Best Apps for Moms

Pressed for time? With these apps, you can organize your cooking, shopping, billing—and still find a few minutes to log in some exercise. All apps are free unless noted. Apps available in the iTunes App store at apple.com are compatible with the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

Calorie Counter

What It Does: Calculates how many calories you’re consuming when you log in what you’re eating or scan the bar-code of a food package.
Working Mom Perk: By also providing a nutrition grade and pros/cons, this app comes in handy when making quick meal decisions.
*Also available for Android and BlackBerry

Grocery Gadget Shopping List ($3.99)

What It Does: Creates multiple shopping lists for different stores, matches coupons to shopping items and lets you compare item prices across stores.
Working Mom Perk: The sync feature lets you share your grocery list so you and Hubby won't both buy that gallon of milk for the week.
*Also available for Android, BlackBerry, Nokia and Windows phones

iSlick

What It Does: For the avid online shopper, this app gives you access to forums on front-page deals, hot deals and much more.
Working Mom Perk: Real-time alerts give you a heads up as soon as a good deal arrives so you won’t have to constantly check online.
*Also available for Android

Bloom

What It Does: By combining your favorite photos and music, this app provides a fun way of giving yourself—and others—inspirational reminders or “blooms” throughout the day.
Working Mom Perk: In the middle of a hectic and stressful day, this app can cheer you up as you reflect on the things that make you happy.

RedLaser

What It Does: Scans the bar-code of an item and lists the prices of the product online and at local vendors. 
Working Mom Perk: Takes the guesswork out of bargain-hunting, saving you time—and a headache.
 *Also available for Android and Windows phones

Mint.com Personal Finance

What It Does: Shows you all of your accounts—including checking, savings, credit and investments— and automatically obtains and categorizes all your transactions.
Working Mom Perk: Looking to create a monthly budget for your family? Have this handy app do it for you based on all related expenses.
*Also available for Android

Pedometer FREE

What It Does: Measures the steps you take in a day, as well as the distance you've covered and the calories you've burned.
Working Mom Perk: When you don’t have time to hit the gym, this app helps you track how much physical activity you’re getting—and it’s a good reminder to get up from your desk once in a while.

Dragon Dictation

What It Does: Uses voice-recognition to type text messages, emails, reminders or status updates.
Working Mom Perk: For multitasking working moms who are always on the go, the ability to dictate an email back to your boss is as good as having your own assistant.

Sleep Machine ($1.99)

What It Does: Allows you to play, mix and create the sounds that can best lull you to sleep or wake you up.
Working Mom Perk: Stress from work keeping you up at night? After a long day, this app can ease the transition into peaceful slumber.

Stylish Girl

What It Does: Always feel like you have nothing to wear? Take pictures of your wardrobe and upload to this app to create your own virtual closet that you can mix and match your outfit from.
Working Mom Perk: If you've got a last minute hot date with the hubby, this app will let you browse through your closet and create outfits before you get home to change.
*Also available for Android

Awesome Note ($3.99)

What It Does: Tracks your daily schedule and to-dos, and keeps all notes and folders together with unlimited volume.
Working Mom Perk: Access your memo, diary, checklists, shopping lists and travel itineraries in customized folders. Stuck in a meeting without a pad and pen? Email meeting notes directly with the app and print them out, too.

Makeup Alley

What It Does: Working moms need to look their best. But which products are worth the money? Read up on more than two million beauty product reviews and decide which one is the best bang for your buck.
Working Mom Perk: Not a beauty guru? The app allows you to read customer feedback before you purchase your new eye shadow or lipstick, so you know what's the real deal. 

Snapp!

What It Does: Instantly adds a new contact to your iPhone, and then automatically sends that new contact a follow -up email with more information about yourself.
Working Mom Perk: Learn to network effectively and follow up efficiently. You’ll never have to spend more than 10 seconds transferring information from all those business cards you receive to your phone.

GreatSchools Finder

What It Does: Finds elementary, middle and high schools in your area and locates them on a map. Also provides detailed ratings, parent reviews, test scores and district info of all the nearby schools.
Working Mom Perk: Allows you to compare neighborhood schools to ensure that your children receive the best education wherever you live. Access to convenient research at the tips of your fingers. 

Feeding Your Kids

What It Does: Encourages you to teach healthy eating behavior to your kids by making you more aware of what you feed them. Offers ideas, referrals, recipes, tools and inspiration to improve the quality of your kids’ consumption and nutrition.
Working Mom Perk: A simple program helps transition you towards better eating habits, and the challenge feature provides healthier alternatives to meals that you can easily incorporate.

InstaPaper ($4.99)

What It Does: Saves web pages (usually as text only) so that you can read them offline when you’re commuting underground with no wi-fi access.
Working Mom Perk: Read the articles you want, whenever you want. Adjustable fonts, text sizes, line spacing and margins let you customize your reading experience.

giggle's Best Baby Registry

What It Does: Expectant working moms who don’t have time to go create a registry at the store can use this simple app to create, manage and edit a baby registry right from their iPhones. Also includes helpful checklists and direct dial to a customer service rep that can answer any questions while you’re browsing through the virtual aisles.
Working Mom Perk: Saves you the time and hassle of going over to the store and allows you to conveniently add items to your registry while on the go. (Not expecting? Create your child’s birthday registry in a snap!)
*Available only for the iPhone

Nike Training Club

What It Does: Acts as your own personal trainer by offering more than 85 custom-built workouts with detailed instructions and audio support.
Working Mom Perk: Doubtful about how you’ll achieve your fitness goal? With audio guidance, exclusive rewards and workouts from celebrity trainers, this app will keep you in top shape.

MyMiniWallet

What It Does: Stores, organizes and recalls your gift cards, receipts, coupons and membership cards in one place.
Working Mom Perk: Creates more space in your actual wallet. The share feature is especially useful when someone needs to borrow a coupon or membership card from you and vice-versa.

Our Everyday Lunch ($0.99)

What It Does: Provides an entire week’s worth of menu options, with each day showing a new recipe, so you'll never be out of ideas for what to pack yourself for lunch.
Working Mom Perk: Stuck eating the same old boring lunch every day? This app challenges you to try a new recipe every day. Plus, the shopping list generator helps you plan ahead.

Snapseed ($4.99)

What It Does: Allows you to enhance, transform and share photos. Includes an Auto Correct feature, which adjusts photos with just one touch, and a variety of filters and borders to play around with.
Working Mom Perk: You love taking photos of your children, and with this app, you become your own photo editor and adjust photos with ease— no Photoshop skills required.

CollegeSave ($2.99)

What It Does: Helps you plan for your child’s college education by giving you an estimate of the future cost of college. Also uses your lump sum and monthly savings plan to calculate the future value of your savings.
Working Mom Perk: Lets you see how much time and money you need before you can send your child to college, so you can begin making the right adjustments.

Bank of Mom ($1.99)

What It Does: Tracks your kids’ virtual bank accounts and transactions to teach them the concept of money and savings. You can also track screen time for TV and video games and other activities like sleepovers and trips.
Working Mom Perk: Helps mom to instill healthy financial habits to her children starting from an early age.

Intuition: Mom's Personal Assistant

What It Does: Organizes your to-do lists and tasks, simplifies your grocery lists, schedules appointments by syncing up all your calendars and more.
Working Mom Perk: Short on time? The location assistance feature finds out if you are near any places where you can complete your errands.

by Irene Chang Kwon and Maricar Santos