormy nights, to under the sea sounds to lull you to sleep.  just blast this at night to drown out the unpleasantness that is your neighbors watching tv on full blast at 1:00 am.  available for both your phone and computer.

{whatsapp}

i've really missed keeping in touch with friends overseas on a medium other than facebook.  but overseas texting is expensive, yo.  so i was thrilled when a friend pointed out whatsapp to me, a service that allows you to send unlimited text messages to people with a smartphone anywhere in the world for free (as long as they have the app on their phone too).  just enter their number into the app and you're all set to send as many bear hug emoticons as your friends can handle.

{muni watch}

oh, the joys of the muni.  and if you've ever been to san francisco, you know just how seeped in sarcasm that statement is.  luckily, there's an app for that.  several, actually.  but muni watch is by far my favorite.  it has a real-time map of every muni service in the city.  little arrows show you exactly where the muni you're waiting for is, and a simple click on your stop shows you when the muni will get there.  even when the 511 phone service isn't working, this app is still accurate.  sadly, the app won't make the N line faster than its standard 8 mph.  sorry.