WRITE ON THE GO, LITERALLY

Year 2003, the first-ever mobile phone that came to my hand had no apps apart from a game named, ‘Banana’. Yeah, there will be monkeys on my trees as well as the bot’s. We will have our turns to throw bananas on each other to let the monkeys of the opponent fall off the trees. I won’t look at that game now even though it was my favourite pastime then. There was nothing else in that B & W phone apart from a Contact list, Clock and SMS.

Soon came Samsung Bar phone. ‘Bowling‘ was my favourite game. It was again a no-apps, but coloured phone. Soon came ‘FM Radio‘ in the next-generation phones and that took my heart away.

Later, the desire for better grew. Greed crawled freely wearing a mask of Need in my heart and mind. I aspired for a touch screen big phone named, Microsoft Lumia, the first-ever window phone. And I achieved it by hook or crook. Finally, I got a phone with something called, APPS. And the favourite app of that phone was a daily devotional app called, Our Daily Bread.

Soon everyone in the world went up the Level of Unsmartness and became smart enough to hold at least the cheapest Smart Phone in their hands with all the minimum apps in it. Now, presently, I am holding maybe, the 12th phone of my life and it has almost all the latest apps to get addicted to. So let me come to the main body of the article, “My Favourite Phone App“.

What do you think would be the best app for a writer?

Maybe, an app of a Writers Community but there’s not much or I don’t like them. Maybe, an app for bloggers and most of us are using WordPress.com. But let me tell you what is my favourite app.

It’s a very lightweighted and offline app and doesn’t consume much of your phone space. It’s highly user-friendly app. It is called – “Writer Plus (Write On the Go)” If you want to jot it down something quickly with a title, you can rely on it. Type it out and leave the phone, the text will be there, saved automatically. You want to organise and arrange each note or article in different folders, you can do it easily by creating different folders. Keeping a back-up of all your notes is extremely easy. Simply safeguard the app folder and copy it in your laptop and you will have everything intact when you reinstall the app later.

For more information on the App, you can look into this video, HERE:

Demo on WriterP mobile app

This app taught me one lesson, and that is – “Efficiency can be achieved with simplicity.” The machine, the app or the person him/herself doesn’t have to be very sophisticated or complex to achieve something big. Simplicity does impact and bring about good enough results and changes in life too.

I have been using WriterP for more than 5 years by now, to record my sermon outlines, articles, thoughts, ideas, valuable information. When there’s no internet access or laptop or paper or you don’t have mood, this app in our mobile phones come handy and extremely effective.

There are many other apps which I use more than WriterP app but this one is my favourite.

Friends! Download it, use it and remember me.

Stay Blessed!

SIRI, BUY GROCERIES VIA BIGBASKET/CORTANA, PAY VIA PAYTM

I remember my first phone. Many of you must remember it as well, CDMA Reliance phone? Yeah? Yeah, the one that we loved because it had an app called M World. Feels weirdly nostalgic.

Since then, my phone has gone from strength to strength. Both in cost, technology and smartness. But what makes our phone so unique? The Apps. 

It feels so easy to do anything, anytime. I think the apps were a helpful tool in surviving the pandemic and lockdowns. Without them, it would be a long haul of loneliness and isolation. But they made us feel connected, rooted, and alive. (Practo was a lifesaver with no doctors around.)

If I am asked about my phone, I have over 50 apps. And I will share a secret with you; I don’t use half of them. They are there, just in case. Some are there because I need them daily: Zomato, Swiggy, Gpay, WhatsApp, 1mg. Some are there because I like to delve into social media: FB, Insta, Messenger, Telegram, Hangout, Twitter. Then are those which are there for the creative person inside me to serve as a muse and inspiration: Canva, Pinterest, YourQuote but, some are there just for panache. 

We all have to let our friends check out our phones once in a while. They should feel we are “trendy”, and for that purpose, I have Zara, Today, TED, NASA, WazirX, Discovery+. I rarely use them, but they must stay to make me seem smarter. 

Now that I think of it, Apps swallowed so much hardware into a small square on our screen. Remember the huge radios, players, drawers full of cassettes and CDs? Not needed anymore; we have Spotify, Gaana, YouTube. I still remember the summer vacation. I used to beg my father to get my cable TV and watch English movies and sitcoms. Now there is no rush to tune in at 9:30 to watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Netflix and Prime video are there to tune into. Setting up an alarm for Sunday morning cartoons and waiting one entire week for the next episode was so much fun, but now, Disney Hotstar and Zee5 are there to binge-watch at my fingertips. 

