If you’re here reading this, there’s a good chance you work in the tech industry. You might spend your days creating exceptional code, designing intuitive interfaces, or sifting through datasets for meaningful insights.
Whatever it is that you do, you’re a vital part of creating technology that makes people’s lives better. Go you!
As our way of thanking the hard-working Girls in Tech community, we’re sharing this curated list of our favorite apps. But we’re not talking TikTok and Twitter here. These apps have been chosen to help you make sense of the chaos of life, and balance your competing needs as a girl in tech – from team meetings to fitness goals, and business ideas to personal finances.
So jump on over to the App Store or Google Play, and get downloading!
Apps for health and wellbeing
Calm
Anxiety, imposter syndrome, personality clashes at work, workplace-induced trauma – women in tech have experienced it all. But a few minutes of meditation per day has been shown to reduce stress, ease symptoms of depression, and improve concentration and memory over time. #worthit
The Calm app is one of the best meditation apps on the market. It’s beautifully designed, and features an exceptionally, immersive soundscape experience––so when you plug in to meditate you truly feel like you’re sitting in a field, listening to rain on the roof, or in whichever calming setting you choose.
New meditation practices are released regularly, and specific series can help you overcome any unique challenges, for example, ‘7 Days of Managing Stress’.
We love it! And you’ll love it too. You can trial Calm for 7 days for free.
Get Calm for iOS | Get Calm For Android
7 Minute Workout
Think that exercise is just about building muscle and staying physically healthy? It’s definitely great for your body, but research from Harvard Health shows that physical activity can also enhance your memory and thinking skills, making you sharper and more effective at work.
It can be difficult fitting a daily workout in, but ‘not having time’ can’t really be an excuse with the official Johnson & Johnson 7 Minute Workout app. You only need a wall, a chair, and 7 minutes of your time to complete the speedy, science-based workouts. And you can even use the app from your Apple Watch.
Super fast, super fun workouts that you can do anywhere. Download the app to get started.
Get J&J Official 7 Minute Workout for iOS | Get J&J Official 7 Minute Workout for Android
Apps that will make everyday life easier
Waze
Is the daily commute to the office a part of your life again? If so, you’ll know how frustrating it is to run into traffic along the way. Wouldn’t it be helpful if technology could give you an accurate, real-time estimate of how long it’ll take you to get from A to B?
Enter: the Waze app.
It’s essentially Google Maps, but with up-to-date navigation information based on community input about road conditions. It’s even owned by Google, actually. So you get the same Google data, but with added information logged by real drivers that are on the roads. Accidents, speed limits, and other information can be reported in real-time, and the app will update navigation details for all its users.
It’s also got a super cute animated interface which you’ll love if you’re tired of Apple Maps or Google Maps. Give it a try!
Get Waze for iOS | Get Waze for Android
Mint
It’s no secret that many humans lack basic personal finance skills. It doesn’t help that many of us didn’t learn about finance in school (although that’s changing), and that women earn 82 cents on the dollar compared with men. Ugh.
If you’d like greater control over your money, then the Mint app can help you out. You can link it with your bank accounts, credit cards and investments, so you can view all your financial data in one place and make better decisions. There’s also a budget planner feature, and a budget tracker tool that helps you see where your money is going.
It’s a minty-fresh approach to finance that will help you set goals, build your credit score, and get ahead. Yay!
Get Mint for iOS | Get Mint for Android
Todoist
Whether you’re a fan of to-do lists from way back, or you’re more of a make-it-up-as-you-go kinda gal, you’ll benefit from the order that the Todoist app can bring to your life. (Psst! You can use it for work too.)
List your tasks for the day, or set up recurring tasks (i.e. ‘read emails every day at 9am’) so you never forget the important things. You can add due dates and alerts, and invite others to collaborate with you too. Plus, you can customize your to-do lists to make them actually appealing to you.
We love that Todoist can help you separate work-related goals and life-related goals, then add in steps to achieve them. No toxic productivity here – just simple, straightforward to-do lists that encourage you to get things done in your own time.
Try it for free yourself!
Get Todoist for iOS | Get Todoist for Android
Apps that will help to upskill you
Duolingo
A language learning app may seem a bit left of field, but bear with us. Not only is it a great way to fill downtime with something productive and useful, evidence shows that learning a language actually increases the size of your brain! It can improve your memory, intelligence, multitasking abilities, and your creativity. (Here are 70 benefits of language learning, if you need more convincing.)
Duolingo is a great tool for learning a language on the go. You complete short, simple quizzes to build your knowledge, and the gamified format keeps you coming back to reach new levels and achieve badges. All you need is 5 minutes per day.
Go on – it never hurts to add an extra language on your CV.
Get Duolingo for iOS | Get Duolingo for Android
Udemy
Udemy is the perfect app to have on hand when you want to do a little professional development in your spare time. There are over 185,000 online video courses available, with more being added all the time.
You can purchase whichever course takes your fancy – whether it be Python, AWS Certification, or drawing skills. And you can even set alerts in the app to remind you to learn a little every day.
Whether you want to learn a new skill or improve your existing knowledge, Udemy is a great way to upskill on-the-go.
Get Udemy for iOS | Get Udemy for Android
Apps for productivity at work
GitHub
If you work in software development, you will have heard of (and probably already used) GitHub. But did you know that this much-loved development platform is available in a mobile app too?
The GitHub app allows you to work on code, triage issues and collaborate with your team from the palm of your hand. There’s also a great community feature that lets you interact with other coders, share your stories, and find solutions to problems others have faced before you.
It’s the perfect tool for acting on those 2am coding epiphanies.
Get GitHub for iOS | Get GitHub for Android
Notion
With many of us working remotely, keeping company information in one central place can be difficult. Some businesses use an overwhelming amount of different platforms to get different things done. The Notion app is designed to bring it all together.
Create your own digital workspace, incorporating documents, spreadsheets, code, to-do lists and more. You can integrate your other work platforms, and create automations to cut down on time. Collaborate with your team members, record meeting notes, and update policies on the fly.
If your personal life is a mess, you can also use Notion to create order there! Record your daily tasks, life goals, and grocery lists.
Get started by using a template, or jump right in and custom-build the workspace of your dreams. The options are endless.
Get Notion for iOS | Get Notion for Android
StackOverflow
When you’ve got a tech question, there’s probably someone out there with a pretty good answer. StackOverflow recognizes the power of community knowledge, and hosts a public Q&A forum for developers and technologists.
The app gives you quick access to ask questions, learn, and share technical knowledge with the more than 100 million people who visit the site each month. Plus, you can help a fellow developer out by answering a few questions here and there.
Download the app to find fast solutions to your devops and technologist issues.
… They awkwardly don’t seem to have an iOS app available right now, but you can always go straight to the website to ask your question!
Of course, we could add plenty more apps to this list, but we’ll leave it at that for now. So tell us, which apps can YOU not live without? Share with your Girls in Tech community.
