When it comes to apps used for travel, I essentially group them into one folder. That said, the apps inside that folder aren’t “pure” travel apps. They would be best broken down into the following categories:
- Time apps
- Weather apps
- Travel apps
So – essentially – all of these apps are used for the purpose of (or during) traveling, but aren’t solely used for travel by others. For the purposes of this latest installment of the Decluttering iStuff series, I am only looking at the first two categories, as I’ve already covered the “pure travel” apps earlier on.
Also for the purposes of this decluttering, I’m combining the Time and Weather apps contained on both my iPhone and iPad. Since most of them were on both anyway, this is a mnior point on my end but felt it was worth mentioning nonetheless.
Oh, and I’ll wind up with just one of each type of travel app on my devices when this is through, as opposed to the usual primary and secondary app. So there’s that.
Time Apps
Clock
This would be the standard alarm clock that comes with the iPhone. It works with Siri, which is great – especially considering that Siri doesn’t do a hell of a lot up here in Canada yet. It doesn’t let you play full songs, only ringtones. So if you like waking up to full songs and playlists, you’re going to have to look elsewhere.
Then again…if you need full songs and playlists to wake up, then there’s probably not an app for you that can wake you up anyway.
It’s also got a lot more functionality built-in, including a timer, world clock and more. I’d say it has the time thing covered.
Night Stand HD
A really robust app that lets me wake up to music. But since I use Rdio as my main source of music on my iOS devices now, this app isn’t the ideal any longer. If you’re using iTunes and you want to wake up to music, then this is a great choice. If not, then the one I’ve chosen is probably the one you should go with.
Then again…I’m kind of biased.
Jimmy Fallon’s Wake Up Call
I really want to make this my primary alarm clock app, but it is so darn buggy. In fact, I’d say it was this app that finally convinced me to stick with the alarm clock app that I’ve stuck with since uninstalling this one. Thanks for being the “tipping point” for me, Jimmy.
Weather Apps
Thermo
Ben Brooks turned me on to this app when he was offering up his thoughts on weather apps. While I liked it, I’ve never really been hung up on what the weather is like where I’m at. In fact, I’m never really hung up on the weather at all – unless I’m going somewhere or want to know where it’s like where others I know are.
Weather
This is the stock app provided by Apple on the iPhone, and it does the job well. I can add cities to the mix, which lets me see (without going into TripIt) what the weather will be like where I’m headed. It’s part of the whole Notification Center default settings as well, and that’s actually made me use it more than I ever did.
Conclusion
After carefully weighing each app, I’m left with the following apps:
- Alarm Clock app: Clock1
- Weather app: Weather
The moral of the story: Even when given many choices, often Apple knows – and gives you – exactly what you need all on its own.2
Photo credit: www.boostsamurai.com (CC BY-SA 2.0)
1On the iPad there isn’t a native clock app included, so I’ve removed all of them. Now that’s minimal.
2Speaking of minimal, methinks Patrick Rhone would approve.
