Home improvement apps can make all the difference in the world when you’re pressed for time and need to streamline maintenance.
Apps already call us cabs (Uber), help us slim down (Lose It), and can even find us people to randomly spoon with (try Cuddlr if you dare). It’s time to put some apps to work for you around the house and make life that much easier. Here we run down the top home improvement apps every homeowner should have within swiping distance.
Lose your house keys for good
Trade that annoying process of endlessly searching pockets for a tiny key for something a bit more 21st century: the Schlage Sense system, designed to work with Apple HomeKit technology. Use the app to unlock your door or command Siri to “Open, sesame.” Your phone can also manage up to 30 access codes and even remotely check on lock status (and “Close, sesame” if you forgot to).
Streamline your fridge
Plagued by rotting asparagus that somehow didn’t make it into a recipe? Liberate your veggies from a slow death in the crisper drawer with the where-have-you-been-all-my-life app Pepperplate. First, send recipes to the app and it’ll magically generate a shopping list (it can also double or halve the ingredients). Share the shopping list with a spouse/kids/friends so they can help pick things up on the way home. Best of all? If you cook one recipe and have leftover ingredients, the app will find another recipe to use ’em up. Asparagus omelet, anyone?
Declutter for cash
Getting rid of stuff lingers on everyone’s to-do list because it’s so boring. For incentive, banish clutter and make bank with the app OfferUp, a mobile marketplace for local buyers and sellers. Users snap pictures and post items to quickly connect with potential buyers nearby. With selling so monumentally easy, you’ll be inspired to clean garages and closets to the repeated tune of cha-ching.
Instantly respond to home emergencies
Yes, home monitoring is a little creepy and a lot ubiquitous. But the new tech tool that sets Vimtag’s camera system apart is the “SOS” feature. If a home’s resident hits a separate emergency button linked to the Vimtag account, an alert is immediately sent out. The person receiving that alert can then use the app to quickly respond by checking the home network visually and vocally through the camera. Think of it as an “I’ve fallen and can’t get up” button linked to your phone.
A home improvement app to help calculate those improvements
The Handy Man app assists you with home renovations by calculating the cost of every remodel, from installing new living room carpet to putting Sheetrock in the hallway. Just enter room measurements, choose from a price list of commonly used materials (or enter a custom material and price) and the app will do the math for you. If you move forward with a project, this home improvement app will generate a shopping list down to the screws.
Pick a paint color
If you love pops of color, add the Sherwin-Williams ColorSnap Visualizer app to your phone. You can upload a photo of everything from a blue jay to a yellow tulip. Then the app will pinpoint the image’s colors and tell you which match Sherwin-Williams paint colors. Or snap a picture of any room, and this home improvement app will show you what the walls would look like painted in various shades. Plus, digital paint is so much easier to clean up.
Save big on appliances
You’re at Lowe’s and lock eyes with a washing machine. But how do you get the lowest price guarantee offered by the store? Buy it and let Pricerazzi do the rest. Scan your receipt, and the app searches the web. It will alert you of a lower price—even days later—so you can claim your savings. Remember, most stores have 30-day to lifetime guarantees to refund the difference between a purchase price and lowest price found on the web.
Fix all of your home’s flaws
Need to get rid of rust stains in your toilet or fix a blown fuse? Get the cute home maintenance app BrightNest. It provides handy how-to’s and even schedules your maintenance projects like cleaning out gutters.
Fitbit your lawn
Tired of having a lawn that’s unkempt? Download John Deere’s free app, MowerPlus. Mowing frequency and patterning are vital to maintaining a healthy lawn, and this app—compatible with any brand of lawn mower—tracks your mowing history, prompts you when it’s time to fire up the mower again, and sets reminders for seeding. All this info helps keep your lawn lush for the all-important sunset cocktail hour.
Get a butler
Ah, it’s a crying shame most households, even in these Days of Trump, can’t afford a butler. But wait! Say hello to the app Hello Alfred, inspired by Batman’s trusty aide-de-camp. For $32 a week, you’ll be hooked up with a weekly visit from your own personal butler. Use the app to schedule which weekly tasks you need done—from dry cleaning or wine pickup to vanquishing the sink full of dirty dishes. And simply tap the app’s “Ask for Anything” icon to add special requests.
