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Apps to Get the Best from Online Shopping

Joseph Dabon — Mon, 12 Aug 2019 12:11:10 +0000

It seems it was only yesterday that I and my family (wife and two kids) looked towards the weekend for our shopping spree, followed by movies and dinner. Then time passed unnoticed. My children grew up and got married; my wife died, leaving me alone – too old and cranky to rummage through large and cavernous malls to buy my “things.” So I go online shopping. Cool, huh Nah! A lot of seniors do, too. Data gathered in 2016 showed that 82% of people aged 65 to 69 go online daily. What they do online is shown below.

Pros and Cons of Online Shopping

People have an inherent love for shopping. For some, touching, smelling and fitting rows and rows of personal items and other products is like an opiate – it gives them a “high.” Of late, however, a huge chunk of them have opted to do it in the comfort of their homes. They are the online shopping crowd – another upside of the Internet age. But just like anything, online shopping has its Pros and Cons. Here are a few:

Pros

It saves time – no need to travel far to buy what they want
It saves transportation expense – this is a corollary to the above
Online shops are open 24/7
There’s no waiting line
They can avoid a jostling crowd

Cons

There’s a big delay between ordering and delivery
No touch, smell and feel the experience
Risk of wrong or defective product is always present and return is almost impossible
Lack of shopping experience
The variety of choices make decision-making difficult

Apps for Easy and Convenient Online Shopping

Seeing the potential of elderly online shoppers, businesses wasted no time in making online shopping more appealing, easy, and convenient for them by introducing the Apps – mini-software with specific applications. There are currently more than 650 thousand online stores in the U.S. Of these, about 103 thousand are generating at least $ 12,000 annual revenue. And since apps allow for laser-sharp marketing, it can be assumed that each one has an app. Seniors, however, often have specific or special needs. To that end, the following are the best elderly-friendly apps in the market:

One-stop-online shop

Amazon

When it comes to online shopping, who hasn’t heard of Amazon It is practically a by-word for online shoppers and the first choice for people who shop online. And they couldn’t be wrong. With 25 years of experience and 606 million products in its catalog, it is easy to see why. You can have an Amazon on your desktop by opening an account or an app on your mobile device by clicking on the word Mobile below and you’re ready to go. Mobile For seniors, going through Amazon’s cavernous catalog may be too taxing. So if you have something specific in mind and you are in a hurry, the following apps are priceless.

Nutritious Foods

Forty-four percent of seniors going online surf for food information. You can make your search simple and fast by having these on your phone:

1. Buy Me Pie

No, this is not about pies but an app for easy online shopping of nutritious foods. It is easy to use – just like crossing off items from your grocery list in the real-world It has both free and premium versions, either in IOS or android

2. Seafood Watch

This app comes from the desire of the Monterey Bay Aquarium to help fish-lovers satisfy their culinary delight without fear of mercury and other toxins present in a lot of sea products. The app classifies fish into best choice, good alternative, or avoid. And if you hunger for tuna, the app gives you 29 tuna types to choose from. The app also gives you a deeper understanding of how and why they are graded that way. The Seafood Watch app is available both in IOS and Android, and both are free.

3. Veg Ease

This is an online store specifically for vegetbles and fruits. The app lists a dozen foods with the most pesticide residue and 15 of the least. This is an indispensable tool for seniors saddled with chronic diseases. A wrong choice can spell the difference between enjoying life to the fullest or having frequent hospitalization. To be sure, there are more apps for nutritious foods but the above lead the pack. If you find them lacking, you can surf for those that suit your needs.

Prescription Drugs

An online survey done by the AARP showed that 80% of people aged 65 and above, regularly take at least two prescription drugs a day. This is not surprising considering that chronic illnesses start appearing around this time in a man’s life. They either buy them from their favorite drugstores or online. And here’s the rub: 95% of online pharmacies selling prescription medications are not complying with state and federal laws and the standards set by the NABP (National Association of Boards of Pharmacy). Moreover, fake drugs are a constant headache for law enforcement. To avoid potential risks to your health and throwing away good money, use these apps when buying prescription drugs online. Not only do they sell products of unassailable quality, but they also give occasional discounts:

1. Rx Saver

RX Saver was the first to create apps, three, in fact, to help people get the best value for their prescription drugs money This app allows you to search, view, and compares prescription drug prices at leading discount pharmacies in your neighborhood. Not only does it allow ease of purchase, but you save at the same time.

