Modern technology is constantly adapting and changing. Hence, as marketing strategists, it’s important to keep on top of which apps are most popular as well as understanding why consumers enjoy using them. Consumers build upon changing expectations in digital experiences once they are hooked on a function that adds value in one way or another. Let’s face it, we learn what we like by trying new things and today, more than ever, there are several top apps that offer convenience and striking time savings. Who doesn’t want a little more time back in their day?

To help put our own “learning hat” on, we asked a few friends and team members at fOCUS360 which apps they haven’t been able to put down lately, or apps that have been benefiting their days- whether that’s making the commute to work a little easier, or helping them come up with fast, healthy recipes.
And the poll is officially in! Here is a short, yet quick-read list of apps for fun, efficiency, and learning!

1. Feedly
2. Pocket
3. ChatGPT
4. Blinq
5. Duolingo
6. COOKmate
7. Be My Eyes
8. Spotify
9. Subjectline.com (web and app based)
10. Rover

As a tech company, developments in AI have our attention to gain efficiencies. Whether it’s personalized news feeds from apps like Feedly and Pocket or the famous ChatGPT, we love exploring new AI technologies both in and out of the office. Let’s take a look at the list!

1. Feedly allows us to tag relevant buzzwords and select priorities which it then uses to source relevant news articles from across dozens of platforms from Twitter to the Harvard Business Journal. We love the feature of removing irrelevant articles and prioritizing others to further train the AI, affectionately named Leo, to better personalize our feeds. With Feedly, we’ve been saving a ton of time on market research while never missing a new insight.

2. Pocket has been another office favorite of the late. We’ve been using Pocket to save articles for later reference and to highlight important information. This way, when we share articles amongst the team, we can point out the exact piece of the article that we think is important. Personally, our favorite feature of Pocket is the customization feature. We love that we can easily adjust the font size, style of the article text, and we can categorize articles by type within the app to make them easier to find later.

3. ChatGPT has been taking the world by storm, whether to help students get started on essays, or provide the basis for an email in a work setting, but our favorite use in the office is to get technical assistance. ChatGPT is an office favorite for whenever our software is acting funny or Abobe Animate is giving us a hard time again. Referred to as our best virtual buddy, ChatGPT has been an excellent starting point for solving complex issues that previously took unnecessary time to troubleshoot. Part of the reason we love it so much is it offers the ability to regenerate responses if the first suggestion doesn’t work. Plus, after we’ve solved the issue, we can provide feedback to the AI to improve the algorithm.

4. Blinq has been making networking easier than ever for our team members. Blinq is perfect for those of us who hate hanging on to physical business cards and frantically searching for the right one any time we are trying to network. Our team loves that the app allows you to store scanned QR codes in the “Contacts” tab automatically. Some of our team members have said that maintaining relationships is easier as clients can easily reference our team’s contact information in a “blinq”!

But what is life with all work and no play? Our team also shared some of their favorite apps to use in their downtime. From creating new recipes, to learning new languages and helping in our community, here are some of apps making our team’s lives easier in a modern age!

5. Babbel vs. Duolingo Starting strong, our team has officially weighed in on the Babbel vs. Duolingo debate and Duolingo has been crowned the reigning champion of our office. With Savannah practicing her Italian, Monica preparing for her upcoming trip to Spain, and Brock gearing up to meet his wife’s family in Peru, Duolingo is helping our team learn and maintain their language skills interactively and engagingly. We love the daily reminders and the competitive aspect of maintaining a learning “streak” that makes learning fun and interactive. Not to mention, their TikTok page is hysterical and if you’re ever looking for a laugh, we would highly recommend checking it out.

6. COOKmate makes personalizing and customizing meals easier than ever; it’s perfect for our team members with dietary restrictions and allergies. COOKmate allows you to download recipes to the app, edit them to your preferences, and then save them all in your virtual cookbook. You can also create and save your own recipes so you can always remember the best ratio of spices and veggies. Our team’s favourite feature by far is the ability to share recipes within the app. This way, the next time a team member brings in something extra yummy for lunch, we can try it out at home too!

7. Be My Eyes The FOCUS360 team loves giving back to our local community. This brings us to possibly the favorite app of the team: Be My Eyes. This app lets you video call visually impaired individuals and help them out with little, daily tasks. From helping find a lost doggie companion to picking the right tie for an interview outfit, our team loves helping out in the little ways throughout the day. The best part is it’s free and you can log in whenever you have a chance! Our team loves that we can help our community and make a positive difference- all from the comfort and ease of our phones.

8. Spotify is by no means a new app, but some of their recent updates have made this our team’s most used app across the board by a landslide. From keeping up with current events, to getting in the zone with recent releases, Spotify has something for everyone. Our team loves listening to podcasts about their favorite hobbies on their commutes and listening to their favorite hype songs to get in the zone for a big deadline. By far our team’s favorite feature is the ability to create blends. By adding up to 10 people to a playlist, Spotify’s AI will mash together songs that participants have in common. From driving to team lunches and carpooling, to work, to lunchtime gym sessions, these blends have been our team’s favorite way to settle the “who gets the aux cord” debate.

9. Subjectline.com – Looking for an AI way of testing subject lines? This web-based application not only tests a given subject line, but it also suggests a few alternative routes to sharing your email message with success. Just be sure to take a second look at the suggestions! Sometimes these “AI-infancy” apps get their recommendations scrambled, but a trained marketer can catch the good or bad suggestions. It’s reliable about 90% of the time and fun at the same time!

10. Rover – For our marketing friends that hit the road often but have fur babies waiting at home, download the Rover app to explore top care in your area. Check reviews, communicate on availability, and match your fur baby with the best care provider even in an hour’s notice.

Whether you are looking at new AI developments or the best way to organize recipes, understanding what specific aspects of customer engagement and experience users enjoy may just help us come up with the next best app experience. The good news is if you don’t like an app, you can simply delete it and move on. Happy exploring and experimenting!