We were taking those bulky Kodak and Canon cameras hanging around our necks with pockets full of Fujifilm rolls. Who needs them with 64-megapixel cameras on our phones where Instagram allows us to add 100’s of filters. And shopping for rare collectibles in the narrow streets of Karol Bagh or the handicraft on Janpath is a waste of time; Myntra and Amazon are always there at my service. I miss cleaning my closets every Diwali because I need more space for my paperback. Thanks to Kindle, I can store a million books but never hold one. It was so risky to carry money around, but now you don’t need cash. We are in a cashless age. But sometimes, I miss holding the cash and counting it twice, getting those pictures in my hands from the Fujifilm outlet, and holding my paperback book in my lap while I snuggle up with my stereo.

I know you must be feeling, “Is she talking Pro or Against the apps?” But this is not a debate. I agree that I am ambiguous and don’t know what my heart relished more. This high-tech, smartphone, smart-app era or that simple bygone era where things were just THINGS and people and feelings and sentiments meant much more to us. 

Apps have made us safer, prudent, wiser, but they have also made us narcissistic, one-directional and miserable. We can find all antisocial elements on social media, and fraudulent scamsters are always looking to trick us. We are secure but more susceptible to hackers and spammers.

In the end, I would say I am pragmatic and love this easy lifestyle, but the old soul in me pines for those times when I could walk out on the street and go to my friends’ place to hang out with her while her dog chased me around. I chat with her, but it is NOT the same. 

I am giving you five apps I love.

Rhymly: It is the only app that gives you rhyming words for Hindi. You gonna love it if you have a streak for Shayari or Poetry.

Clubhouse: It has some excellent rooms, and I can hear some exceptional people talking while quietly sitting in a corner. If I wanna speak, they allow me. 

Elevate A place to exercise my mind and challenge myself to keep getting better. 

Duolingo: Lets me learn any language I wish to learn in a very interactive and fun interface. 

Headspace: It slowly teaches you to meditate and helps you stay on track with a gradual process that leads to placid and tranquil moments. 

I can’t close the chapter without mentioning Pubg.

Alexa. Please bid goodbye to my readers.

Goodbye. Have a fun time.

APPS APPS EVERYWHERE!

If you’re going to be reading this post on WordPress, I can bet 9/10 of you – you’re doing it from your WordPress app on your phone. That is the thing about apps, it has made life so convenient wherein – just a few taps here and there on your screen and you’re connected to anything – anywhere – anytime!

…and then there’s ME. Am I the only one who prefers the website version over its app? I’ve always preferred the bigger screen if given the option, but with people on the move and multi-tasking being a normal thing – phone apps have brought in a fresh sense of convenience to one’s life, not to mention everything now is literally at our fingertips.

From being entertained (Youtube) to knowing the time (Clock), having trouble counting? There’s always a calculator or even using the flashlight – it’s all on one gadget, in the form of an app. Easy, convenient, and at your fingertips – just the way the young people of today like it. That said, I too belong to that set of people who like doing things in one place or having various features on one gadget. A dream come true!

“a couple of screen taps and you can have pizza delivered to your doorstep, 2 more taps on it and money is sent across distances. Groceries, Vegetables, and even a date/marriage partner can be simply found on an app“

While we’re still talking about apps, we all have our favorites among the dozens we have installed on our phones. Do you find yourself going back to that app again and again when you’re well…. bored?

Let me take you into some of the apps I have on my phone….

From OTT platforms of Netflix, Zee5, & Hotstar, there are more useful apps of Quora, WordWeb, Wordpess, Wattpad, & Kindle to gaming apps like Scrabble, Ludo, Uno, Candy Crush, Coin Master, & Real Cricket, to the more fancy apps like Clubhouse and of course the more necessary social apps of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, & Whatsapp. Music apps are a must for me-that are looked after by Gaana & Radio Garden along with Youtube. Google Pay and Paytm round up the apps looking after online money transactions… and a few more

That’s a minimum of 23/25 apps on a gadget, I charge once/twice a day and probably use 10% of the apps I’ve actually installed on it. So much of using my SmartPhone, smartly.

While I do think that all these apps have some use to me at some time or the other in my life – when I’m stressed out or just need some ‘me time’, I find myself (more times than not) on the Ludo app. Yes! Remember the Ludo game? I don’t particularly fancy that game, but it is my way of ending a tiring day or destressing my mind, on a simple game, that does not require too much thinking. That said a good e-book would do the same.

So while I personally might not have a favorite app that I would always turn to – I have a range of a few to keep me distracted into a fictional world, which importantly keeps me away from the daily life drama that happens on a daily basis. Nothing beats learning from the app, or at best you are still learning how to use the app if nothing else – that is still learning, the knowledge that no one can take from you. After all, life is all about learning – that will never stop.

I had this once weird dream that people everywhere, on the street, in offices, at home, were a whole bunch of QR codes, and the only way we had access to them was if we scanned them. Once we did that, we would link to them. I would have loved to have seen how that dream ended, but like everything in my life, most things are attractive incomplete trailers.

Imagine if something like that is in store for the future? Something to think about maybe?

My Name is Savio AND I am not an APP