Productivity Apps For $4 or Less

Smartphones are many things: useful, intuitive, flexible, fun, and, sometimes, a deterrent for work. It’s easier to check up on your Twitter feed than clean out your inbox, or play another round of Angry Birds than organize next week’s calendar. Luckily, there are plenty of effective apps to help bring order to chaos. Here are some smart solutions at even smarter prices.

Work+
Working in an environment slightly out of your comfort zone can offer a certain focus, so Work+ helps to find cafes for those who require a humble place to go with their laptops/tablets. Enter info you need such as Wi-Fi, support for large groups, dog-friendly, pleasant ambiance, and radius, and Work+ will find options near you. User reviews from such spots are available based on how much work was achieved. Free

My Writing Spot
How many small pockets of time in the day come and go that could be spent working on that big writing project? My Writing Spot is a lightweight word processor that encourages the use of every moment of the day for writing. There is an autosave system that connects to the web app as well as word count, portrait/landscape mode, and built-in dictionary/thesaurus. Also available on Android. $3

Locale
Sometimes the best way to get to work is to protect yourself from yourself. Locale is a location-based app that changes your Android devices settings based on location. Wi-Fi, wallpaper, alert, and sound are just a few things that can be set to certain profiles when you’re at work, en route, at a cafe, or at home. Each can be configured automatically or customized individually to create custom work conditions to avoid being disturbed. $4

Txt Message Away
One of the biggest distractions is social interaction. Txt Message Away cleverly blocks incoming texts and sends a custom text back to the sender to let them know you’re busy so it doesn’t look like they are being ignored. Settings are available to efficiently minimize the amount of SMSs being sent out for those who don’t have text plans. $2

SuperTimer
The Pomodoro Technique is a productivity method that utilizes the power of time management. By working for 25 minutes continuously and following up with a five-minute break (each half hour being one “Pomodoro”), you can cut straight to the chase and get some work done. When utilized hand in hand with the Pomodoro Technique, the SuperTimers countdown timer function is a sleek tool to have. The app also features lap time and a stopwatch. Free

MagikMail
MagikMail takes away the mystery of an answering service and brings a visual interface to your smartphone voicemail inbox. Everything can be managed from deleting messages, recording a new greeting, playing a message in any order, and, best of all, transcribed messages so you can read voicemails in text form. $2

Photo: Via Uncrate featuring iPhone case by Material6

By Jason Rodway. Used in partnership with Apartment Therapy Tech.

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