12 Apps to help you Survive the Christmas Season
Christmas can be a stressful time for all of us, and it seems to arrive earlier every year. If it’s not gifts to buy, it’s family get-togethers to arrange, parties to attend, decorations to get up and a massive dinner to prepare. To help you get super-organised this year, here are 12 apps that are sure to come in handy …
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Getting around
First up, you need to go shopping for presents. And if you haven’t started yet, then WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Time’s a-wasting – it’s almost Christmas! To aid you on this quest, here are two apps to help you get around all the stores.
The first is Bus Checker, which is now available for the whole of the UK plus New York City and Santiago. It will tell you when the next bus is arriving at the stop, plus it has maps for all your local routes. It’s available for iOS, Android, Kindle Fire and Windows Phone, tablet and PC.
The other app is a map for the London Underground (aka the Tube), and it’s available for both iOS and Android. You’ll never get lost, or miss your bus, again. The only thing these apps won’t do is help you carry all your parcels. Sorry.
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Shopping
There is another way to shop that does not involve the use of buses or trains – or even leaving the house – and that’s shopping online via the Amazon App. Available for Android, Windows Phone and iOS, the Amazon app gives you access to millions of products with just the swipe of your finger. And, of course, some damage to your credit card.
And after Christmas … what do you do with that horrible sweater that Aunt Mavis gave you? You are never going to wear it, and, let’s be honest, some extra cash would come in handy. Why not put an ad on eBay and hope that a buyer with a penchant for ugly sweaters wants to take the horror off your hands? That’s where the eBay App comes in.
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Planning
Of course, before you hit the shops, you need to make a list of what you are going to buy for your friends and family members. You could just use a pen and paper, but that is soooo last century – why go to all that hassle when you can use an app to do it on your phone or tablet? For the iPhone and iPad, there is the free Gift It – A Christmas Shopping List & Countdown App. According to the developers: “Think of Gift It as the personal assistant for all of your holiday organisation. Never forget that present for a special someone and never buy the wrong gift again!” And for Android users, there is the Christmas Gift List. It’s free, but offers in-app purchases.
And while on the subject of planning, you can’t do without a to-do list. There are loads to choose from, so check out this list of The 9 Best To-Do List Apps For 2014 at Forbes and choose the one that’s right for you.
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On the big day
Christmas day is finally here. After the ritual “opening of the presents” (for those of you who get presents) and the smoked salmon and champagne breakfast, it’s time to get cracking on the Christmas dinner – which for most people means a roast turkey. And why not turn to an app to help you prepare the perfect Christmas feast? (After all, you used the Wotwine app to help you choose the Christmas tipple.)
To help get your Christmas dinner just right, one app you can use is Timed2Perfection (iOS and Windows Phone). It’s not a recipe app as such, more of a timer – tell the app what you have to cook and it will alert you when things need to go in the oven or pan.
Then there is Perfect Christmas Dinner, for iOS. which “brings you the expert guidance of the professional chef tutors at Ashburton Cookery School, one of the UK’s leading culinary schools. With over 25 video recipes included, from the perfect roast potatoes to the most succulent turkey, this app is your step-by-step guide to cooking a delicious and memorable festive meal whether you are a beginner or a confident cook.”
And for a little bit of fun around the dinner table, give ElfYourself (iOS and Android) a go – it beats those boring Christmas cracker jokes by letting you create a funny video of the people around you, turning them into “elf” versions of themselves.
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Post-dinner fun
Stuffed full of turkey and stuffing, all you want to do is kick off your shoes, loosen your belt and relax in front of the TV. But what to watch? If you live in the UK, then you will want to download the Freeview TV Guide App for iOS and Android. It will let you know what’s on and when, for every TV channel you could possibly want – except HBO. You have to live in the US to get HBO.
But rest assured that sometime, somewhere, the best Christmas film ever made will be showing on TV: Die Hard.
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The day after …
The Boxing Day Hangover is the traditional price you pay for the joy of Christmas. But Hangover Cures are at hand, for both Android and iOS. Happy new year!
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