2. GoodRx

GoodRx is your typical new-kid-on-the-block that’s making waves. Established in 2011, it boasts of 4 million visitors each month. Just like RxSaver, GoodRx compares prices of prescription drug prices to give you the best value for your money. But it does it on a wider scale – it tracks prices of 75,000 pharmacies in the U.S.

3. Blink Health Rx

It is common knowledge that prescription drug prices are prohibitive for most. Even if your insurance covers medications, your policy does not always cover everything. Enters Blink Health Rx. This app is a no-commitment, no-fee service that gives you access to over 15,000 prescription drugs for a fraction of their retail prices. And it is easy to use. All you have to do is search for your desired medication on its site, pay online, then pick it up at a local pharmacy near you. These are the three top apps for purchasing prescription drugs online. You can search on Google is you want to have more options.

Groceries

Who doesn’t need groceries Unless you are a hermit, we all do. In fact, its importance in our daily lives is manifested by their presence – from small convenience stores to huge outlets all around you. But no matter how near they may be, going out for groceries can be a challenge for a lot of seniors – especially those who live alone or those who could no longer drive. Thanks to apps, you can now access several grocery stores in your neighborhood, instead of going to them. Here are some of the most popular grocery apps:

1. GoGo

Grocery Pal goes over your grocery list and provides the best available deals at local supermarkets.

2. Out of Milk

Out of Milk simplifies the shopping experience by letting users create, manage, and share shopping lists. The app also allows users to build and manage shopping lists – adding or deleting items while keeping track of price, quantity, coupons, and more.

3. AnyList

This app contains a database of items for creating multiple lists. Just type in the name of an item and the app completes the entry to speed up the process. You can add items by voice through Siri, and stores recipes to give you more added convenience in preparing your meals.

Video Games

I never play video games (I watch online movies), but I have seen a lot of seniors in coffee shops do so from their tablets. And why not It’s not easy to be old and we don’t know the torments they face each day. So being a little childish a few hours each day will be a great help. Video games are entertaining. They are a great hedge against loneliness, slow down cognitive decline and, if played with friends, a perfect way to socialize and bond. If you are into it, here are some video games for you to choose from:

1. TETRIS

This is a new version of the old Tetris, with colors and cool features added to it. But this is still a brick game and the mission is to clear your play area by orienting each block to solve a horizontal line or two.

2. Words with Friends

If you have a good vocabulary and interested to expand it more, then this is your kind of app. This is teeming with word games, word puzzles, and more ways to challenge your brain – and your friends – than ever before. With a friend, this app is competitive at the same time expands your vocabulary in English, Spanish, German, Italian, Brazilian, and British English. Though the app is free, you can buy things from your app.

3. Hangman

This is often used by teachers,to practice spelling, vocabulary, or just for fun. This online app gives you the option to choose vowels and consonants to try to guess what words are hidden. Good to provent congnitive decline among seniors. There are more than a dozen online game apps to suit your tastes and preferences. If you are not into online tech, go to Telstra and start getting into the groove.

News

Research done by the Pew Research Center shows that seniors aged 65 and above spend at least 83 minutes a day reading the news. And another study (shown by the infographic above) shows that 66% of elderly people who go online each day read the news and weather bulletins. By “news,” I mean in digital form. And this fact has forced a lot of traditional media organizations to go digital, too. Thus, creating news apps. And here are the top news apps for you to download into your phone:

1. Google News

This replaced the Google Play Newsstand. And it has the polish and smoothness typical of Google. The app allows you to surf news from around the world. It can set up a daily briefing of the most important news of the day, save a story or download specific publications for later reading.

2. Microsoft News

Formerly known as MSN News, this app is a lightweight, easy-to-use way of getting the news you need. Upon opening for the first time, it will ask you to select the topics you’re interested in and you have it. Should you want to change topics, you can do so any time with ease.

3. CNN News

The first cable news channel also has an app that offers a wide variety of articles, though biased towards U.S. audiences. But it offers a lot of original content not found anywhere else. Technology has redefined how we live our lives. And depending on one’s perspective, a great help for seniors. It has made things easy, convenient, and fast for them. It practically put things within reach of their fingertips. And more are coming… Please share to help other seniors.

~oOo~

The post Apps to Get the Best from Online Shopping first appeared on Age With Charm.

10 Essential Apps for Seniors

Joseph Dabon — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 12:03:22 +0000

What are apps?

Read on.

I find people like Steve Jobs (may his soul rest in peace), astonishing Why Because people like him seem to dictate the pace of technology.

