It’s hard to believe that it has been over six months since the world slowed to a halt due to coronavirus. We’ve adapted the way we work, play, learn, and live—for better or for worse. Across the world we’ve rolled with the punches and done our best to make the most of a very strange time. To help with that, we’ve dedicated our fall edition of the best mobile app designs to apps that are helping us thrive during uncertain times. Let’s dig in and see how you might be able to upgrade your life with these apps.
You’ve probably heard of the Pomodoro Technique, a productivity strategy that breaks work into chunks to help you get more done. We’ve written about it many times before (see here, here, and here) simply because it works so well. With many companies gone virtual until at least next year, making sure you can cut out distractions and stay productive is key. That’s where Pomotodo comes in. This mobile app design is simple with red backgrounds and countdown timers to let you know how long you need to keep cranking before your next break. It even breaks down your statistics, allowing users to easily track their progress with bright graphs. If you need a little extra motivation, this app is for you—especially because it lets you block distracting apps as well.
Source: Pomotodo
Another way to get more done amid the pandemic is by aggregating more of what matters and blocking out what doesn’t. This concept applies across many areas of life and is especially salient when it comes to email. Edison Mail combines any personal or work emails into one inbox and makes unsubscribing possible with just one tap. No more searching the bottom of an email for a tiny font and low visibility colored “unsubscribe” link. And with features like automatic package and flight tracking, this clean design will help you get (closer) to inbox zero faster. The mobile app design is an added bonus with simple white backgrounds, a quick swipe to reveal a red “delete” button, and the most important bright and hard to miss unsubscribe button at the top of list-based emails.
Source: Edison on Twitter
Another way to keep your ducks in a row during quarantine is to start using a password management system. That way, all of your personal information will be kept safe with the added bonus of never having to get locked out of an account ever again. The mobile app design is minimal because it’s designed to house your account information without getting in the way. Instead of encouraging you to spend lots of time in-app, the design features a black or white background with colorful logos to differentiate between several different accounts at a glance. One of our favorite features is instant alerts when your data might have been compromised in a breach. No one has time for that!
Source: Dashlane
Now that work is out of the way, it’s time to focus on the apps that help you to unwind. With so much of our lives on Zoom or other video chat systems, taking time to get outside and not look at screens is so good for our eyes and general health. Audible is a great way to give your eyes a break, while still getting some hard earned entertainment or learning something new. From audiobooks to podcasts, Audible offers a dark background and orange accents that offer the ability to swipe through recommended and original content until you find something you like.
Source: USA Today
5. Relax Melodies by Ipnos Software
At the end of a long day (or even in the middle) you are likely to need a good rest. Relax Melodies is a meditation and sleep app that helps users destress, fall asleep, and sleep soundly. The mobile app design offers a dark, muted color pattern to make sure you don’t strain your eyes especially right before bed. The feature that inspired us to pick this app is its customizable soundscapes. This is their way of saying that you can use several different toggles to pick the optimal level for your own sleep or relaxation soundtrack. Users can produce their own unique sound by dragging their finger across sounds like rivers and nighttime crickets to make a soundtrack that works best for them.
Source: Relax Melodies
That’s all for fall but be sure to check out last season’s edition, featuring the best mobile app designs of summer 2020.
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