Helpful Free Programs and Apps

[imoldernu]

A place to share the names of free apps or programs that you've found useful.

Because of the download nuisance danger, probably not a good idea to post a link, but... just the name. It's becoming more and more difficult to take advantage of "Free", without having to read the small print that can load up unwanted "suggested " add ons. Even older sites that used to be "trusted" have taken to supplement their income with added "security" or "fix" installs.

For starters, some of my favorites, mostly for computer:
Malwarebytes
Slimcleaner
CCleaner
Readability
Everything
Skype

So, what free programs do you use, that you "can't live without"? And on the download part... be careful. Always best to check out what you sign up for.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Our favorite app, non-computer related, has become the free and easy-to-use MyFitnessPal. Genius app imho for us and probably more so for UnderArmour, which recently bought the company and its nutrition and fitness data as self-reported by gazillions of people. DH is using MFP to read the barcode on the label on a grapefruit as I write this.

 

[bld999]

OsmAnd, open street maps and navigation for the smartphone as a general map base, and Avenza pdf maps, which will read geo-referenced custom maps and an increasing number of USFS maps for the backcountry.

 

[cathy63]

For smart phones:
Grocery IQ -- lets either spouse add items to shared grocery lists and syncs to both phones. In addition to groceries, we have lists for Target, Home Depot, Costco ...

Downcast -- for podcasts

Waze for navigation. All the travel apps. TiVo for watching what's on my home DVR no matter where I am.

 

[Accidental Retiree]

Our favorite app, non-computer related, has become the free and easy-to-use MyFitnessPal. Genius app imho for us and probably more so for UnderArmour, which recently bought the company and its nutrition and fitness data as self-reported by gazillions of people. DH is using MFP to read the barcode on the label on a grapefruit as I write this.

LOVE it. Finally something that works for me.

 

[easysurfer]

The latest free program I like is FreefileSync (open source, available for Win, Mac, Linux).
It's very handy to keep data files in sync, plus you can't beat free.

 

[calmloki]

Think imoldertanyou reported this in a separate post a while ago, but Google Earth Pro. Pro was Google's $400 version of Earth, but they just made it free - use GEPFree as a code. very very deep and cool features - you can draw a path to match what you walked or where you want to walk and it will report the distance and elevation change. You can circumscribe an area of irregular dimensions and learn the area. You can click on the Earth Pro layer and when you scroll in on a town it will report tax parcel numbers, house and lot sizes, bedroom/bath count - a very neat feature for property junkies. There is also a flight feature I use to crash into the earth and other layers for all manner of information.

 

[2017ish]

Oldie but goodie (for me): android mytracks app for tracking/pacing my runs. ("Runs" = somewhat more than a walking pace at this stage!)

 

[smiller257]

Personal Capital and Count Us Down app are my favs

Another great (free) financial app is Personal Capital, it allows you to manage all your finances in one place: http://apple.co/1IqS2Hj.

A fun app that counts down the days until retirement or financial freedom can be found here: Retirement Countdown: Count Us Down

All the best,
Steve

 

[MRG]

Our favorite app, non-computer related, has become the free and easy-to-use MyFitnessPal. Genius app imho for us and probably more so for UnderArmour, which recently bought the company and its nutrition and fitness data as self-reported by gazillions of people. DH is using MFP to read the barcode on the label on a grapefruit as I write this.

We just started using MFP two weeks ago. Wow what a wealth of information! Using it to change our diet and track the improvements. Also another UnderArmor app, Mapmywalk. It tracks our walks and let's MFP have the calorie information.

The apps give me a better insight on the diet and exercise. The work is on us but they keep you interested and give visibility into why the diet is working.