For example, in 1983, Matt Strain predicted the evolution of a “new digital distribution system.” Ten years later, in 1993, the first PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), the forerunner of the smartphone, came into the market ten years later.

But before they gained maturity, in 1999 NTT DoCoMo, of Japan, introduced the first smartphones which immediately gained nationwide popularity.

Then in 2007, Apple introduced the first iPhone which Steve Jobs called “the revolutionary and magical products,” and the first 500 Apps started appearing in the Apple App Store, the following year.

Isn’t it awesome?

Originally targeting teenaged kids and young adults, the first Apps were mostly games and organizers. They soon evolved into other functions necessary to get by with one’s daily activities.

And when the first boomers retired, they started serving the peculiar needs of an aging segment of society. Now they have become essential in a world that is getting old.

The apps have evolved so much since then, and each year sees an update of existing ones or new ones coming in.

This year, these are ten of the most essential for seniors.

10 Apps seniors must have:

Note: Some of these are free while others have affordable subscription fees. And they are designed for the iPhone or iPad.

1. WebMD:

This features doctor-reviewed health content and constantly updated information about maintaining a nutritious lifestyle.

It has a “Healthy Target” section that lets you establish exciting eating and exercise habits and suggests actionable insights at the end of the week.

You can also encode your symptoms and find possible causes, as well as treatments.

This should not replace a regular visit to your physician, but it can help you keep a close watch over your health.

2. Pillboxie:

For seniors taking multiple daily medications, this extraordinary app provides an effortless way of managing them you so won’t forget taking any one of them.

Assign a specific medication to a sectioned pillbox graphic then put a schedule of taking them, and you’re all set.

The app will beep you when it is time to take a specific pill.

There is a subscription fee of $ 0.99/mo.

3. Silver Surf:

Are you having problems with the small fonts of your smartphone?

No problem, Silver Surf is going to help you.

This incredible app zooms in, sets a higher contrast, and displays larger buttons so you can use your mobile device with ease.

4. Lumosity:

If your memory starts failing you, this app is essential for you.

Designed by neuroscientists, this app contains hundreds of games and puzzles to improve memory recall and information retention.

And what makes this app even more exciting is that there is no subscription fee provided you subscribe to Lumosity.

5. Park ‘n’ Forget:

A parking lot can often be like a huge haystack relative to where you parked your small car at. I often have to spend a few precious minutes figuring out where I parked my car.

This app solves that problem.

When leaving your car all you have to do is encode the color of the parking bay or the parking level and the app will remember it for you for easy retrieval.is would be.

This has a subscription fee of $ 0.99/mo, which is very minimal vis-a-vis its benefits.

6. Blood Pressure Monitor:

This extraordinary app could spell the difference between life or death especially for live-alone seniors suffering from hypertension.

Not only does it track your blood pressure and weight over a period of time, it also provides statistical information on your health and gives out periodic reminders so you can manage your health properly. And you can export the data to your physician, saving you time and money.

7. Voice Reading:

Amazing is an understatement in describing this app.

It audibly reads text from the Internet, emails, messages and even text files. It even comes in several languages.

This app is perfect if for seniors with reading or hearing problems, and it can be used even while driving.

8. Easy Facebook for Seniors:

You want to stay connected with the outside world but find Facebook too complicated or cluttered for comfort This is what you need.

This app is specifically designed for seniors – cleaner, less-cluttered, and easy to learn.

It is a perfect antidote to loneliness and isolation for live-alone seniors.

9. Epicurious:

I am not a good cook. In fact, my meals are inherited from my late wife, while some are borrowed from friends then tempered with my own trial-and-error culinary curiosity.

If you are like me, but want to have a little organization, variety and flare with your meals, this app is what you need.

It contains an incredible 30,000 recipes carefully selected from quality cooking sites, and it offers reviews, tips, and pictures from other users.

And to make it easy the second time around, it organizes your favorite recipes and synchronizes your shopping list for easy and quick retrieval at the grocery store.

With this app, your meals in any given day are already taken care of.

10. NPR:

National Public Radio (NPR) is an American privately and publicly funded non-profit media organization syndicating over 900 public radio station in the U.S.

With this app, you can surf 900 radio stations for your favorite music, latest news, the weather and many other interesting things to perk up your day.

You can also go through its archives for important and interesting events in the past.

Since the arrival of the smartphones and apps, life has taken a drastic change never seen before. They have become indispensable tools for daily living and given a different face and meaning to aging.

~oOo~

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