Autumn Years Fall 2024

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

What’s Up with Apps By Luke Yeagley

A s the holiday season rolls in, it is time to focus on apps that will help prepare and equip you with tools you can use to survive and thrive through it all. The major holidays in the United States all have themed apps created by developers to help you celebrate. However, it can be tough to settle on which ones really help you with the important tasks of the season. In the grouping below are my top picks for apps that will help make finding trick-or-treat spots easier for your costume wearers, gift-giving that stays on budget and locating the best deals around during your holiday shopping. Also I will end with an app that can help you find other sources of fulfillment this holiday season through volunteer ing your time to help others. .

NEXTDOOR: HALLOWEEN TREAT MAP

There is a good chance you may have heard of Nextdoor or even used it already. Basically, Nextdoor is a helpful app for learning what is going on in your neighborhood. However, it has one feature that is a stand out at Halloween—it is the go-to app for local Trick or Treating. Nextdoor’s Halloween Treat map is a feature released every fall as an added map layer to its general map view. The app lets neighbors pin their address to the map and list relevant info for Trick or Treating, like what times they are handing out candy, what type (allergen friendly or not) or if their house is tricked out (get it) with decora tions for Halloween. This can be very useful for taking the grandkids out for a fun evening and making sure you will not end the night empty handed.

FLIPP

Shopping is (whether we like it or not) a large part of the holiday season. The Friday after Thanksgiving, Black Friday, is clearly the highlight of this period. Growing up, I would comb through the advertising circulars that came in the mail and then pitch gift ideas to my parents for my cousins, little sisters, each other and, of course, me. Nowadays this is much simpler. Flipp is an app not only available during Black Friday but every day for showing all the local circulars in one place. The app simply asks for a zip code and then displays user friendly electronic versions of each store’s deals for the week. The app makes it easy to select individual items, highlight them for later, jump to the item’s place on the store website and share with others via instant message. Flipp is updated weekly and includes local stores as well as global chains in your area.

54 AUTUMN YEARS I FALL 2024