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So you've finally relented and bought yourself a smartphone, but the thought of using all those apps fills you with dread?
Well, it might be time to challenge your own assumptions about what an app can do for you. Not all apps are fickle, time-wasting diversions. Many are genuine attempts to offer solutions to some of life's most irritating problems.
So before you hit the app store, and are bombarded by choice, take time to think about what you need.
For example, if you're always out of ideas for dinner, or avoid using public transport because you're tired of the unforeseen delays, then search for apps that are specifically designed to help you out.
Here are 10 simple apps that aim to make life a little more bearable..
Top Apps For People Who Don't Like Apps
Change4Life(01 of10)
While there are many meal planner apps out there, they usually require a healthy bank balance and plenty of time to spare searching round the supermarket.However, the Change4Life app, created as part of the Government's Change4Life campaign to encourage healthy living habits, is a genuinely useful tool. You can search more than 100 easy, calorie-counted recipes for breakfast, lunch, evening meals, plus desserts and snacks. The app includes a shopping list, which organises the ingredients you need by supermarket aisle. And you can also email these recipes and shopping lists to yourself.Perfect for those nights when you want 'something healthy' and end up poking miserably at a dull salad.The first review of this healthy meal planner app on iTunes reads: "Great example of tax payers money spent wisely."Surely, the highest praise the great British public could bestow... (credit:Change4Life)
My Council Services UK(02 of10)
While you might be sick of dodging the same pothole everyday when you leave the house, the idea of ringing the council probably fills you with dread. And that's where the My Council Services UK app comes in.Download the app, register your details and then the technology will send your complaint or request to the correct local authority.The app also includes up-to-date local council news, as well as functionality that enables you to check how your report is progressing. (credit:My Council Services UK)
Live Trains(03 of10)
Try as you might, it's not always easy plan a train journey down to the last minute. Random obstacles can leave you frantic about catching your train, before arriving at a station only to discover your journey has been cancelled or delayed.Live Trains puts a stop to this merry-go-round of stress and confusion. The app allows you to check the times trains are arriving and departing stations in real time, so you can foresee delays, note which platform to head for and work out a Plan B, if you're running late. Utterly indispensable. (credit:Live Trains)
Yahoo(04 of10)
A weather app is something no discerning smartphone user should be without, whether you're a fan of technology or not.At present, the leader of the pack is Yahoo's app (winner of an Apple Design Award 2013), which combines detailed, accurate forecasting with a sublime interface. Boring weather predictions are transformed by stunning photography, and thoughtful quirks, such as photos that match your location, time of day, and current weather condition, ensure that you'll return to this app time and time again. (credit:Yahoo )
Buschecker(05 of10)
Trying to save those pennies? Well make sure you have Buschecker downloaded on your phone in time for your next visit to London.The Buschecker app can predict when your chosen routemaster will arrive. So no longer will you be left uncertainly waiting for a bus that may, or may not, arrive. You can sit happily in your cafe, and then dash out just in time to catch your ride. This app turns bus travel in London into a more rational and predictable exercise. Although, sadly, it still can't prevent two buses coming along at once... (credit:Buschecker)
Flashlight(06 of10)
Having a flashlight on your phone is an utterly intuitive move, as you tend to have your phone handy in crisis -- unlike a torch.As a result, there are plenty of apps available to light your way.Flashlight is particularly well designed version, which not only beams a bright light, but has an integrated compass.There's also a brightness control and built in SOS signal (even though most people will only ever use this app to find their glasses in the dark..) (credit:Flashlight)
Fuel Smart(07 of10)
In this time of austerity, can you really afford to ignore useful apps that tell you about best fuel deals in your area? Users of Fuel Smart log their most recent experiences of buying petrol via the app, so other drivers know which service stations are offering the lowest rates. The fuel-price contributions are colour-coded which allows the user to know the age of the fuel price information (e.g within one-week, 1 to 3 weeks and more than 3 weeks old.The app can also locate your nearest petrol station.Fuel Smart UK AsdaBPEssoMorrisonsSainsburiesShellTescoTexacoTotalQ8 (credit:Fuel Smart)
Google Maps(08 of10)
As long as you've got a network connection, Google Maps will soon become an invaluable addition to your life. Its GPS device can find your exact spot and then move with you, as you travel.The only downside is that it's very easy to become entirely reliant on this app, so make sure you take a screen grab of useful maps ahead of any important journeys, just in case your phone loses its internet connection. (credit:Google Maps)
Skype(09 of10)
The mobile (iPhone) app is rapidly becoming an essential for any Smartphone user.Allowing you to call other Skype users for free, as long as both have a wifi connection (or you can call any phone via a low-cost call package), the app takes the sting out of phone call charges and limited minutes on mobile contracts.Regular travellers, who have historically found themselves being stung by mobile phone roaming charges, when they make the odd phone call or text message, should definitely download this app. (credit:Skype)
Tesco(10 of10)
Supermarket apps vary widely in functionality, but the Tesco app consistently receives positive reviews from customers, because it actually makes their lives easier. The app allows you to find your nearest Tesco store wherever you are, add your clubcard and scan it at checkout straight from your phone, order and amend your grocery online shop while you're on the move and scan the barcodes of products that you've finished at home, so they're automatically added to your next shopping list. (credit:Tesco)