Whether you need help with time management, organisation or even getting in the right headspace, there’s a range of productivity apps that can help you get moving. 

While it may sound like a bit of an oxymoron to use your smartphone as a means to boost your productivity, the simple fact of the matter is that you’re not the only one who struggles to stay focused. Although we live in an increasingly digital age, technology has also brought with it an extra set of distractions on top of whatever happens to pop up during our day to day lives. 

However, our smartphones are capable of some truly magical things if we know how to use them properly. Thanks to larger screens and more powerful processors, your phone can also double as a mobile workstation, calendar and even a pocket organiser, letting you tackle tasks when you’re out and about. When actioned and embraced, productivity apps can help us get organised and free up our time, so that we can get back to doing the things we enjoy – but which are regarded as some of the best or most useful?

Our Favourite Productivity Apps For Smartphones 

If you’re on a mission to get more out of your day or to perhaps get back on top of that ever expanding to-do list, we’ve made a collection of our go-to productivity apps for iOS and Android smartphone users. Whether you need help organising a project or simply need assistance with ‘getting in the zone’, the good news is that if you’ve thought of it – there’s a high chance that there’s an app for it. 

Todoist – As a planner app that keeps things efficient with a clean approach to interface and task management, Todoist is one of the best free productivity apps for both Android and iOS users. From jotting down a thought, one-off or recurring tasks, colour-coded priority levels, shared projects, and productivity graphs that record your progress, it’s simple but does the job. 

Brain FM – If you struggle to get in the zone when it comes to powering through work, projects or to-do lists, then Brain.FM offers a scientifically backed process to help you get moving. The app offers five free sessions before moving to a subscription model, but essentially the app claims to have mastered the production of music that has been specifically designed to boost concentration, focus and – you guessed it – productivity. 

LastPass – Are you one of the many people who struggle with keeping on top of their ever expanding collection of digital passwords and logins? Fear not, as LastPass offers a solution. While users can sync their password vaults across multiple devices for internet login access, the key difference from the standard autosave features in most smartphones is the app’s ability to create and secure encrypted notes. 

Evernote – Long regarded as the go-to cross platform note taking app, Evernote far exceeds any standard apps that smartphones already have installed with their factory settings. The app allows users to not just take the notes, but to upload, store and organise pictures, audio, and even videos. The free version lets users upload 60MB worth of content monthly, with paid accounts allowing even more storage options.

Forest – Although considered to be somewhat of an out of the box concept, Forest is one of the productivity apps that’s rapidly increasing in popularity. In a nutshell, the concept helps people to beat their phone addiction, and manage their time in an interesting and arguably quite pleasant way. Users can earn credits by not using their mobile phones – often when they’re not supposed to be – and plant real trees around the world with the credits accumulated. 

Toggl – Do you ever feel like time just slips through your hands? Available on both desktop, iOS and Android, Toggl is a time management app that allows users to get organised, and features elements such as tracking reminders, a Pomodoro timer and offline mode. Users can start, stop, and log times and tasks on your mobile phone or desktop with data syncing between the two platforms, allowing you to easily record hours spent on projects or tasks.

Trello – Free for both iOS and Android users, Trello is one of the most popular productivity apps for those that need a little bit of help with project management and tracking tasks. It’s essentially a highly customisable digital bulletin board, and users can set up anything from to do lists, tasks, notes and more. Users create ‘lists’, which are dynamic containers that can be filled with ‘cards’. All of this can be shared with other users, with provisions for creating new cards, adding comments, and assigning tasks.

Pocket – Are you guilty of falling into Wikipedia wormholes when you should be working or doing something else? Pocket is an app that allows users to save them for later, or essentially put the article or link in question in their ‘pocket’. The app is essentially a ‘read it later’ style service, and is a great offline tool that can be used to select and save articles, pictures and videos to come back to at a later time. Think of it like Netflix’s ‘watchlist’ for online links. 

Instead of being a slave to your smartphone, this comprehensive range of productivity apps can go a long way with ensuring that your smartphone works for you – and not the other way around. However, if you’re looking for further tips on navigating the digital world, then it’s always worth speaking to the professionals. 

Making The Most Of Your Smartphone 

SOS Phone Repairs are specialists in high-quality, cost-effective phone repairs, tablet repairs, and PC repairs, all backed with a six month warranty. Founded in 2015 in Coffs Harbour and now with over sixteen outlets located all over Australia, our primary driving factors remain the same: people and phones. 

Whether it’s to get a few more years out of your trusted iPhone, to fix one up to sell, or to repurpose an old one as a gift, repairing a smartphone might just be easier and cheaper than you think. However, if you’re in the market for a new smartphone, SOS Phone Repairs also stocks a wide variety of refurbished handsets at a fraction of the cost of a brand new one. 

