iPhones and Androids can be both toys and tools, particularly because there are thousands of unusual, handy and entertaining applications or “apps” available for download. The variety of apps spans from sports, gossip and whoopee cushion effects to travel, news and camera-enabled apps.
Some of the more useless apps students have on their phones include Lie Detector, Zombieville, and Talking Tom Cat, which freshman Jocelyn Chin describes as an app in which, “you talk and it makes your voice super squeaky; [I don’t really use it] but it’s funny.” Junior Albert Galvao explains that with Lie Detector “[you] submit information about yourself, hair color, age etc. and the app tries to figure out if you are lying or not. The apps are pretty useless considering they don’t always work.” However these apps are purely for amusement and can entertain teens on short notice.
These students mainly use apps for fun and social networking. However there are many more practical apps that provide more than entertainment. Freshman Karryn Joelson uses many effective apps such as Dictionary, Translate, the Weather app and Shazam. She classified these apps as “functional” because they fit into her everyday lifestyle. For example, she says the weather app “helps me decide which types of clothes I need to stay warm when getting ready for school. It’s pretty useful.” Other apps, which assist her with schoolwork, are Dictionary and Translate. “I use them pretty often; during class my teacher lets us look up words and it’s free.” She uses Translate to “help with Spanish homework, which [she] usually ha[s] every night. [She] type[s] in the phrase and press[es] the button to pick which language. It can speak back to tell you how to pronounce it.” While these apps fit into her everyday life, different students need different apps.
One app she also finds convenient, that isn’t used for school purposes, is Shazam, “You’re listening to a song on the radio, on a commercial, at a dance or on a friend’s iPod and the app takes 15 seconds to tell you the title, artist and album.” Joelson added that you don’t have to purchase it. “I use the free trial which lets you trace five songs a month, which is plenty.” Apps can be considered useful or useless, depending on the person who uses them and their needs. For teenagers, being social and viewing entertainment are top priorities. However, as more and more practical apps are created, teens will see the full potential of having the “App” store at their fingertips. It doesn’t matter what your interests or needs are, there’s an app for that.
