Three Productivity Apps to Try in 2023
If you are looking for some productivity apps to help you stay focused, organized and informed in the new year, here are three productivity apps that you might want to check out. In today’s fast-paced and digital world, it can be hard to keep up with everything that’s going on around us. We often struggle with waking up on time, staying focused on our tasks, and being aware of the latest news and trends. Fortunately, there are some productivity apps that can help us improve our productivity, well-being, and awareness in different ways. In this article, we’ll compare three of these productivity apps: Alarmy, Focus, and Google News. We’ll look at their features, pros and cons, and conclusion to help you decide which one suits your needs best.
Alarmy
Alarmy is an alarm clock app that helps you wake up on time and start your day right. It does this by giving you various missions that you have to complete in order to dismiss the alarm. For example, you can choose to solve math problems, shake your phone, take a photo of a registered place, scan a QR code or barcode, or play a memory game. You can also set your own motivational phrases or quotes to type in when the alarm goes off. This is one of the best in productivity apps.
Features
- Math Mission: Solve simple to advanced math problems that wake you up. You can choose the difficulty level and the number of problems according to your preference.
- Shake Mission: Shake your phone up to 999 times to dismiss your alarm. You can adjust the sensitivity and the number of shakes according to your preference.
- Photo Mission: Wake up and take a photo of the registered place to dismiss your alarm. You can register any place that you want, such as your bathroom sink, your living room sofa, or your front door.
- QR/Barcode Mission: Scan the barcode or QR code you registered to turn the alarm off. You can register any barcode or QR code that you want, such as a cereal box, a book cover, or a product label.
- Memory game: Memorize colored tiles and select them. You can choose the difficulty level and the number of tiles according to your preference.
- Quick Alarm: Set an alarm easily with a minimal setting after 1 min to a few hours. You can use this feature when you need a short nap or a reminder.
- Sleep Sounds: Sleep mode to keep sleep sounds playing under a better environment. (with 8 helpful sounds to sleep) You can choose from different categories of sounds, such as nature, white noise, meditation, ASMR, stories and music. You can also set a timer for how long you want the sounds to play.
- Morning Record: You can record your morning feeling every day after dismissing your alarm. You can choose from different emojis and words to describe your mood. You can also write a short note or a diary entry if you want.
Pros
- It helps you wake up on time and avoid snoozing. By giving you different missions that require your attention and effort, it prevents you from falling back asleep or hitting the snooze button.
- It challenges your brain and body with different missions that suit your preferences. By giving you different options for missions that vary in difficulty and type, it allows you to choose what works best for you. You can also customize the settings of each mission according to your preference.
- It motivates you with positive messages or quotes that you can customize. By allowing you to set your own motivational phrases or quotes that will appear when the alarm goes off, it helps you start your day with a positive mindset. You can also choose from different themes and fonts for your messages or quotes.
- It tracks your sleep quality and morning mood with graphs and statistics. By recording your sleep duration and quality every night and your morning feeling every day, it helps you monitor your sleep patterns and mood changes over time. You can also view graphs and statistics that show how well you slept and how happy you were.
Cons
- It can be annoying or frustrating if you can’t complete the missions or if they are too hard or easy for you. If you fail to complete the missions within the given time limit or if they are not challenging enough for you, you might feel irritated or bored with the app.
- It can drain your battery or data if you use sleep sounds or online missions. If you use sleep sounds for a long time or if you use online missions that require internet connection, such as QR/Barcode Mission or Typing Mission (premium feature), you might consume more battery power or data than usual.
- It can be expensive if you want to access premium features like Wake Up Check (premium feature), Typing Mission (premium feature), Step Mission (premium feature), Multiple Mission (premium feature), Extra Loud Effect (premium feature), Time Reminder (premium feature), and Label Reminder (premium feature). If you want to enjoy more features that can make your mornings better, such as Wake Up Check (which checks on you until you prove break of 15 minutes.
- Custom Timer: Adjust the duration of your work sessions and breaks according to your preferences and goals. You can also choose from different sounds and themes for your timer.
- Task Manager: Create a list of tasks that you want to accomplish and track your progress and completion rate. You can also add notes, due dates, and reminders for your tasks.
- Statistics: View graphs and charts that show how much time you spent on each task, how many pomodoros you completed, how many distractions you blocked, and how productive you were. You can also export your data as a CSV file for further analysis.
- Reports: Generate daily, weekly, monthly, or custom reports that summarize your productivity and achievements. You can also share your reports with others via email or social media.
Conclusion
Alarmy is a great app for people who struggle with waking up on time or who want to make their mornings more productive and enjoyable. It offers a variety of missions that can challenge and motivate you to get out of bed and start your day right. However, it can also be annoying or frustrating if you don’t like the missions or if they are too hard or easy for you. It can also be costly if you want to access premium features that can enhance your experience.
Focus
Focus is an app that helps you block distractions and stay focused on your tasks. It does this by using the Pomodoro technique, which is a time management method that involves working in 25-minute intervals with short breaks in between. You can also customize the duration of your work sessions and breaks according to your needs. The app also provides statistics and reports on your productivity and achievements. This is good in productivity apps.
Features
- Pomodoro Timer: Set a timer for 25 minutes of work followed by 5 minutes of break. Repeat this cycle four times before taking a longer break of 15 minutes.
- Custom Timer: Adjust the duration of your work sessions and breaks according to your preferences and goals.
