Tinder. Cash. Timehop. Snapchat. Flappy Bird. All great apps, but they're just not enough. Life is still rife with those little annoyance that could easily be solved by an app. Because the greatest thing tech addicts love to hear is, “There's an app for that!”
With the plethora of annoyances (big and small) in New York City, we all could use some technology to make it a little more bearable.
Here are 21 ingenious apps we wish existed, as we traverse this city we call home.
1. SUINTS (Shut Up, I Need To Sleep)
Leave it to some drunk jerk or technologically-inept driver to set off a car alarm at 4 a.m. and disturb your beauty sleep.
This app would find a way to disable all nearby car alarms. The accidental ones, that is. If a car is getting stolen, it'll find a way to leave that alarm be. Because technology.
[anad]
2. BratBeGone
Ugh. Youths. They're just not the same anymore. They're loud, mean, and selfish. The day a child asks us about our day, we'll like them. But until then, BratBeGone would tell us where the least amount of them are. We can tell you now, though, to avoid Brooklyn Heights at all costs.
3. SurgeAlert
Surge prices are a curse put on this Earth by the devil himself. And no, that warning that makes us type the percent increase doesn't make it okay.
Our wasted self will do anything to not take the train home. Solution? Make an app that disables Uber during price surges above 2x. Brilliant. Done.
4. BrunchPunch
Brunch was nice and cute for while.
But New York has turned it into an infectious culture. An inescapable one, at that.
If you just want a casual, quiet breakfast or a relaxed cup of coffee to yourself, BrunchPunch will warn you if you're treading too close to a brunch hot spot. Run. Run far away, and don't look back.
5. MinimEyes
Nothing kills a buzz quite like going to pay your bill, seeing you don't have cash, and haven't reached the credit card minimum. Or seeing that the bar only accepts cash.
This night-saving app will keep tabs on all surrounding credit card minimums and cash only bars. Gone are the days of drunken service fees!
6. Cooklooks
The search for the the trifecta of foods never ends. Affordable, delicious, and healthy.
Sure, Yelp has helped a good bit, but the search is still on. Cooklooks will track a restaurant's nutritional value along with its prices and reviews. A delicious not-home-cooked meal just got even better.
7. Facescribe
Being the Melting Pot of the United States, this city brings together an innumerable amount of cultures and languages.
In turn, we all have those moments where we need to converse with someone who doesn't speak our own language.
Like FaceTime meets Duolingo, Facescribe will let you video chat with someone to help bridge the language barrier at any time.
8. MuffinToppr
Delivery food is basically a drug. Oh so good, but oh so bad. Before you know it, you'll start feeling a little squishier than usual.
Through whatever technology, this app will alert you when you've had one cronut too many. You can set it to whatever amount of weight gain you want, but once you've reached it, you'll get an alert. Over and over and over...
9. Creepr
We can't help it. We all have those people we obsess over that we have to meet.
Thoroughly tracking blogs and social media accounts, Creepr would keep you up-to-date on where your favorite people are going. Additionally, the app will alert you when someone you love is coming to your city. All to help you plan a “chance” meeting.
10. Tabs
Even if we don't feel like being alone, we just don't want to deal with crowds most of the time.
If only we could somehow chose a place to go out that doesn't get much traffic for a relaxed outing.
Well, if someone invented the app Tabs, we could! Hopefully, such an app wouldn't ruin under-the-radar places for regulars.
11. CrudBud
Since the 1970s, the streets have come a long way in terms of cleanliness, but nothing can stop the unpredictable drunken vomits or spilled trash cans.
To avoid stepping in what must not be named, CrudBud would keep up with how dirty a certain neighborhood is on any given night. Note, St. Mark's Place would most likely remain at 100% all day.
,12. Chaiser
Simply put, this app would be the OpenTable for bar stools. It may defeat the experience of waiting at a bar, but it will also eliminate the experience of waiting at a bar.
About to head out for the night? Just log on to Chaiser (Get it? Chasing, but spelled like a chaise lounge?) and grab some seats right at the bar.
[anad]
13. Drinkr
Although hangovers are inevitable, we wish there were some way to know how bad it's going to be.
Some way or another, Drinkr would track what you've been drinking, along with other personal information, to tell you the level of hangover you're going to have and how much water to drink to make it better. Just to have an excuse to eat more dollar pizza, ya know?
14. Spliffr
Let's be honest. If you're in the mood to smoke, you probably don't want to spend the energy going out to buy. That's where Spliffr would come in.
Basically the Seamless of Mary Jane, the app would treat dealers like restaurants where you can order what you want and it'll make its way to you. Totally safe and legal here, right?
15. Escappe
Everyone knows one of the best parts of the city is leaving the city for a little while.
However, many of us can't afford somewhere to get away to. Escappe would provide real time information on what blocks, landmarks, or neighborhoods have little to no traffic. All to let us find some breathing room.
16. Cue
Are you stricken with the fear of missing out? Always finding yourself on line just for the sake of being on line? Well, fear not!
Cue (Get it? Sounds like “queue” but also sounds like it'll cue you as to where to go? Nevermind.) will help you find where you need to go to wait for whatever your plans are. Additionally, it'll keep a list of all the lines in the area so you can know what all the fuss is about.
17. WIGHT (Will I Go Ham Tonight?)
It's the risk anyone takes with going out, but some nights just end up sucking. And then you just come home wishing you hadn't even tried.
Someone needs to make an app that pulls together whatever data it needs to predict how well your night will be. Don't care how implausible it sounds. Just figure it out.
18. LayZ
In turn, for those nights we don't want to go out, we often feel a little weird about wasting what New York has to offer.
Need a little more inspiration? LayZ will give you plenty of reasons, based on what's going on around you, as to why it just wouldn't be worth it to go out. Don't worry. You'll convince yourself, eventually.
19. CommodeMate
While public restrooms are hard to find, restrooms that are worth using are even harder to find.
What's the use of a public restroom if you can barely handle going inside it? CommodeMate will make sure the bathrooms you know about are clean enough for your derriere.
20. Biebr
None of us want to be that guy. But, perhaps, that guy doesn't know he's being THAT guy. We could use a bit of a warning before everyone thinks we're a douchebag.
Inspired by the ultimate d-bag, the app Biebr would come save the day by letting us know how much of an ass we're being.
21. Appception
There's a lot of apps out there these days. It's a little ridiculous.
Our personal favorites are the ones that simulate beer drinking. But how are we supposed to find them? And what if we want to find them while using our mobile devices?
Appception to the rescue! Just type in what you want to do and this app will find the right app for you!