Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

In the interest of being timely, I could write a post here about what I'm thankful for professionally and personally. But we've done that here in 2019 , in 2020, and again in 2021.

There wasn't a similar article in 2022, I guess I wasn't that thankful least year.

But since this is ostensibly a programmer and software blog, let's stick with that as I share some apps that I'm thankful to have in my life - and in my phone.


Shazam

I love music. I love discovering new music. I used to spend a lot of time and effort to find new music, reading music magazines then websites, trying things in listening booths, trying Music Choice stations on cable. And it put a ton of great music in my collection. I'm not exaggerating but I believe I've listened to an average of six hours of music per day over the course of my life (I usually listen while working and often while sleeping).

But Shazam has been a game changer. If you're out in the world somewhere and like some music you're hearing, you can find out what it was instantly. Yes in the past, if you were in a public place and heard a song that piqued your interest you could frequently ask the person who was playing it to tell you who the singer was. I recall two particular overdue musical discoveries of mine: first hearing Macy Gray in Amsterdam and first hearing Lucinda Williams in Bellingham, WA. In both cases, I was in a cafe and was able to ask the person behind the counter who it was.

But sometimes that's not possible. I once was in a supermarket and heard a song that I loved. It was just over the loudspeakers and nobody working there had any knowledge or control over what was playing. It haunted me for a long time. I remembered a few words and hid it on my list of things to track down. I still don't remember how I did it but I later found out it was "That's Love" by Jim Capaldi.

Anyway, Shazam has had a tangible positive affect on my life. I love music, Shazam helps me find it. Case closed.


Venmo

I can't quite put my finger on why I find Venmo so much better than PayPal. Frist of all, paying people out on the world who don't take credit cards, such as friends or some rando selling t-shirts near the beach - getting this ability on the phone is a huge leap in convenience.

As for Venmo vs. PayPal, perhaps it's the design of the Venmo app, or maybe it's their more relaxed reporting and fee policies. Who knows?

By the way, get out of here with Zelle.


IFTTT

If you don't know about If This, Then That - do yourself a favor and check it out. If you don't know how to write code, set up Cron jobs or write automated code scripts, that's fine. Just go use IFTTTT to automate whatever you need.

Use it to interact with your smart home devices, print something on your printer every two weeks to keep the cartridges from drying out, have IFTTT call your or text you when Uber is 1 mile away, schedule social media posts, etc. I feel silly trying to list the things you can do there. Chances are that if you use the service that you can come up with some automations that will slightly improve your life.

Here's another tech example: You can do web site uptime monitoring there. Just have it check your website every five minutes and if it goes from working to not working, you can get a text message or email.

Yes, there are timer elements to your phone, your Alexa or Google Assistant, Siri, etc. But if you need any of those two to talk to each other, IFTTT makes it easier.


Find My iPhone

THIS is the most important one on my list. I think I use this 3x a month and bails me out when I can't find my phone or iPad. In fact, I just thought I left my iPad somewhere last night. Without Find My iPhone I would have been driving back to my previous location when it turns out the tablet was on my car floor.

I think if you have Apple products, you have first-hand experience how big this is.

I wish my wallet and keys had something similar. (Yes, I know these are possible - just don't have good solutions for those yet.)


Uber

Here's another one that really shouldn't require a description or elaboration. It's been huge. If you're going to an area with limited or difficult parking, problem solved. There's no excuse for drunk driving in a world with Uber.

Recently my car died and was in the shop. Previously this would have been a huge problem. Sure, I work from my home, but one does need to get around. But the affordability and convenience of Uber made it possible, and even sensible, to go without a car for a while. Keep in mind, I live in Southern California, not New York City. Owning a car used to be mandatory here for a working person. Now you can make a case that you can get by without it just fine, thanks to Uber (and Lyft).