Autumn Years Winter 2023/24

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

What’s Up with Apps By Luke Yeagley

W inter is here, and it brings with it the holiday season. This time of the year, for many, is one of family togeth erness, gift giving, cooking, travelling and holiday parties. Making all of these joyous activities work takes a lot of labor, coordination, brain power and just overall effort for most parties involved. Many times it can be hard to keep it all together while still enjoying the tidings the season brings. The following apps offer some tools in your holiday shed that could possibly make things easier, or at least maybe help find a gift for that niece or nephew. These apps cover holiday recipes, package tracking, holiday party invitations and even an especially fun app that lets you pay celebrities to make personalized video messages for your loved ones. There is also a little known app that can help you record those precious holiday memories and share them with your close friends and family in a secure and private way.

FOODNETWORK KITCHEN

The favorite part of the holiday season for many people is hands-down the food. My family loves to cook, and we also enjoy watching Food Network’s holiday themed episodes for inspiration on what to cook each time we are home for the holidays. The FoodNetwork Kitchen app makes finding new recipes very simple and the grocery shopping process more clear-cut. In addition, the app tracks what is airing on FoodNetwork so viewers can book mark and remember to watch episodes of interest and offers classes to refresh common and uncommon cooking skills. Overall, the app provides one of the most comprehensive, free features of any food media app and can seriously help you take your holiday meals to the next level.

AFTERSHIP

So you have checked your gift lists, and you have checked them twice, and now to get your gifts in time for your loved ones you have to rely on the shipping providers to be nice. There are many ways

shipping gifts can get complicated, given there are many shipping carriers with various reputations for speed and not mention how they handle severe winter weather. AfterShip is your one-stop solution to tracking all the packages you have incoming. The app syncs with over one thousand shipping providers including the major players like UPS, USPS, FedEx, DHL and Amazon. It is very simple to use and its most significant features are free. Simply type in the tracking number for each package you have coming, and it will show you the status of where it is and track the route it is taking to get to your doorstep.

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AUTUMN YEARS I WINTER 2023/24