- Task Manager: Create a list of tasks that you want to accomplish and track your progress and completion rate.
- Statistics: View graphs and charts that show how much time you spent on each task, how many pomodoros you completed, how many distractions you blocked, and how productive you were.
- Reports: Generate daily, weekly, monthly, or custom reports that summarize your productivity and achievements.
Pros
- It helps you block distractions and stay focused on your tasks.
- It helps you manage your time and prioritize your tasks effectively.
- It helps you improve your productivity and performance with feedback and rewards.
- It helps you develop a healthy work-life balance with regular breaks.
Cons
- It can be stressful or overwhelming if you set unrealistic goals or expectations for yourself.
- It can be boring or monotonous if you don’t vary your tasks or activities during your breaks.
- It can be limited if you want to use other productivity methods or tools besides the Pomodoro technique.
Conclusion
Focus is a great app for people who want to block distractions and stay focused on their tasks. It uses the Pomodoro technique, which is a proven time management method that can help you improve your productivity and performance. It also provides statistics and reports that can help you track your progress and achievements. However, it can also be stressful or overwhelming if you set unrealistic goals or expectations for yourself. It can also be boring or monotonous if you don’t vary your tasks or activities during your breaks. It can also be limited if you want to use other productivity methods or tools besides the Pomodoro technique.
Google News
Google News is an app that helps you discover and read news stories that matter to you based on your interests and preferences. It does this by organizing and highlighting what’s happening in the world based on your interests and preferences. You can also explore different perspectives and sources on any topic with the Full Coverage feature. You can also access publications from around the world and discover new sources and topics.
Features
- Your Briefing: Get personalized news stories based on your interests and preferences. It updates throughout the day to bring you the top local, national, and world headlines. You can also customize your briefing by adding or removing topics and sources.
- Local News: Explore your community through stories and articles from news outlets in your local area. Customize and choose multiple locations so you can know what’s happening near you or wherever home is. You can also follow local topics and events that interest you.
- Full Coverage: Dive deeper into a story with multiple perspectives. The Full Coverage feature organizes everything online about a story, surfacing and highlighting coverage from different outlets and mediums. You can see top headlines, videos, tweets, opinions, analysis, timelines, facts, and more from various sources and perspectives. You can also compare how different sources cover the same story differently.
- Stories For You: The For You section delivers personalized news related to your interests. Take control and customize the articles you see by following the topics and sources you care about. You can also save stories for later reading or offline access, or share them with others via email or social media.
- Access From Any Device: Google News is designed to meet the needs of users with different phones
and levels of connection. When your connection isn’t strong or you need to save data, Google News will continue to work smoothly by slimming down the size of images and downloading less data. Articles can be downloaded over Wi-Fi to save for later when you are offline.
Pros
- It helps you discover and read news stories that matter to you based on your interests and preferences. By giving you personalized news stories based on what topics and sources you follow and like, it helps you find relevant and interesting news that you might otherwise miss. It also updates throughout the day to keep you informed of the latest developments and trends.
- It helps you explore different perspectives and sources on any topic with the Full Coverage feature. By giving you a comprehensive and balanced view of a story, it helps you understand the context and nuances of complex issues. It also exposes you to different opinions and viewpoints that can broaden your horizons and challenge your assumptions.
- It helps you stay current with local news coverage and access publications from around the world. By giving you access to news outlets in your local area and across the globe, it helps you stay connected with your community and learn about other cultures and regions. It also helps you discover new sources and topics that you might not be aware of or interested in before.
- It helps you customize and control the articles you see by following the topics and sources you care about. By giving you the ability to add or remove topics and sources from your briefing, it helps you tailor your news experience to your preferences and needs. You can also save or share articles that you find useful or enjoyable.
Cons
- It can be biased or inaccurate if the sources or algorithms are not reliable or transparent. If the sources that provide the news are not trustworthy or credible, or if the algorithms that select and rank the news are not fair or objective, you might get misleading or false information. You might also get news that reinforces your existing beliefs or biases instead of challenging them.
- It can be overwhelming or distracting if there are too many stories or notifications that are not relevant or important to you. If the app shows you too many stories that are not related to your interests or preferences, or if it sends you too many notifications that interrupt your attention or workflow, you might feel annoyed or stressed. You might also miss out on important or meaningful news that gets buried under the noise.
- It can be limited or incomplete if there are not enough sources or coverage on certain topics or regions. If the app does not have enough sources that cover certain topics or regions that you care about, or if it does not show you enough diversity or depth of coverage on those topics or regions, you might get a narrow or superficial view of the news. You might also miss out on valuable insights or perspectives that could enrich your understanding.
Conclusion
Google News is a great app for people who want to discover and read news stories that matter to them based on their interests and preferences. It organizes and highlights what’s happening in the world with personalized news stories and full coverage features. It also allows users to access publications from around the world and customize the articles they see by following the topics and sources they care about. However, it can also be biased or inaccurate if the sources or algorithms are not reliable or transparent. It can also be overwhelming or distracting if there are too many stories or notifications that are not relevant or important to them. It can also be limited or incomplete if there are not enough sources or coverage on certain topics or regions.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Alarmy, Focus, and Google News are three useful apps that can help users improve their productivity apps, well-being, and awareness in different ways. Each of them has its own features, pros, and cons that users should consider before choosing which one suits their needs best. Users should also experiment with different productivity apps and find out what works best for them personally.