This week’s App Smart column was all about apps for smartphones and tablets that can help home workers make the most of their time and the quiet environment. This is a handy trick because for some people, like your columnist, many out-of-office working tasks can actually be carried out on a tablet or phone â€" no PC required.
Keeping on top of your different tasks is an important part of working from home, and Microsoft’s One Note is great for this. It’s free on iOS, and Android. The app comes with all of Mcrosoft’s office software expertise and it can sync with task list data you create on your computer. But mainly, it’s great for working on the move or at home. The idea behind the app is that you can make annotated lists to remind you what tasks you’ve got to tackle and then check them off when you’re done. One issue is that you can only create 500 notes with the app, and then you have to pay â€" it’s $5. You also have to sign up for a Windows Live ID, but that is free.
The Bento app on iOS is a great alternative for keeping track of different tasks you’re working on at home. It lets you build lists so you can keep on top of all your projects and even plan events and file all the relevant contacts you’ll need for a particular task. But it costs $5, and you may find it just a little too complicated if you’re only an occasional home worker.
Besides keeping to-do lists, you also may have to remotely access y! our Mac or PC. This can be a helpful if you’re working on a tablet from a coffee shop or other venue and your main computer is at home. The popular iOS app LogMeIn is great for this purpose. It connects over the Internet to a companion app that’s running on your computer, and lets you directly control that machine as if you were sitting at it. LogMeIn is free, but to access a few extra features like high definition video and audio streaming to your mobile device, you’ll have to buy a subscription that costs $20 for three months.
Working from home can mean spending a lot of time on the phone to keep in touch with colleagues or customers. To manage all these contacts’ business cards, check out Business Card Reader Pro â€" a $7 iOS app. You use the app to snap an image of the business card, and then it performs opical character recognition to convert the text in the image into data your phone can recognize and then stores as a contact. The $10 Android app ABBYY Business Card Reader is similar in function, and promises to work in 20 languages.
Home working often means that you have to share files with co-workers or your boss who are located elsewhere. The free Box app on iOS and Android is great for simple and straightforward file sharing. It’s a cloud-based app and even gives you 5GB of storage space free. It’s simple to use, and you can even encrypt the files with a pass code so only the people you really want to read the file’s content can do so. The app is an alternative to the well-known DropBox and you may find you prefer its interface.
Final! ly don’t forget that working from home can be a slightly isolating experience, so why not get your colleagues or customers to use a video calling app like Skype from time to time?
Quick Call
We’re all used to sharing photos and video via our phones, but new iOS app Muzio has an unusual twist to the trick: It lets you share albums of photos, video and text as one neat package. The user gets a simple Web link and can then browse the content online. It’s free.
