Our smartphones make our lives easier. They help us stay connected with friends and family, help us kill time, and even help us with our grocery shopping. Why wouldn't we use them to help us grow our business, too? iTunes and the Google Play Store are overwhelmingly full of all sorts of apps for maintaining your business, and it's hard to get lost in all the noise. We've put together a list of our 10 most used apps for business. (P.S. All these apps are free!)

 

  1. Slack (iTunes | Google Play) - "Slack brings team communication and collaboration into one place so you can get more work done, whether you belong to a large enterprise or a small business." This instant messaging system lets us customize different channels, so our teams can communicate in small groups or all together. It works as easily on our phones as it does on our desktops. An easy to integrate GIF add-on is a definite bonus.
  2. Feedly (iTunes | Google Play) - "Your central place to organize, read, and share the information you need to stay ahead of the next big trend in your industry. " Feedly lets you customize a list of the magazines, blogs, and other news sources that you want to read - and keeps them all in one place so you can view the headlines quick and easy. It's especially important to keep an eye on the news in your own industry niche.
  3. Waze (iTunes | Google Play) - "Even if you know the way, Waze tells you about traffic, construction, police, crashes, and more in real-time." Waze is our all-time favorite GPS map. It's great for going places you've never been, but also perfect for your everyday route. Waze's community-like structure means it's always being updated, in real-time, by your fellow Wazers who can warn you ahead of time when there's heavy traffic on your regular drive home.
  4. Uber (iTunes | Google Play) - "Uber is a ridesharing app for fast, reliable rides in minutes—day or night. " This app is perfect for people who travel for work. Uber can get you from the airport to your hotel and can get you from your hotel to your business conference. It's quick, easy, and best of all - cheaper than a taxi.
  5. Google Analytics (iTunes | Google Play) - "The official Google Analytics mobile app helps you monitor your business on the go." While nothing can really beat the browser version of this (viewed best in Google Chrome!), the mobile app is good for a quick check-in on how your website is doing.
  6. Duo (iTunes | Google Play) - "Duo Mobile works with Duo Security's two-factor authentication service to make logins more secure. " You've heard me talk about the importance of two-factor authentication many, many times. Duo is the software we purchased, but any two-factor authentication software will increase your security. Duo sends a notification to our phones through the free app when we log in to our computers, which allows us to accept or decline the login attempt.
  7. Canva (iTunes | Google Play) - "Create beautiful designs for work, school and play in minutes with Canva – no design skills or complex software needed." When our marketing coordinator wants to create a visual post for social media, she turns to Canva about 75% of the time. It's quicker than Photoshop, and you don't need any sort of expertise to use it.
  8. Evernote (iTunes | Google Play) - "Evernote is the only organizer and planner you need: take notes, create to-do lists, add images, scan documents with your camera, take handwritten notes, make sketches, and more!" Sure, all of these things could be done using several different apps on your phone, but having them all in one place is so much better. Plus, Evernote syncs to your desktop application, too, so you can have your notes anywhere.
  9. LinkedIn (iTunes | Google Play) - "Connect to opportunity and tap into your professional potential with the LinkedIn app." Whether you're using LinkedIn to stay in touch with your business peers, network to connect with new people, or searching for the perfect person to fill the open position in your office - LinkedIn will definitely be your new favorite social media app. You'll learn valuable information from people in your industry, instead of the weird quotes your cousin posts on Facebook.
  10. Calendar app (preinstalled) - Of course, don't forget the apps that are already on your phone. The Calendar app is our personal favorite. Link it to your Outlook calendar, share calendars with coworkers or family, and keep yourself on track.

What are your favorite mobile business apps? Let us know in the comments.