While each has been carefully restored to perform at their best, all refurbished smartphones purchased through SOS also come with a twelve month warranty, and can be purchased at any of our sixteen store locations. Even if you’re not on the hunt for a new phone, it’s always worth bringing your existing one in for a free health check to ensure it’s performing at its best.

If you are on the hunt for a quote, diagnostic, or even just some good old fashioned, friendly advice, please don’t hesitate to get in touch or give us a call today at SOS Phone Repairs.

Whether it’s the software rollouts, games or gadget drops, here’s your SOS Phone Repairs monthly update on what’s happening with the latest October tech news. 

Technology sure is a wonderful thing. However, in order for it to stay relevant, beneficial and somewhat glitch free, the dark side of this is all of the constant updates that the humble consumer is required to keep up with. Thankfully, there always seems to be a new way to streamline a process, eliminate a redundant task or even just a means to procrastinate with technology. Even the humble QR code has managed to change the way we work, play and essentially live. 

In a nutshell, the onslaught of new product drops, software updates and even fresh games to hit the market are regularly released so that we can make the most of this digital world, so what’s on offer this month when it comes to October tech news?

Five October Tech News And Updates 

With the end of 2021 rapidly approaching and well and truly in sight, tech giants around the globe are dropping new games, software and devices left right and centre. Considering that Christmas is just over two months away, on a global scale, it’s a date that the tech giants are hoping to capitalise on. As such, for the savvy digital consumer, we’ve deemed the below to be the most noteworthy this month in regards to October tech news. 

Windows 11 Is Here – The often discussed successor to the popular Windows 10 came as a bit of a surprise to tech circles, but after months of speculation, Windows 11 has finally arrived. The best part? Other than the new range of features that include a whole new look, if you’re currently using Windows 10 and can meet the strict system requirements, Windows 11 is completely free to download. 

And So Is Microsoft Office 2021 – Just like Windows 11, Microsoft Office 2021 will be released in Australia on October 5. Beyond performance improvements across the board, highlights from the subscription based package include support for OpenDocument format (ODF) 1.3, new Excel functions, a new presentation recording feature for PowerPoint, updated translation functionality for Outlook, and the inclusion of the increasingly popular Microsoft Teams. 

Apple Watch 7 Is Dropping – While Apple revealed it’s latest smart watch alongside the iPhone 13 and iPad Mini 6 just last month on September 14, it didn’t share a release date at the time of its unveiling. Confirmed to be released in Australia on October 15, the Apple Watch 7 looks like a modest upgrade with a larger screen than its predecessors, although the display is said to be as much as 70% brighter when compared to Apple’s previous releases. 

And So Is Google Pixel 6 – It’s starting to sound like the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro could be the most intriguing Pixel phones released by the Silicon Valley giant in a long time, with the company appearing to rebound from 2020’s disappointing Pixel 4a, 4a 5G and 5. Rather than releasing all the details on its new Android phones prior to their drop on October 19, Google is instead putting the focus on the new system chip called Tensor. 

Google Plex Cancelled – Back in 2020, Google confirmed that it was developing its own banking and personal finance service called Plex, with the concept being for consumers to have an app to simplify paying for things and managing their finances. Despite more than twelve months of work already being invested, Google has confirmed that it has cancelled the project after missing multiple deadlines and seeing key workers leave the company.

Want To Talk October Tech News With The Professionals? 

SOS Phone Repairs are specialists in high-quality, cost-effective phone repairs, tablet repairs, and PC repairs, all backed with a six month warranty. Founded in 2015 in Coffs Harbour and now with over sixteen outlets located all over Australia, our primary driving factors remain the same: people and phones. 

Whether it’s to get a few more years out of your trusted iPhone, to fix one up to sell, or to repurpose an old one as a gift, repairing a smartphone might just be easier and cheaper than you think. However, if you’re in the market for a new smartphone, SOS Phone Repairs also stocks a wide variety of refurbished handsets at a fraction of the cost of a brand new one. While each has been carefully restored to perform at their best, all refurbished smartphones purchased through SOS also come with a twelve month warranty, and can be purchased at any of our sixteen store locations.  

If you are on the hunt for a quote, diagnostic, or even just some good old fashioned, friendly advice, please don’t hesitate to get in touch or give us a call today at SOS Phone Repairs. 

 

While many Samsung Galaxy users have been long term fans of the Android based systems in place, many are unaware of the smart phone’s full capabilities. 

Although the branding of the Samsung Galaxy is most closely associated with the smartphone model, the product line also includes the Samsung Galaxy Tab series of tablets, the Samsung Galaxy Note series of tablets and stylus type phablets, the new foldable Galaxy Z phones series, and a range of smart watches that fall under the Galaxy Gear banner. All Samsung Galaxy devices use the Android operating system pioneered and produced by Google, with a custom user interface dubbed One UI, while previous versions of the system were known as Samsung Experience and TouchWiz. 

