I’ve recently (and not-so-recently) discovered some great productivity apps that have really benefitted me. From Chrome extensions to actual apps, all of these have increased my productivity and simplified my life. They are not obvious, but what I like to call hidden gems. Hidden gems refer to things that you don’t see at first, but realize their true amazingness after you have discovered them. I actually originally coined this term while finding hidden “stars” for fantasy gymnastics, but have found myself using it in more and more scenarios. What are these hidden gem apps that I speak of? Read on to find out.
1. OneTab
If you’re like me, your tabs on your browser tend to accumulate over time. I tell myself that I’ll look back on something, and it stays there for weeks. Well, OneTab to the rescue. I was introduced to OneTab by a friend of mine not too long ago. OneTab is a browser extension that groups all the tabs you have open into one tab. Then if you want to go back to something, you can click on the link on your OneTab. Great, right? Well that’s not all. You also have the ability to group and name tabs, among other features. I’ve found this really handy for working on school projects. So I can have a designated spot that holds all the websites I need for a certain project, whether it be a research paper, a data analytics assignment, or whatever the project may be.
2. Magnet
The one thing I knew I would miss when I switched to my MacBook is the ability to easily resize and snap windows to take up a certain amount of the screen. Yes, you can manually resize it, but why do that when there’s an app for that? My app of choice is Magnet. You can snap your windows to virtually any place and size that you could imagine wanting with ease when you have the app running (yep, I’ve definitely tried to use it when it wasn’t running before).
3. Parkmobile
If you’re in college, see if your parking lots support Parkmobile. No kidding this app has saved me numerous times when I’ve been parked in an hourly or less paid parking spot on campus (seriously though, can we just standardize that all lots you can pay for at least an hour to start with?). Essentially, if you have this app on your phone, you can link your payment and car to the app and pay for whatever spot you parked in as long as you know the lot ID. Just amazing.
4. Tapingo
This is another college lifesaver. With Tapingo, you can mobile order food or drinks from places on campus if your campus supports it. I was surprised at the amount of people that didn’t know about it around campus, since it’s been so great for me. Not sure how you’re going to eat in those 10 minutes before the next class? Well, this is how I did it. I used Tapingo and would pick something up on my way to my next class, and then ate my food in class. Food problem, solved.
If I’ve learned anything from this, it would be to pay attention to signs around campus. I actually discovered both Tapingo and Parkmobile in that way! Be attentive and don’t just skip by everything you see. I hope you’ve discovered something new to try out in this post and let me know if you have any must-have hidden gem apps in the comments!
