Best Apps My Parents Should Have

Nine Apps Every Parent Should Have On Their Phone

Here's some advice from a millennial to her parents on the top iPhone apps out there today.

1) Vine
This app allows parents to make home videos from their iPhones and share them with family and friends. Last I checked, parents love making home videos of family events and landmarks so this app is perfect for parents! Plus, each video captures only seven seconds meaning that parents will post only the highlights online. Your Vine profile could eventually become an entire album of family videos! Or parents can make hilarious shorts that will leave their kids rolling over the floor laughing like this hilarious dad did:

2) groupme
Am I the only person who has a family thread that goes off a bazillion times per minute distracting me from whatever I am doing anytime ever? I have long suggested groupme for the family, and my proposal has long been rejected by the adults in my family. PARENTS, get in on this. After you download the app, it's not more complicated than iMessage. Unlike iMessage, which just pops up on your phone, you can separate your group chats into different categories, and look at them when you have time. Downloading this app will definitely be a great gift to your children.
groupme

3) Instagram
Everyone on the Internet could really exercise more control. No one wants to see 75 pictures of Tamara in Israel including 30 selflies and another 30 stunning landscape shots. They might want to see one landscape shot and one picture of Tamara. And that, parents, is why so many teenagers have turned to Instagram and left Facebook. You can only download one picture at a time, preventing people from downloading entire albums of entirely boring pictures. A recently added feature that makes Instagram even better: users can now upload 15-second videos... and add filters. Plus, Instagram is a great medium for posting pictures (and now videos) in celebration of birthdays and other holidays including Mother's Day and Father's Day. Follow this father's lead. He posted the picture below on his son's 20th birthday captioning the image, "Shave like a man, son."
insta dad

4) snapchat
My mom already jumped on the snapchat bandwagon and more parents should. Snpachat is soooo fun! You can send silly, ridiculous photos to your friends and family that delete after one to 10 seconds depending on how long you set the timer for. It's a really easy and fun way for families to keep in touch. Plus, your kids will be pleasantly surprised when they open up their snapchat account and see this on their iPhone screen:
snapchat

5) foursquare
Moms, dads: this app will revolutionize how you keep track of your children. Your kids can check into locations when they get there using the iPhone's built-in GPS, so you will know where your kids really are all the time. If your kids add #mom to the end of their check-in, mom will receive an automatic phone call or text message alerting her that the kids have arrived at their destination.
hashtag mom

6) Songza
You're really going to say no to thousands of organized playlists? This app spoils you by catering playlists to your specific needs based on the day of the week, the weather, the season, your activity and music preferences. One word: brilliant.
songza

7) Optimum
How often do you struggle to find the remote control in your house? You regularly search your house to no avail. If you have optimum, put an end to that strife. Each member of your family can control the TV from his or her phone through the Optimum app. It's a remote control on your telephone!
optimum app

8) Venmo
Talk about a revolutionary app. Using Venmo, you can pay other users with your iPhone by simply linking venmo to your online banking account. Some people pay their bills through Venmo while others use the app send money to their kids at college. What's more? Venmo has a social component that lets you "like" and comment on transactions between friends. Check it out.
venmo

9) Nike Training Club
It's a personal trainer on your iPhone... and unlike any trainer outside the cyber world, it's totally free. This app provides over 100 custom-built workouts. You set your workouts to playlists from your own music library and audio guidance will motivate you while you move.
nike app

Before You Go

1. Give It To Your Kids So They Stop Taking Yours...

11 Uses For Your Old iPhone

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