Carol's Favorite Tech Tools

"All the technology in the world will never replace a positive attitude.”
– Harvey Mackay

"Attitude determines altitude."
-Zig Ziglar


This month's ActiveRain Challenge is to share our favorite tech tools, why we love them, and how we use them. I use several different apps that I wouldn't want to be without, but since I am retired they don't have to do with work. They are more about convenience, safety, and fun.

Phone Link:
Others have mentioned this one or similar apps. It is the one I use most (several times a day). I love being able to text from my computer.  I am a fast typist, and typing on a full-sized keyboard is much faster and makes better use of my time than typing on my phone's small keyboard. It’s especially useful when I have a lot to say, which is kind of often. Yes, I could use the voice-to-text feature, but the translation isn't always accurate, and I spend more time correcting the errors than it takes to type it out in the first place. The other thing I like about Phone Link is I can pull in pictures from both my phone or the computer. I can't easily pull in pictures on my computer direct from my phone... at least not that I know of.

GPS:
For a solo road tripper like me, I probably don't need to explain why I love this. It is my co-pilot. This makes solo travel so easy and stress free. I do keep an Atlas in my car, so I can plot out my routes ahead of time. If I totally left it up to the GPS, it might send me into a high traffic area I can avoid by rerouting the GPS.  Something I've learned about the pre-programmed maps in my car GPS is they aren't always the most current. Sometimes, I also use my phone GPS to compare routes. The phone always has the most current maps. I like the car GPS because it is larger and easier to see.

Waze:
I don't actually use Waze a lot but when I need it, I am glad it's available. Waze provides live traffic data by incorporating input from other users. It alerts me to accidents, road closures, traffic jams, and hazards in real-time, allowing me to reroute and avoid delays. I especially use this when I get into traffic jams. I can tell on the Waze map how far the slow down goes so I can decide whether to re-route or wait it out.


Google Keep (list maker)
This app does a lot more than what I use it for but I absolutely love it for keeping a bunch of different lists at my fingertips. I can update any list at any time. I have a lot of lists itemized by specific stores, including my grocery list, Costco list, Sally Beauty list, Walgreens, Amazon, etc. I also keep a books to read list, a To Do list, people to call list, and a packing list for my road trips. Every list is easily updated whether I want to add or delete items. One thing I love about the grocery list is when I check off an item, it drops it down into a sub-list, so I can add it back when I need to restock. Or, I can delete an item completely, which is what I should do with the cookies and donuts. This is a FREE app.

Audible 
This is what I listen to while I am traveling. I rarely have the radio or Sirius on. I download books on my phone and it links into my car Bluetooth system, so I can listen to books anywhere anytime. I like to read and you can imagine, on a long road trip that I can do a lot of "reading". I subscribe to the annual membership. It's a little less expensive than buying credits individually. There are cheaper ways to get audio books, and I use some of them too, but Audible has the largest selection. It's rare that I can't get the book I want through Audible.

Note: You don't need to download the book onto your phone as long as you have an internet connection. I sometimes lose internet on my trips, though, so I do download them and remove them when I am done. Of course, those removed books are always in the archives if I want to upload them again in the future.

Life 360  
This is a location sharing app for selected family and friends. I set up separate "circles" for different groups of people. For example, I have one circle with my closest set of friends, and another circle for my brother and a few other family members. My family and friends love to follow me when I am traveling, so they know I am where I should be... and vice versa. They can literally see the movement of my vehicle as I drive down the road (and how fast I am going). Of course, I can follow them too. We have one friend in our circle that we've told to slow down!  I have one family member who has called me to see if I'm ok because I haven't left home for two or three days. It's kind of funny but kind of nice that she checks on me, even though she knows I have a daily check in buddy. There is a paid option on this app but I just use the FREE version.

Two of my other favorite tech tools are Chat GPT & Suno. I've written about those before, though, so I won't go include them here.

This is my entry into the ActiveRain October Tech Tools Challenge .