Mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablet computers, continue to play a major part of our modern lives. Last year, the sale of mobile devices actually surpassed the sales of desktops and laptops for the first time. In honor of that, here are a few apps for our nieces and nephews and us Savvy Aunties.

For Them

Maily
Billed as a child’s first email, this cute app lets the children in your life draw pictures, write notes, and email their masterpieces to their favorite Auntie. Parents have to set up this account and can set up parental controls.

NFS Shift 2
NFS is short for “the Need for Speed.” Put your nieces and nephews (or yourself) behind the wheel of a race car. The tablet becomes the wheel, and you can steer by turning the tablet from side to side. I’m not great at this game, but my nieces and nephews would do better at this.

Little Things
This game, similar to a “hidden objects” type of game, is something adults and children will love. Larger photos are actually made up of pictures of random “little things,” such as stop signs, lollipops, underwear, and owls. Earn puzzle pieces for other pictures by finding the items the game pulls up. We adults can consider this a brain game.

For Us

Apps for Taxes
The tax deadline is looming, and you can do your taxes wherever you are with apps from H&R Block and Turbo Tax. You can even electronically file your taxes from your tablet.

Manage Your Money
Use Mint or Pageonce to organize your finances and set bill pay reminders. Access your information on your mobile device or the Internet. If you have Quicken, you can access their app to record all of your receipts on your phone, as you’re out and about.

iBookshelf
My boss’s assistant found this handy app after my boss ordered a book she already had on her shelf. With this app, she scanned the barcodes of all the boss’s books and created a database.

To find a title, you can search several ways, including by title, author, and genre. You can mark which books are loaned out as well and which ones you’ve already read. The database can be linked to your Dropbox too. I’m making a database for my own book collection. Yes, I will organize my organizing books.

Journal apps
I discovered these apps because of my boss as well. She’s jetting off to Morocco for vacation and wanted an iPad app to create a journal. I dug and asked around and found two apps – My Days and Chronicle. They’re both easy to use, and your journal entries and accompanying photos can be imported to Dropbox as well.

Currents
This app reminds me of Flipboard and Zite. Log in with your Gmail account and set up your subscriptions to a variety of news, entertainment, and web sources; Life Hacker, The Huffington Post, Houzz, Inc., the Los Angeles Times—just to a name a few.

PhotoPen
Much like Evernote’s Skitch app, you can add text, shapes, and shading to photos.

TripIt
If you’re globe-trotting, have all of your travel plans in one place. You can load in your flight, car rental, hotel stays, restaurants, and frequent flier miles. You can plan several trips at the same time and name all of the travelers going on the trip, such as your nieces and nephews.

Photo: Ambro
Published: March 19, 2013