2021 Update: 5 Great Smartphone Apps

As a shout out to technology, smartphone apps have become more intuitive, feature-packed, and increasingly essential to everyday life than ever before. Just as you need to understand what new features your cellphones are capable of, so should you know what apps can do to make it as efficient as possible. We can help with our annual look at: 5 Great Smartphone Apps for Men over 50.

Within your phone’s storage and memory constraints, you can download as many apps as you see fit, so there’s no reason not to be on the lookout for new ones that are useful. Whether you’re looking to stock up your new phone, an older purchase, or see what you’re missing out on, this guide is here to help. We’ve compiled a list of five useful apps that solve real problems for you.

#1 Video Chat: Google Duo – Easy Cross-Platform Calling

Best described as Google’s equivalent to Apple’s FaceTime, Google Duo is a cross-platform video chat app that helps you stay in touch with family and friends. Whether you use an Android phone or an iPhone, you won’t be left out of video calls on Duo.

During the pandemic, when in-person gatherings are risky, video calling apps like Google Duo are super helpful. You can add as many as twelve other people to a Duo call so that you can stay connected to friends and family without needing to be physically present. Google Duo is free and uses end-to-end encryption to keep your calls private between you and the people you’re calling.

#2 Online News: AllSides

If you didn’t grow up with the Internet, it can be awfully hard to distinguish between truth and fiction when reading online news. And let’s be honest, our current media outlook can be confusing to infuriating at best. Add to this, social networks that do such a poor job of verifying opinion and viewpoint, it’s small wonder we’re at a loss as to where to turn for accuracy.

AllSides is a free website and iPhone and Android app that combines high-quality news articles from a variety of sources across the current events and political spectrums. What we like so much about this app is that the AllSides editors rate sources’ biases so that you can be a more educated consumer of the news.

#3 Guided Meditation/Stress Relief: Calm App

Recently, a number of high-profile studies have promoted the benefits of meditation on mental health, acuity, and well-being. If you’re a beginner to the art of meditation, you might find it hard to get started without a guide. That’s where the Calm app comes into play. It offers several guided meditation sessions that can help you sleep better, manage your emotions, and handle stress.

Although many of the guided meditations are free once you set up an account, the full catalog requires a reasonable subscription, or you have the option of a one-time payment. Full membership allows access to other relaxation methods such as breathing techniques, calming music, scenes and sounds and much more.

#4 Fitness: Strava – Exercise Social Network

If you love being active (or want to increase your exercise level), a little friendly competition makes a big difference. Strava lets you map your walks, runs, swims, skis, and lots more and share them with your friends or the wider community. You can join virtual workout clubs and compete with athletes of all skill levels.

If you have a GPS-enabled fitness tracker like a Garmin smartwatch or Apple Watch, you can even record your workouts straight from your wrist without bringing your phone along. Fitness trackers will also give you stats like your heart rate and more accurate pace info so you can optimize your exercise.

#5 Financial Market Apps: Keep an Eye on Your Portfolio

With the ease of online trading over the last twenty years or so, a solid tracking and research app is a necessity for the amateur investor. While we left this category a little subjective, the features included in most and thereby ones to consider offer market indicators, stock searches, performance indicators (at least out to 5 years), portfolio and watchlists, and current market news.

Luckily, most of the available apps (through Google Play) meet these criteria. Your decision will most likely be based on rating criteria. We went through the list and looked for the top three that rated 4.5 or better as of this blog posting date.:

• My Stocks Portfolio & Widget
• Marketwatch (Dow Jones)
• Stocks: Realtime Quotes & Charts (StockSpy Apps)
• Jstock
• Stock Market Tracker
• CNBC
• Investment portfolio
• FinWiz
• Barchart Stocks and Future.

We’re sure these ratings will fluctuate, but well be here next to take fresh look, so make sure and save us! You can also review our blog on The Best Stock Trading Apps – Changing How We Invest

Final Thoughts on 5 Great Smartphone Apps for Men over 50.

Apps are what makes your smartphone a multipurpose device that integrates so well into your everyday life. They can encourage good routines like exercise and meditation, provide on-the-go information with ease and keep you in touch with your friends and loved ones. With a good selection of apps, you can supercharge your smartphone’s usefulness and achieve things that you didn’t think were possible.

We hope the information in our piece 5 Great Smartphone Apps for Men over 50, can help you with an informed decision if you’re considering downloading (or buying) a smartphone app. As always, if you need something you can’t find here, feel free to reach out to us through the Contact page or leave a comment below. Please use our approved affiliate links to explore the options available to you, we appreciate you support!