SPLASH SHOPPER
Untangle your Christmas shopping lists
You may have made a good dent in your gift list on Black Friday, but if you’re looking for a way to organize those gifts left to buy, consider a list manager such as Splash Shopper. This app comes with a lot of features that justify its $2 price tag. For example, it suggests items that might be on your list — Barbie, smartphone, etc. — with editable fields for price, quantity and recipient. It requires a lot of forward planning to get the most out of it, but the app is an organization obsessive’s dream.
And while it isn’t as slick looking as other list apps, Splash Shopper will even hold its value when the holiday shopping season is a distant memory. In addition to gift lists, it has functions for to-do lists, grocery lists and even lists of movies you want to see or wines you want to try. It also has an option to sync with $10 desktop versions, which are sold separately. $1.99, for iOS, Android and BlackBerry.
Hayley Tsukayama, The Washington Post
FLIC
Make your photo storage easier
Ever scramble to snap a photo and realize your iPhone has no space for it? For me, it was photos of the Pier 39 sea lions.
On vacation in San Francisco, a stroll along the city’s Embarcadero took me past the famous pier, where the sea lions begged to be documented. Unfortunately, my iPhone warned me after one snap that my photo library was full.
Commence several minutes of frantic deleting, looking at the phone, rather than the sea lions.
If photo storage is a constant struggle for you, too, consider Flic.It’s quicker than deleting, and more fun, too, so you’re more likely (maybe) to keep up with pruning your picture collection.
The iOS app’s interface is similar to that of the matchmaking app Tinder, in which you swipe right to “like” a person and left to pass. Here, you see a photo from your camera roll and swipe it to the right to keep it or left to delete it. The app shows you how much disk space is being freed up as you go, and a trash can icon tallies how many photos you’ve trashed — both from your Photos app and from your iCloud storage, if you want.
After you’ve sifted through your photos, you can then select the trash can to empty it for good. Maybe you accidentally flicked a good shot to the left. This feature lets you rescue it.
The interface is simple and fun. It could be even better if it let you select albums to delete from — though how many of us take the time to sort our photos into albums, anyway? The app is available only for iOS 8. Since a decent amount of iPhone users have yet to upgrade, it might be worth it for the developers to change that.
Lots of us take too many photos. We take three shots of our dinners at different angles, or five family photos, with Grandma’s eyes closed in three.
Flic helps you find the gems, and you won’t really miss that blurry sunset photo once you trash it. In fact, you’ll have room for other blurry photos. Cost: $1.99 for iOS
Margaret Ely, The Washington Post
GROUPS
Facebook unbundles its Groups function
In some ways, Facebook is returning to its roots by breaking out the Groups function, a key feature from the earliest days of the site. This feature has always been on Facebook, but it has been buried. Therefore, the app brings back some of the intimate feel of the social network before it grew into a behemoth.
Users can make private groups for sharing posts, pictures and videos, or opt for a public group to share with everyone.
Still, the app lacks features that would be nice to have. Sure, group administrators can change cover photos and descriptions. But you can’t do basic things such as edit posts. You also can’t search for members or see who’s viewed a post — all features that you can use on Facebook’s full site. Groups is a good browsing tool and supplement to Facebook, but not necessarily a full-featured stand-alone app. Free, for iOS and Android.
Hayley Tsukayama, The Washington Post
