Apps and Sites We Loved in 2015

We understand that the tech landscape can be pretty difficult to keep up with. Every day there is a new app, a great new site or some major online service that promises to change the way you work, play, or live.

As participants in the online industry, we follow these developments more than most and in turn are often asked what new sites and services we recommend (Mom just switch to Gmail, you’ll love it). So without having been asked, here are the sites and apps that we loved in 2015:

Sites:

Codrops

This site inspires me to take alternative approaches to front end design problems, while also questioning the status quo of what and how sites should look like and behave.

– Eli Dolloff, Junior WordPress Developer

rrrepo webdesign

A very helpful and extensive list of web design and development resources.

– Jessica Lavoie, Front-End WordPress Developer

Sidebar

So technically this is a daily or weekly newsletter, but I’ve loved it all the same. Sidebar is a curation of 5 articles daily or weekly all pertaining to online design. A great way to spend 5 minutes while you’re waiting for the coffee to kick in.

– Geoff Bell, Client Service Tech

ESPN

I like to use large popular outlets like ESPN to see how they handle multiple directories, responsive design, and overall user experience. They’ve changed things around a couple of times this year, and it’s great to use a site that has a nearly unlimited budget and see how they approach some of the same questions we do.

– Jonas Levasseur, Vice President of Operations

FlashScore

This is a sports score website that has scores and stats from leagues and sports all around the world. I specifically enjoy being able to keep up with my favorite soccer teams from leagues around the world.

– Mike Johnston, Director of Web Performance

Apps:

Slack – IOS/Android/OSX/Windows/Linux

This is an extremely useful team collaboration tool. Although its giphy integration has likely hurt productivity.

– Tim Howe, Lead WordPress Developer

Weather Underground – IOS/Android and Book Crawler – IOS/OSX

I’m slowly converting everyone in the office to the Weather Underground app. It is beautifully designed and a great resource for when you need to know what’s happening with barometric pressure. I’m also still a big fan of Book Crawler, which allows you to input a book’s information from your phone by scanning the ISBN code.

– Rachel Bowes, Director of Digital Marketing

Stronglifts – IOS/Android

This is a lifting program app that does the organization work for a common power lifting program. It’s constantly being updated and improved upon. Although it’s not all I use for workouts, it keeps me organized and focused on the basic elements, so I don’t have to think as much about the lifts I’m doing every day. Instead, I get to focus on the extra stuff.

– Michael Rodino, Paid Search Manager

Tinybeans – IOS/Android

The app allows for sharing pics/videos privately. Good for sharing stuff of your little one you don’t want all over Facebook and Instagram.

– Caitlin Frank, Responsive Web Designer

IFTTT – IOS/Android

I use it daily to remind myself of when the pollen is going to be high, to turn down my phone’s volume when I get to the office and to remind me not to forget my son’s blanket when I pick him up from day care. It’s pretty handy.

– Andre McKay, Client Account Manager

Gogs – OSX/Windows/Linux

Open source git hosting platform. The interface and features are great and the rapid development has been amazing.

– Matt Harrison, Vice President of Technology

Evernote – IOS/Android/OSX/Windows

This has been my go to app for just about everything. It has all that I need in a productivity app for both the desktop and tablet.

– Stephanie Podraza, Search Marketer

Microsoft Edge – Windows 10

I don’t usually love Microsoft products, but this browser hasn’t been as bad as I expected.

– Tom Hall, President

The Amazon Kindle App / Cloud Reader – IOS/Android/Kindle/OSX/Windows/Web

This service is awesome, because of how seamlessly it works across multiple devices. I can read on my Kindle, phone, or desktop, and my book automatically syncs to the page I last read regardless of which device I left off on.

– Walker Hatchet, Technical SEO Analyst

Waze – IOS/Android

This is a user-driven real-time traffic navigation app that has saved me hours of time sitting in traffic over the past year. It also lets you know when there are police or accidents on your route.

– Megan Cullity, Administrative Assistant

Simplenote – IOS/Android/OSX

It’s simple note taking. No extra nonsense.

– RC Lations, WordPress Project Manager

Pivotal Tracker – Web

A really simple to use project management app for tracking lots of little tickets.

– Gary Thayer, WordPress Developer

WORDSWAG – IOS

This app allows you to add beautiful text to any photo!

– Ludmila MacLean, SEO Analyst

Any.do – IOS/Android/OSX and Evernote – IOS/Android/OSX/Windows

I’ve switched this year to a combination of these two apps to prioritize my work, and it has helped me immensely. Evernote’s integrations with Chrome and Gmail help me stay organized and Any.do’s super simple UX keeps me on track with day to day tasks.

– Beau Haseltine, Client Account Manager

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