Business Apps You Can't Live Without

I searched for a long time trying to find the top apps for business, but didn’t find anything I thought was share worthy. The Apple App Store will give you a list of their top paid apps, top free apps, and top grossing apps. Likewise the Google Play store will also give you several options under their “business” category.

I googled “top rated business apps” and “beneficial business apps”, but didn’t really find anything I though was helpful. The problem is that I didn’t agree with anyone’s list of best business apps. Then I had one of those Homer Simpson, D’oh moments. I didn’t like the lists, because they were compiled by people not in MY business.

That’s the beauty of Apps. You buy/download/use the ones you need.

Today, the #1 app on Apple’s top grossing app category is “Invoice2go”. I scrolled past it without a second thought because I don’t create invoices. Likewise, the first business app listed in the Google app store is Polaris Office. I already have MS Word on my iPhone and Docs To Go on my Android tablet. I don’t need that one either.

So what would top my essential business app list? I couldn’t image trying to do my job without Evernote, Facebook’s Pages Manager, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Dropbox. I use them every day. I also use WordPress, Voice Record, Word, OneDrive, and Analytics faithfully. Working in marketing, these apps give me the functionality I need when I’m away from my desk. Additionally, I constantly use the phone, text, calendar, and email functions that are built into my phone.

What do you need? It depends. What do you do every day?  You may find a scheduling app, such as HotSchedules convenient for developing employee schedules and emailing/texting changes to them. If you need to access QuickBooks from the road, download the app. If you travel, you probably need a mileage and expense tracker such as TripLog. Apps like MenuPad will allow diners to order their own food with a with an interactive iPad menu.

There are apps that utilize your technology to make life in just about any industry more productive. What apps could you not live without? Please comment below.