by Ryan Wasson
There’s no doubt that the apps we download and enjoy every day make a major impact on our lives. Here’s a look at three of the most popular apps I’ve had the pleasure of using, and a deep dive on how useful they are and why they’re so popular.
Arguably the biggest educational app that warrants a mention is Khan Academy. Founded by Salman Khan back in 2008, the “not-for-profit educational organization”, as described on its website, seeks to help those with educational barriers or a lack of education. They do so by giving people the opportunity to attain knowledge and educate themselves for free with topics ranging from more academic fields like math and science, to practical fields like financing and career advice. While the app itself was developed quite a while ago, it’s seen some revamping in recent years, especially with the number of languages that have recently been added to the platform.
Students have the ability to enter a class code to access content organized by their teachers. Anyone not in a class can select whatever topic they want to learn after registering and create their own curriculum to learn whatever they like. The main hook for users, especially me when I was an elementary school student, is the gamification of the app through the addition of energy points and badges. The badges range in difficulty from “Meteorite”, the easy achievements, to “Black Hole Badges”, the rarest awards which are either unknown to achieve or require a ridiculous number of points.
As a kid, this was definitely the main reason I wanted to excel in Khan Academy when I was a student. Even today, I redownloaded the app just to see the more practical topics that apply outside of what I did in grade school.
Compared to other popular apps like Chegg, Quizlet, and Kahoot, Khan Academy simply offers more compared to its competitors. With more content available to users with much of it being virtually free, the app puts itself a solid mark ahead of its competitors in my opinion. However, other apps like Chegg and Quizlet do a better job at providing study materials like flashcards and the ability to make custom-made quizzes which I certainly haven’t seen or used in Khan Academy.
Other than those missing features, Khan Academy was and still is a solid educational app that is free for anyone to download for both IOS and Android devices on the App Store and Google Play. Overall, I’d give this app four out of five stars.
Star Rating: 4/5
Let’s be honest; we all want to live our best self and exercising and staying healthy can certainly help in that endeavor. With that, app designers have taken advantage of that desire we all have by developing a slew of fitness apps designed to motivate everyday people to stay active, go to the gym, and work out more.
Founded back in 1998 by CEO Carl Daikeler and co-founder Jon Congdon, the Beachbody company came out with its video on demand service along with its mobile platforms back in 2015. While this may seem a tad outdated, the app continues to be updated by adding more workouts and meal plans even to this day. Some of the main features include hundreds of workout plans ranging from strength training to cardio, to yoga, and even meditation. The app allows you to track both your workouts and meals every day. This serves as a fun way for users to gamify their experience using the app. Users also have the option of having a coach to refer to at their leisure. Anyone has the option to download whatever workouts they like to use for offline use whenever needed.
The app is marketed towards the average person encouraging and motivating people to start and stick with fitness and a healthy lifestyle. Uses and Gratifications Theory indicates that uses in need of gratifying such as identity and status are key to promote continued use in applications. The Beachbody app fulfills this sense of social influence by encouraging users to share their progress on social media.
Beachbody on Demand has some pretty stiff competition compared to other fitness apps like Strava, JEFIT, and Peloton. But much like Khan Academy when it comes to education, Beachbody on Demand does a much better job, overall, of providing over 1,500 workouts displaying a wide variety of content that fits anyone’s fitness goals.
I will say, though that some of the programs I’ve used myself are geared towards those who have access to a gym or workout materials at home. This may be somewhat of a limitation along with some of the other applications potentially doing a better job at providing equipment-free workout plans.
Regardless, my family and I have certainly enjoyed seeing the results we’ve had from the strength and cardio training programs we’ve tried. The Beachbody on Demand app itself is free and can be downloaded on most Apple and Android devices. However, a subscription is necessary costing either $20 a month, or the higher valued $100 annual subscription. Users, however, get a 30-day free trial to start. Overall, I highly recommend anyone try this app for those looking to get into fitness. As a whole, I’d give this app four out of five stars.
Star Rating: 4/5
One of the biggest reasons we all turn to our phones every day is to gain some form of entertainment. And one of the best ways we can receive that entertainment comes through mobile gaming. Some of the more notable mentions within the realm of mobile gaming that have achieved legendary status include Angry Birds, Temple Run, Subway Surfers, and Clash of Clans. While there are plenty of apps that could be added to this list, I’m going to focus on a specific genre of apps known as first-person shooters, or FPS games for short.
Serving as one of the biggest sources of entertainment (and money) on consoles throughout the aughts and 2010’s, app designers have looked to capture that same magic on the one thing that everyone carries in their pocket on a daily basis. Well, they’ve done just that.
Released on October 2019, and becoming available virtually worldwide by the end of 2020, video game giant Activision, published Call of Duty: Mobile, the most popular FPS game today on mobile devices. With its target audience being those that are fans of FPS games and Call of Duty games in general, Activision’s mobile version of Call of Duty presents an entirely online-based approach with players having the option to play online with others through eight different multiplayer modes. Other game modes include battle royale, where one player outlives 99 others, and zombies mode where four players work as a team to defeat a horde of the undead.
The game also allows players to customize weapons, characters, vehicles and much more through both paid and earned content. This serves as a form of gamification of the user’s experience alongside the rewards players can receive through continually ranking up in play. The game itself doesn’t really target any specific issue other than looking to give players a way out from everyday boredom.
The FPS genre is one that is heavily occupied with zombie-themed games but Call of Duty: Mobile’s biggest competition comes from previous successes such as Modern Combat 5, and Modern Strike Online, both games that achieved great success when they first came out. However, compared to these two games, Call of Duty: Mobile does a better job of providing smoother gameplay with greater customization. While the game lacks a solo campaign which was a major factor in the success of Modern Combat 5, the added gameplay options of battle royale and zombies make Call of Duty: Mobile a much more well-rounded experience that the competition simply isn’t providing.
Even I was a huge fan of Modern Combat 5 and would rack up hours of gameplay on the weekends when I had free time. But Call of Duty: Mobile took the FPS genre and revolutionized what an FPS game can look like with brilliant gameplay and depth that blows the competition out of the water.
The app itself is free and can be downloaded on most Apple and Android devices, but the game is awash with microtransactions to unlock a large portion of customizable content. Free-to-play players (like myself) can still have a wonderful time with the in-game content that is earned through playing the game and doesn’t hinder from the overall experience. If microtransactions weren’t in the game, it would be virtually perfect. But I firmly believe this is the best the market has to offer, so I’ll give the game four-and-a-half out of five stars.
Star Rating: 4.5/5
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