Mommy’s Lovie (or Apps Make the Mom)

It’s Tuesday!

Oh, relax. TechMom Tuesday’s will be appearing the first Tuesday of every month. For all of your other technical interests (read – Mac geeky goodness) don’t miss the highlights and insight on AlliOSNews.

Search has Elle. Elle is a small grey(ish) blankie with an elephant head. Destroy has Gunkie (a squiggly monkey thing) and My Caw (a fuzzy blue McCaw from the L.A. Zoo). Snuggled in every night under the blankets made by their grandmother, sleep does not happen without these soothing lovies.

I have my phone.

I made it a block away from my house the other day before acutely feeling the missing weight on my hip. Life does not function without my phone.

It’s my technological lovie. I grew out of fuzzy animals and into shiny sleek devices.

I can honestly say I’d rather lose my purse than my phone. Because my phone knows everything. And this got me thinking that the apps we have on our smartphone really do say a lot about who we are as a person.

We’re friends now, right? I feel we have a connection – I mean, you’ve met my kids. So, since I have the security blanket of my phone, I thought I’d give you a bit of insight into my crazy mixed up mind.

Home screen

Look how cute those toddling twins are! (Tech MOM Tuesday – remember? Gotta have the kiddos.)

Docked icons

• Phone: it IS the point of the device. Theoretically…
• Mail: business commences. And I’ve gotta have a way for the bloggy platforms to alert me to all your fabulous comments!
• Messages: haven’t you heard? iMessaging is what all the cool kids are doing these days.
• Calendar: home, work, family, blogs. Need to keep track of everything going on. And there’s a LOT.

Screen 1

• Contacts: who are all you people?
• Safari: Google knows all!
• Clock: the backup alarm. On the off chance my toddlers don’t wake me up first
• Evernote: what just happened? (Mommy brain means if I don’t write it down, it didn’t happen.)

• Music: tunes are necessary. Country, rock, alt, classical, comedy – I’m all over the map.
• Photos: library collection of life as it happens. Evidence.
• Instagram: social proof of all our lives.
• Camera: documentation.

• Facebook: mostly a decoration right now since my little iPhone 3 is seriously struggling. It’s not a fan of this app.
• Tweetbot: my new favorite Twitter app. I can stop tweeting any time I want. I just don’t want to.
• Foursquare: it may be a stalker app, but who can pass up the opportunity to check in on a volcano.
• Maps: I get lost. A lot. And often.

• Listary: super sexy app. Groceries, home goods and to-dos.
• MyFitnessPal: allegedly I’m supposed be healthy.
• Starbucks: caffeine. Caffeine. And also caffeine.
• GTalkPlus: constant connection.

Screen 2

• BlogHer 2012: Writers conference! Voices of the Year! I’m kind of a big deal now, you know?
• Weather: am I going to complain about being hot or cold today?
• Calculator: in case of number crunching.
• Voice Memos: sometimes these blog ideas come fast and furious and I just have to shout them out.

My buckets:

• Media: social channels. So many shiny objects!
• Blogs: WordPress and shameless plugs for my favorite sites. Because some blogs can’t be constrained by Safari navigation.
• Information: like it sounds. Banking, travel, conference calling.
• Health: wine, dining and medical establishments. The basics.

• Sports: baseball – games, stats. MapMyRun and Trailhead hiking; I’m going places!
• Reference: yes, I have the dictionary app. And also grammar and the AP stylebook. Don’t judge me. They’re riveting.
• Shopping: self-explanatory. Stuff I like. (Descriptive, I know.)
• Apple: truth be told – these are the apps Apple forces upon me. I didn’t know where else to put them.

• Newsstand: on an iDevice, you’ll never know what trashy magazine I’m reading.
• iBooks: READ ALL THE BOOKS. And also the blogs.
• Settings: Buttons to push until the phone works better or shit blows up. It’s technical.

What apps am I missing? What are your go to must haves? And why?