10...apps on a Blippar employee's mobile phone

Angry Birds, Netflix, Whatsapp, Snapchat, Spotify, MailOnline, Huffington Post… the apps a person chooses to keep on their smartphone home screen tells you plenty about the workings of their internal space.

Do they favour photo-editing apps over social networks? Do they prefer a tabloid read or a meaty broadsheet? Are they a Candy Crush kinda girl or a Shazzamming sort of a boy? Is their app library a tangled, Matrix-style web of thousands, a handful arranged into neatly labelled folders, or a choice collection of six?

As a technology company whose work is accessed via an app currently downloaded onto some 10 million phones globally, Blippar employees are naturally partial to the odd mobile application.

Here, in the first of a new line of list-flavoured #blippblogs, we asked Blippar’s Senior Brand Partner Sam Grimley to reveal the 10 mobile apps he can’t live without...


untappd

1. Untappd

As a lover of all things real ale, this shot straight to the top of my ‘most used apps’ list in under a month! It lets you tick off beers you've sampled on a glorified to-drink list, and helps you source your next interesting pint from local breweries. With its help I managed to test drive five terrific new ales in Budapest this weekend. Thirsty work.

foursquare

2. Foursquare / Swarm

I’ve been a big fan of Foursquare – the location check-in app - for some time, but deleted it temporarily when it was merged with social heat map Swarm. It's back on my iPhone now, but I still prefer Foursquare over the new addition for its list features; it makes the perfect weekend away planning tool. Check out my lists from Budapest and Warsaw.

gmail

3. Gmail

The power of email in your pocket. Enough said!

twitter

4. Twitter

I love Twitter for its ability to keep me up to date on pretty much any topic of interest, be this what people are saying about Blippar, a presentation I've just given, or the ramblings of Blackburn Rovers fans worldwide.... Follow me here.

yammer

5. Yammer

This internal social network keeps all Blippar employees in sync across our global offices. We share thoughts on the business, news about the augmented reality and mobile marketing space, the latest from our competitors, as well as more light-hearted memes and Spotify playlists.

spotify

6. Spotify

I spend most of my time travelling between meetings and working on proposals, and every moment needs a Spotify music playlist. Now you can even sync your own selection of songs to the car's stereo system while riding in Uber taxis! I’m not sure what I did before Spotify, especially since I live in a small London flat with no room for piles of CDs or minidiscs!

wunderlist

7. Wunderlist

Does something need to be done? Then it’s on this list. I love the collaboration functions, and the way in which every device syncs with ease.


tripit

8. TripIt

This is another very recent addition to my home page. Travelling a lot (for both work and pleasure) requires plenty of planning and organisation. Previously, I just stuck everything into Google Calendar, but then I found TripIt. And now I don’t know how I lived without it. It picks up every travel-related email and just organises it for me. I’d love to see Foursquare lists integrated into the app next.

pocket

9. Pocket

The latest addition to my home page. Having 10 minutes to browse the Internet, but not two hours to read it all, that’s where Pocket comes in handy. Just find things you want to read, and stuff it in your ‘pocket’ for later. I love adding interesting articles from the world of fast-moving consumer goods (my field at Blippar) and funny stories about animals, then reading them later while sitting on a train. Ideal.

Sam’s current favourite Pocket reads: Poach a Dozen Eggs at Once with a Muffin Tin / Augmented Reality Most Helpful Tool for CPG Shoppers / Consumer-goods firms and advertising

blippar

10. Blippar

And last, but by no means least! I have genuinely loved our app from the first time I saw it in action, and I still think it’s phenomenal. I especially enjoy getting the beta versions installed in full on my phone, to test out before the rest of the world, as well as lots of new tech treats built by our development wizards.


Top 10 app runners-up:

Uber: Taxis, to your doorstep, immediately.

LinkedIn: Manage your professional identity.

IFTTT: If This Then That – connect the Internet.

Frugl: London events for those on a budget.

BUX: Stock market exchange game.