Monthly app review: YNAB, 10% Happier and Psych!

by PDBY Staff | Jun 4, 2018 | Uncategorized

Lorinda Marrian, Nandipha Dilla and Aroma Theron 

Every month Perdeby reviews Apps that we think can make life just a little easier or a little more fun. This month, we will be reviewing YNAB, 10% Happier and Psych.

 

YNAB – You need a budget

Rating: 4/5

YNAB (You need a budget) is a simple money managing app.  The premise of the app is that you should outlay uses for every dollar, and from that, you can see how you spend your money every month. You can categorize your expenses into a variety of groups which cover groceries, clothing, stuff you forgot to budget for, fun money, and other needs. You are able to add account names with the income you receive, which the app will fit into your budget. You can also put in each transaction you make, which is then linked to your budget and income. For the ill-disciplined person, this is perfect as you no longer feel the sting of watching your money disappear.

There are a few drawbacks to the app. Firstly, after your initial set-up, you must change the currency and number format settings. You then have to create a new budget to use the correct format. Secondly, the app allows you to link your bank account. However, there are no South African banks on the list, so you have to create an account and manually add your balance and payments to the account. Nonetheless, this app can be very useful if you are one of those pe4ople who end up broke in the middle of the month because you are not sure where your money has gone.

 

10% Happier: Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics

Rating: 3/5

10% Happier is a meditation application that is designed for people on all levels of meditation – those who have never done it before, those who have tried it and those who have made it a habit. The application opens up level specific suggestions with video introductions and explanations before the course begins, and includes broad categories that can help with anxiety, concentration, and more.

The app has several meditation times, ranging from one to twenty-five minutes, to make use of even the smallest of breaks throughout the day. Perdeby loves how the app tracks the days and number of minutes that you have spent meditating. Seeing the benefits you have will help you turn it into a habit.

Though it has an eight-day free trial period, the app has a subscription fee of approximately R2000 a year – unless you take the discount that reduces it to just R1000 – which makes it unreasonably priced for many students. Therefore it has been rated lower. However, it is very simple, and the range of options cover almost anything and can help you do better for the exams.

 

Psych!

Rating: 3.5/5

Ellen DeGeneres released this game after the success of Heads Up! To use this app, you will need a fully charged Android or iOS device with internet connection, for each of your friends.

So how does it work? Well, an assigned person must go onto their app and start a game. This person will then share the code with others for them to join. Just like Heads Up! there are multiple variations of the game. Each person will receive the same question and then they should make up an answer to the question. When everyone has made up an answer, everyone’s answers will appear on each player’s screen with the real correct answer as well, and then they have to select the answer they think is correct. The objective of the game is to trick your friends into guessing the answer that you have given to gain points. You get points for every person who chooses your answer, and if you choose the correct answer as well. So, go crazy, use those big words you used for your essay, and be vivid in your descriptions to perfect the art of deception.

 

Image: Elmarie Kruger

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