All the good “app” puns are taken

Thanks to Apple’s useless App Store organization, finding great iPhone or iPod apps is a word-of-mouth, hit-or-miss proposition. Most of my purchases are free or very low-cost games, but sometimes I pick up great apps in other categories as well. And then sometimes I find they have special benefits, sometimes not so obvious ones, for people with CFS and similar illnesses. I’m going to discuss three such apps that I recommend. None of them are specifically health-related; rather, they are of use in three areas where we nerfed types also need particular help: relaxation, communication, and organization.

Relaxation

I love white noise for reading, relaxing, and being an insomniac, especially for sleeping. Ambiance ($0.99, Matt Coneybeare) provides hundreds of free sound clips from a frequently updated library to turn your device into an excellent sound soother. The original version of this app (Ambiance Classic) came with a sound library already installed, but the newer version wisely leaves it up to you to download, for free, whatever sounds you prefer. This means you can load up on ocean sounds while perhaps avoiding “Outboard Motorized Boat.” Or maybe you like the sounds of the city to lull you to sleep — “Subway Station” is for you. The point is, there is a wealth of clear, well-recorded sounds in many genres to use in creating your own personalized library.

The app also lets you organize the sounds you’ve downloaded into categories you create. You can mark favorites, and the alarm feature is robust with options. The best part of this app, for me, is the ability to create mixes of your sounds. For example, I’ve created a Forest Rain mix comprising a forest loop, a rainy loop, and a wind loop, with volumes adjusted to create the perfect combination. You can also play a sound or mix on top of tracks from your music library. While there is a “lite” (free) version of this app to try out, if you already know you like sound soothers, 99 cents is an absolute steal for this one.

Communication

The app I recommend in this category is Flower Garden ($2.99, Snappy Touch). You grow flowers from seeds, then make bouquets out of those flowers and send them to people via email or Facebook. A few seeds are available to you at the beginning, and you unlock more kinds by growing flowers and sending bouquets; there are also unlockable codes (which can be found in this thread). It’s a little bit of a game, in that each type of flower has its own difficulty level based on the “watering bar” at the top, and in order for the seeds to flourish or the flowers to stay healthy, you must keep the bar within the green zone, neither over- nor under-watering. However, the best part of this aspect is that even if you neglect your flowers and seedlings for days, the worst that will happen is they will wilt until the next time you water them. They never die unless you specifically choose to empty the pot.

Although this app could also belong in “Relaxation,” the reason I put it in this category is because of the difficulty CFSers often have with staying in touch. A phone call with a friend can land me in bed, and I’m often terrible about replying to emails. However, sending a bouquet is a fun, unusual, and easy way to let people know you’re thinking about them. The very positive reactions I’ve gotten to these bouquets is what inspired me to write about this app. Of course, it doesn’t replace meaningful communication, but when you just want to spread a little love without stressing yourself out too much, this is a great choice. Watch the video below to help you decide whether it’s worth the $3. (Personally I turn off the piano music and enjoy the pastoral background sounds instead.)

Update: There is now a lite version available, making it even easier to decide whether to buy.

Organization

This next review is a bit of a cheat, as I have not actually used the app. Things ($9.99, Cultured Code) is the iPhone version of the Mac task-management software that won “Best of Show” at this year’s Macworld. I use this software on my desktop and, unfortunately, simply couldn’t justify rebuying it, nor is there a demo available. So I will just explain how the software helped me, on the assumption that the app provides the same or similar benefits.

When I was even more new to being nerfed, I found myself paralyzed with projects, long- and short-term: finishing my master’s, applying for disability, teaching, etc.. The mass of it all overwhelmed me at a time when the CFS was chipping away at the amount I could do in a day. What I found in Things was a highly intuitive interface that let me set up broad “areas of responsibility” (not found in the iPhone version), projects within those areas, and tasks within those projects, with all my own notations. On a good day, I could write an entire task list, and then on those other days, I could knock off a simple task or two. While this concept certainly isn’t new, having everything organized in the easy and friendly software helped me to move forward out of my inertia.

Understandably, you may wonder why spend $10 on an app that does the same things you could do on a sheet of paper, or in a spreadsheet program you already own. That’s a personal decision, especially for so many of us who are out of work and on a budget. However, given that the desktop version is now $49.95, if you think this type of software might be of benefit to you, the iPhone app may be your best bet. I recommend watching the video on this page to aid your decision.

Termination

I’d be interested to hear if you find any of these useful. Even better, if you have suggestions for apps or other software that residents of nerfdom might especially enjoy, don’t sit there keeping them all to yourself!