These are genuinely great apps!

I can’t believe how fast 2023 has gone!

It has definitely been an interesting year for tech, but today, I wanted to talk about my 3 favourite apps of the year.

I’ve tried and used many apps this year, and the decision to just pick 3 apps was kind of difficult. I mean there are so many great apps out there!

That’s why I decided to sit down and make a list of my favourite apps that I used this year. I then ranked them from 1 to 10 in terms of helpfulness and whether I enjoyed using them or not.

This may sound like an easy task, but trust trying to decide wasn’t!

However, after having a long think and listing all the things I like about the apps as well as all the things I find useful about them, I had a suitable list.

In today’s article, I wanted to share 3 of these apps with you.

Warning, I’m a bit of a productivity nerd!

But, without any further ado, here are my top 3 apps of the year ranked…

1. Spark

When it comes to managing my emails, I am a huge fan of Gmail. I think that Google has really made a great web app that features a lot of cool things. I like Gmail and the Google Apps platform so much that I even pay for the Google Workspace subscription for my side hustle!

I’ve been following Jeff Su’s Inbox Zero technique which has worked extremely well for managing my personal mailbox as well as my side hustle one. If you haven’t checked out his video on this, you can check it out here.

However, the one area where I feel Google seriously needs to improve is their mobile app. Don’t get me wrong it’s not a bad app, but I feel that there are better alternatives available for mobile users.

One of these apps is Spark which I now use on my phone, iPad and MacBook as my default app for managing my email.

I must admit, when Spark introduced the Smart 2.0 inbox, I was left feeling a bit down due to its hefty price, so much so that I actually stopped using the app altogether.

However, I was wrong!

Spark has done a phenomenal job with the Smart 2.0 inbox and after trying it out, I even decided to pay for the premium!

Spark is an app that has revolutionised email for me. In the past, it would take me ages to go through my emails, so much so that I would often procrastinate and miss out on replying to important emails.

With Sparks grouping feature, emails get categorised and if I have a group of emails from things that aren’t important to me such as shop newsletters or notifications, I can quickly go through the list and archive them within a single swipe leaving room for the important emails.

Spark has a lot of other cool features which you can read about here. I could have gone on writing about this app, but this article would have turned into a book!

2. Endel

Endel is an app that I discovered a few months ago thanks to Liam Porritt and his video 90 Days To A Better Life – A Full Guide To Reach Your (Huge) Potential, which you can check out here.

Endel is essentially a generative music app that creates personalised soundscapes to suit whatever it is you are doing.

Whether you are working, trying to get to sleep or want to chill after a busy day at work. Endel is great for all those scenarios!

I’ve primarily been using Endel for when I need to focus and get on with work. I love the fact that it has a built-in Pomodoro feature which allows me to focus in 25-minute increments.

For those of you who are new here, I’m a huge fan of the Pomodoro technique and it has practically helped me get through both of my university degrees!

Speaking about using Endel for focusing, I’m currently using it to help me focus as I write this article!

I’m listening to soundscapes using my favourite earbuds the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC which offer brilliant active noise cancellation combined with apps like Endel are great for staying focused and relaxing.

I think that Endel works great for commuting via public transport, especially during those crazy and stressful journeys where you have kids running around and screaming, people playing their music out loud and having private phone conversations on loudspeaker.

I guess these don’t happen that often, but they do from time to time, even when the bus or train is busy it can be a stressful experience.

After using Endel for a while in these circumstances, I find that it helps me relax and get ready for a busy day at work. It also proves to be helpful after work, when the trains are usually louder and busier.

Speaking about relaxing, from time to time, I also use it when I go out on walks to have a break from the computer screen, especially when I have a busy morning at work.

3. Trip.com

The Trip.com app takes 3rd place on my list. The app has saved me on a number of occasions when the trains stopped operating and when I got stuck in different parts of the country for various reasons.

With the help of this app, I can book last-minute hotels, coach tickets as well as train tickets, flights and more!

The app also helps me find the best flight deals by comparing several airlines which is a nice touch.

Best of all, I can collect points which I can use to pay for more tickets!

I think that this is a great way of saving money if you are a regular traveller. I tend to use this app for buying my train tickets to and from work as I can save quite a lot of money on the trains, which aren’t very cheap in the UK.

The app itself isn’t perfect, but the fact that it has rescued me on a number of occasions is why I find it so incredibly useful and is also the reason why I think everybody should have an app like this installed on their phones.

As an example, we went to a concert in Cardiff this year and we managed to miss our last train back which in all fairness we should have anticipated. But with many hotels being booked, we managed to book a last-minute one within only a few minutes.

I often find myself travelling to London for work-related reasons, and unfortunately, there are times when travel can turn into chaos very quickly. For example, there was a time when London Paddington station came to a standstill due to bad weather.

There were all sorts of issues reported on the tracks caused by the bad weather meaning that even staff didn’t know when and if trains would be leaving. With the help of the app, I managed to book a last-minute coach that only had a few seats left and get home with only 2 2-hour delay.

Trip.com may not be an exciting app to have, but it is definitely a very useful one to have, especially if you use public transport!

Final Thoughts

It wasn’t easy picking my top 3 apps of the year, but I got there in the end. The truth of the matter is that there are many great apps out there for a wide range of people.

I tend to be a bit of a productivity and personal development geek, that’s why the first 2 apps I mentioned were productivity apps.

The 3rd app is just one that I think is incredibly useful to have, especially if you travel a lot.

I think that I will create a full list of the apps and tools I use and upload it to my website in case anyone finds this sort of thing interesting. But these are just plans at the minute.

What are your top 3 apps this year? Let us know in the comments!