15 apps to entertain you on the way to work

Alarm. Snooze. Alarm. Snooze. Alarm. Get up. Brush teeth. Toilet. Shower. Get dressed. Breakfast. Coffee. Leave the house. Commute. Commute. Commute. Commute. Commute. Work. Lunch. Work. Commute. Commute. Commute. Commute. Commute. Dinner. TV. Bed.

Repeat x 252 days a year.

As you may have guessed, the Quidblog team aren’t fans of spending a fair portion of the day sharing confined spaces with London’s hordes of misery-guts. Public transport is hellish enough at the best of times but throw in the inevitable sweaty pits, bad breath, vicious elbows and deathly silence and you’ve all the ingredients for an horrific start to the day.

While the traditional newspaper sufficed in years gone by – you know when you could get a seat, fold out a broadsheet and indulge in the sports section – now space is very much at a premium. It’s just as well we can call on our tidy smart phones and tablet computers to help see us through the dirge of the daily service updates. Delays on the Northern Line? There's a surprise!

Anyway, before we drive ourselves nuts...here’s a few of our favourite apps for biding the time on the way to work.

Get Social

It’s hardly surprising that Facebook and Twitter are two of the most popular apps on the market. If you’ve not already downloaded either of them, why not warm up for wasting the day at work (most likely on Facebook and Twitter) by mindlessly updating your friends, family and worldwide web users on the fact that the 07:38 from Reading to Paddington is running 12 minutes late due to leaves on the line.

Spice it up a bit by posting pictures of the snoring guy who’s dribbling on himself in the seat opposite or feed your inner envy by reading the updates of those who’ve made it to their desks already. So many options…

Game On

There’s a million and one game applications out there to download (there’s probably more than that, but Quidblog can’t be bothered to check the specific stats) so choice isn’t a problem. That being said there’s a reason why everybody knows about the likes of Angry Birds – it’s because they’re ridiculously simple to play and incredibly addictive.

At the time of writing retro favourites including Snake and PAC-MAN are listed in the top 25 free games, while the Indiana Jones-esque Temple Run is also proving very popular.

If you’re looking for something a little more sedate and a lot more social, perhaps Words with Friends (an unofficial version of Scrabble) is more for you. Take it in turns to test your vocabulary skills, while diverting your eyes from the woman breast feeding at the back of the bus.

Dance like nobody is watching

If, like a growing number of people, you’re turning increasingly choosing to stream your favourite tunes rather than rely on your old iTunes collection then perhaps the likes of Spotify, Pure Lounge and TuneIn Radio are up your street.

Subscribe to a premium Spotify account (£9.99 / month) and you can create and stream playlists from millions of available songs on your mobile. Sign up to Pure Lounge and gain access to 16,000 radio stations, while TuneIn offers access to 50,000 local AM/FM radio stations to brighten up your commute…assuming you’ve got signal!

Obviously if you are going to listen to music on the go, at least be aware of your fellow commuters. Don’t be that guy listening to music so loudly that the whole train carriage can hear the words to S-Club 7’s “Reach for the Stars.” It’s not cool, you look like an idiot.

Educate yourself

If you’ve not yet committed to the e-book reader revolution, but fancy dipping your toes in the water using your iPhone then the iBooks, Kobo and Kindle apps are perfect for reading in a tight space. Obviously you’re unlikely to want to read War and Peace on a tiny screen, but shorter stories and lighter novels work well enough.

Better still, given the short time your attention is likely to be focused on the screen due to the constant distractions while travelling, the news apps available from the likes of the Guardian, Sky News and the BBC News are brilliant for staying up to date with current affairs. Never again should you feel out of the loop at the watercooler.

Last but not least, it wouldn’t be right for us not to throw in a little plug for the Quidco app – the first app which allows you to get paid for checking into certain stores. What’s more with an in-store cashback facility, voucher codes and offers and our trademark online cashback deals it’s a must for all smart shoppers!

We mean it. Despite being predisposed to making the boss happy.

What's your favourite app? Do you prefer to play games on the move, or just relax by listening to music or reading? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section. 

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