I’ve always loved lists like these. There’s nothing like finding an online platform, website or app that simplifies your life. But finding them isn’t always the easiest thing in the world, especially if you’re a bit of a sceptic about the quality of what you’re about to use in the first place, or it may simply be that you’re loathe to have to learn to use yet another platform.

There are however, a massive variety of amazing apps and websites that will make your life just that much easier. Here are 9 free (for the most part at least) apps that I use at least once a day:

Photo Editing

 Image: Pixlr

PicMonkey: This is one of my all-time favourite photo editing tools (especially seeing as though you wouldn’t exactly call me ‘proficient’ in Photoshop).  There are both limited and paid options for PicMonkey (the paid option being a recent development) but I find the limited option enough for now, to be honest. A note to mention is that it’s targeted at beginners. However, as you spend more time playing around on it, there are definitely enough options to keep advanced users entertained.

Aviary: Aviary is one of those nifty photo editing apps that exists across the various mobile operating systems (iOS, Android & Windows. There’s a Facebook app, too, for those that may prefer to use it on a desktop. It includes a variety of developer options as well). Aviary offers a variety of beautiful filters along with the usual photo editing options you may need to use alongside those. It’s a definite win for quick, robust photo editing online.

Pixlr: I’m a big fan of Pixlr’s iOS app, Pixlr-o-matic (don’t worry there’s an Android version, too) and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that there’s a web-based version as well. There are options for all skillsets, or as I like to see it, ‘how much time I have to play around with a photo’.

Music Streaming

A warning to users, the following have the tendency to be pretty data heavy, so try and use them on uncapped lines when possible. 

8tracks: Hands-down my favourite internet radio site, especially for finding new music. What I love about this site is that it’s comprised of user generated playlists categorised according to the overall mood or genre of the music it consists of, and even what you need the music for, e.g. working out or pre-gaming. My favourite part about 8tracks is that it has apps for both iPhone and Android, so you’re able to keep track of what you’re listening to wherever you go.

Tubalr: I discovered this little known site via Reddit, and what an awesome find it is! Basically Tubalr is a simple way to enjoy YouTube’s music content without having to skip through videos manually. Tubalr is also a fantastic platform for discovering new music.

Songza: In my opinion, Songza is the best iPhone app in existence. Playlists are grouped according to what activity you’re doing while you use the app and they are always fantastic. Unfortunately, the web-based version isn’t available in South Africa yet (like so many internet music sites), but you’ll survive with the app.

Productivity And Organisation

Any.do: Fellow QuirkStar and digital organisation enthusiast, Alia, kindly introduced me to Any.do, and I really don’t know how I coped before. It’s a great organisational app that syncs seamlessly between your browser and your phone. My favourite feature is it’s tie-in with Chrome (and therefore Gmail), makes it easy to add those “follow up with…” to your to-do list.

Evernote:  Evernote makes it so easy to keep track of personal notes, interesting articles or quotes, as well as the things you need to remember. It works across a variety of platforms and has great browser integration. The collaborative functions also offer many benefits for colleagues working together.

Wunderlist: This is, quite possibly, one of the most beautiful to-do lists you’ll ever use. While it lacks the browser integration of Any.do, it has fantastic desktop versions that I really enjoy using - especially on my Mac.

Are there any I've left out? What web-based tools make your day-to-day run a little smoother? Let us know in the 'Make a comment' block below.

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