I’m trying to get into posting with more regularity here on the Tech Haven blog, so going forward, every Friday I’ll be profiling two of my favorite free apps: one for the Mac and one for iOS. Sometimes they’ll be productivity apps, and sometimes they’ll just be fun apps to provide a bit of amusement in your day.
So here goes: the debut of Free App Friday, or #FAF for those into the whole hashtag thing.
Free iOS App of The Week
If you’re one for nostalgia of your own personal history, Timehop is for you. Every single day Timehop looks into your history via your social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Instagram, and your iOS Camera Roll) and creates a “flashback” or sorts, displaying what you did on this day last year, two years ago, three years ago, etc. as far back as you have social media history or photos.
Now, with a quick glance at my iPhone, I can see that a year ago yesterday I was soliciting friends on Facebook to follow the @GoTechHaven Twitter account, and three years ago I was Tweeting about how great it was to see Sacha Baron Cohen as “The Dictator” dump ashes on Ryan Seacrest at the Oscars Red Carpet.
Generally pointless, but good for the occasional flashback laugh.
Free Mac App of The Week
Without question one of the most used Mac apps here at Tech Haven is Alfred. It has changed the way we interact with our Mac, and streamlined much of our navigational and search functionality. Want to do a Wikipedia search for San Francisco? Simply launch Alfred, from within any application, using the ⌥+spacebar key combo and type “Wiki San Francisco” and just like that, the search opens in your default browser. Want to see San Francisco on a map? Launch Alfred and type “Map San Francisco” and a Google Map appears. Need to perform a calculation? Alfred can do that. Need to open an app with just a keystroke or two? Done.
Alfred gets even more powerful if you spring for the PowerPack, an upsell that adds a host of additional features to Alfred, including the ability to automatically launch 1Password bookmarks, sync between Macs using Dropbox, and a host of other file management tool.
Bottom line: it’s free, and it’s awesome. Download today and start simplifying your Mac life.