While the tech giant’s reach is certainly vast when it comes to devices and products, the Samsung Galaxy range of smartphones are arguably the brand’s best seller. Industry titans like Samsung know just how much consumers value the quality, performance, bells and whistles of their smartphones, and in turn have invested heavily into them. Alongside the iPhone, the Samsung Galaxy is regarded as one of the world’s very best products in this heavily competitive marketplace. 

However, in an age where smartphones can do just about anything, do the owners of such products truly know how to make the most of the things that they can do? Perhaps yes, perhaps no, but let’s explore some of the lesser known hacks when it comes to mastering the performance of a Samsung Galaxy smartphone. 

Insider Tricks To Master The Samsung Galaxy

No doubt as an effort to establish themselves as market leaders, the big wigs at Samsung have added many of their own flairs to the Android based smartphone models that the company manufactures. These unique sets of capabilities are exclusive to Samsung Galaxy smartphones, so users can be forgiven if they aren’t fully aware of their phone’s capabilities. 

Split Screen Capability – Although many Android phones allow users to split the screen in two as a means to view a couple of apps at once, Samsung have taken this a step further via ‘pinning’ an app – like a video, a Twitter feed or even a portion of a map – into split screen mode, leaving one clip active while you work on something else. To activate this, head to the navigation bar and tap and hold the ‘Recents’ button. Scroll to the app you want to pin, and tap on the round app icon above the window. In the dialog box, choose ‘Open In Split-Screen View’, and your dual interface is ready to rumble. 

Hide Your Apps – In the increasingly digital world we live in, more and more people seem to like the reassurance that an added layer of security provides. As such, Samsung Galaxy smartphones now have a ‘Secure’ folder that more or less acts like an encrypted digital safe. Users can hide apps and files in their secure folder by setting a password, PIN, or fingerprint scan to protect them. To set up your safe, launch the Secure Folder app from your app drawer. Once you’ve protected the app, use the ‘Add Apps’ and ‘Add Files’ buttons to drop new stuff into the folder, safely hidden away from anyone who might get access to your phone.

Activate Easy Mode – It can be easy to forget sometimes that not everyone is ultra experienced with how to ‘drive’ a smartphone. Thus, if you or someone you know identifies as a rookie smartphone user, or perhaps misses the days of Nokia 3315’s, Samsung Galaxy smartphones now offer users the chance to simplify the interface via switching the home screen to ‘Easy Mode’ as a means to give quicker access to the features you need the most. To enable ‘Easy Mode’, it’s as simple as navigating to Settings > Home Screen Mode. Select ‘Easy Mode’ followed by the ‘Apply’ button, and you’re good to go. 

Image Headset Control – Many Samsung users are already aware that when taking a photo or recording a video, you can zoom in and out using the volume buttons on the side of your phone. However, a little known fact is that the controls to zoom in and out can also be used from an attached headset via headphones. It’s particularly handy if you want to record steady video, as pressing the buttons on the side of your device is likely to introduce the dreaded camera shake and induce a lower quality result. Instead, users can record steady video by placing the smartphone on a tripod, and using headphones to zoom in remotely.

Try Smart Alarm – The sad reality is that most of us aren’t big fans of alarm clocks, which are necessary evils in many of our day to day lives. However, if you’re hoping to wake up slightly fresher, did you know that your Samsung Galaxy smartphone has the capability of pushing this in the right direction? If enabled, Smart Alarm begins sounding around three minutes before your normal alarm time. The idea is to start the day gradually, as relaxing music is played at a slowly-rising volume with the screen also ‘waking up’ at the same pace. To enable this, press the ‘More’ button when creating a new alarm and hit the ‘Smart Alarm’ feature.

At the end of the day, a smartphone is a cellular device that allows you to do more than make phone calls and send text messages. They’re quite literally designed to make our day to day lives easier and more efficient, so it’s important to get familiar with the lesser known features of yours if you want to get the best bang for your buck. 

Making The Most Of Your Smartphone 

SOS Phone Repairs are specialists in high-quality, cost-effective phone repairs, tablet repairs, and PC repairs, all backed with a six month warranty. Founded in 2015 in Coffs Harbour and now with over sixteen outlets located all over Australia, our primary driving factors remain the same: people and phones. 

Whether it’s to get a few more years out of your trusted Samsung Galaxy, to fix one up to sell, or to repurpose an old one as a gift, repairing a smartphone might just be easier and cheaper than you think. However, if you’re in the market for a new smartphone, SOS Phone Repairs also stocks a wide variety of refurbished handsets at a fraction of the cost of a brand new one. 

While each has been carefully restored to perform at their best, all refurbished smartphones purchased through SOS also come with a twelve month warranty, and can be purchased at any of our sixteen store locations. Even if you’re not on the hunt for a new phone, it’s always worth bringing your existing one in for a free health check to ensure it’s performing at its best. 

If you are on the hunt for a quote, diagnostic, or even just some good old fashioned, friendly advice, please don’t hesitate to get in touch or give us a call today at SOS Phone Repairs.