So now that I’ve had my phone for about a month, lets talk about it. For starters, I love it. (If you don’t remember, I got the Samsung Galaxy S3.)

I’m primarily a texter, I always have been. I just don’t talk on the phone very much and it’s a lot easier for me to text. Maybe it’s convenience, maybe it’s because I never know when the other person is available to talk. I find texting a lot easier. I’ve read online that people recommend varies apps for texting (primarily to do with the keyboard), but I haven’t downloaded any apps for that yet.

I love the screen, how fast it is (especially compared to my old phone, the Samsung Corby Pro, that only went on the 3G network) on the 4G or LTE networkers, depending on what I can get. It acts as my alarm clock on all days of the week, which is great. I actually got two cases off of eBay for it. One is a simple silicone case that cost me all of $0.01 USD with free shipping. The other is a silicone case with a hard plastic case that goes over it, but that one is currently spending the mornings and afternoons in the sun as the plastic still smells a bit (ew) – that one was $0.50. I also picked up a spare charger (with a US/Canada plug) to keep in my backpack from eBay, for $3 shipped.

All of the apps below should be super easy to find via the Play Store; they’re also all free or have free versions (which I use). I don’t know if they all have Apple/Itunes alternatives, but I’m sure if you can’t find a direct Apple alternative, there will be similar ones (especially for the nursing ones).

Social Networking

My primary social networking apps are Twitter, Flickr and Instagram. Sadly, most of the photos I take now are via Instagram and uploaded to Flickr, but that’s just the way it goes. I also have the Facebook app, but I don’t use it very much. I do like Instagram though, it has some decent filters and I like that I don’t have to grab a cable, download the photos to my computer, and then upload to Flickr.

For School

For general school use, I’ve downloaded StudyDroid 2.0 (free version) and I love it. I can write up my flashcards online and then sync them to my phone and I’ve been using that to study while I’m on the bus going to school. I also downloaded the Merriam-Webster free app for a quick dictionary reference, along with Wikipedia. The Wikipedia app has the same content as the online website, but it’s nice to have a quick short-link to it. I also downloaded Evernote, it’s a quirky little app that I’m still learning how to use. So far I’ve just been using it to make quick memos to myself.

For Nursing School

Yes, I’m the nerd that downloaded a whole bunch of apps – all of which are helpful for my studies!

A lot of people in my program use the Nursing Central app, the only problem with that is that it costs $130 via the bookstore at school (a little bit cheaper than online). It has a lot of different features – a drug guide, medical dictionary and so much more. I already purchased a hard copy of a medical dictionary (Taber’s) and I wasn’t about to get another medical dictionary just for kicks and giggles. I also purchased a hard copy of the Delmar’s Drug Guide for Nurses 2013 and I really didn’t want to go and spend another $130 for an app that I only get free updates for a year. As it is, the drug guide (if I choose to purchase the 2014 copy next year) will only be another $30-35 while the app subscription renewal will be another $130. So I went searching for free alternatives. I figured I wouldn’t really need a medical dictionary while I’m in clinical, but I really did want a drug guide on my phone (we’re allowed to use our phones in clinical, provided it’s for clinical purposes).

For a drug guide, I downloaded Medscape. It’s free, has thousands of drug references (brand names, generic names, dosages, usages, pregnancy categories, etc.).  There’s also information on conditions, procedures, drug interactions and drug dosage calculators. There’s also a whole directory of medical/nursing related journal articles. It took a while to load onto my phone as it can be completely downloaded to the phone for use without data or internet. Medscape is produced by WebMD; all of the information put out in the Medscape app contain references to the sources of information so you can always double-check the information first.

I’ve also downloaded Mini Nurse Lite, which has medical terminology, prefixes and suffixes, lab values, some review information for skills and assessment. Another great app I downloaded was Speed Anatomy. It’s a game, but it’s great for anatomy review and I’ve been using it whenever I have some downtime to just refresh my memory on placement of body parts – always important as a healthcare worker!

For Fun

I’ve downloaded a few games: Angry Birds, Flood-It! and Sodoku Free.

For pleasure reading, I’ve got BBC News, The Province, Pulse, Garfield Daily and Marvel Comics.

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If you have any suggestions of (free, hopefully) apps for me, let me know! There’s some other apps that I’ve also downloaded that I didn’t mention – mostly because they’re not as interesting or because they’re not quite as fun.