Digital helpers for your everyday life – 6 of our favorites to make your life easier
Kira Zabe
October 15, 2024
In an increasingly digital world, there's an app for almost any task that can make your life easier. Whether it's about fitness, finances, or well-being – the right app can save you time, improve your organization, or simply provide support. Following the motto 'Why do everything yourself when there's a smarter way?', I present to you six practical apps that are a real help in various areas of life.
1. MyFitnessPal – Your Digital Nutrition Coach
Healthy eating and fitness are often a matter of organization. With MyFitnessPal, you can keep an eye on your calorie intake, track nutrients, and plan your meals with precision. The app offers an extensive database of foods and recipes and helps you establish healthy habits in the long term. It can also be connected to fitness trackers, allowing you to combine your activity and dietary behavior.
Function: Calorie and Nutrition Tracker
Suitable for: People who want to optimize their diet and get fitter.
Health starts with nutrition. MyFitnessPal is more than a calorie tracker.
2. YNAB (You Need A Budget) – Manage your finances smartly
Money management can be complicated, but with YNAB (You Need A Budget) you gain full control over your finances. The app is based on a simple principle: every Euro is allocated for a specific job. YNAB helps you to create budgets, track expenses, and achieve long-term financial goals. In the process, you learn how to adjust your spending to your priorities and prepare for unexpected expenses.
Function: Budgeting and Financial Management App
Suitable for: People who need a better overview of their finances and are pursuing long-term savings goals.
3. Habitica – Easily change habits through gaming
Changing habits is hard for many – Habitica turns it into a fun experience! This app transforms your daily routine into a role-playing game: for every task you complete or habit you maintain, you earn points and unlock new levels. The app is perfect for managing to-do lists, habits, or tasks, and it keeps you motivated with rewards and challenges. Ideal for anyone looking for a fun way to structure their daily life.
Function: Gamification app for habit formation
Suitable for: People who want to increase their productivity in a playful way or get rid of bad habits.
With Habitica, you can gamify changing your habits.
4. Forest – Focus for Increased Productivity
If you're having trouble focusing on a task and find yourself constantly glued to your smartphone, Forest might be the solution. The app uses a simple yet effective principle: while you work, you plant a virtual tree that grows as long as you don't get distracted. If you leave the app, the tree dies. Thus, Forest motivates you to stay focused and avoid distractions. It's especially useful for people looking to increase their productivity.
Function: Focus and Productivity App
Suitable for: People suffering from procrastination or looking to improve their concentration.
5. Headspace – Relaxation and Mindfulness for Everyday Life
During stressful times, mental health is just as important as physical health. Headspace offers guided meditations, mindfulness exercises, and programs to reduce stress and live more mindfully. With exercises for beginners to advanced, Headspace is ideal for creating moments of calm in a hectic daily life. There are also special meditations for better sleep, focused work, or reducing anxiety.
Function: Meditation and Mindfulness App
Suitable for: People looking to reduce stress, relax, or improve their mental health.
The app Headspace helps you create moments of calm in everyday life.
6. Pantry App – Organize your kitchen like a pro
Keeping an optimal eye on your pantry can be challenging – but not with the Speisekammer App! The app helps you organize your food, monitor supplies, and find recipes that match your inventory. You can easily avoid expired products and specifically repurchase what you really need. This way, you minimize food waste and plan your meals efficiently.
Function: Household organization for the kitchen
Suitable for: Everyone who wants to shop more consciously and waste less food.
Never again spoiled food with our Pantry.App
With these six apps, you can significantly simplify your life in various areas – whether it's managing your finances, working on your habits, or organizing your kitchen. Try them out and find out which app makes your daily life much easier!
New laws on food waste in Spain
Spain has recently passed a groundbreaking law to combat food waste. This law requires all actors in the food chain, from producers to retailers, to implement specific plans to prevent food loss.
Key provisions of the law:
Obligation to donate surplus food: Supermarkets with a floor space of more than 1,300 square meters are now required to form partnerships with non-profit organizations to donate surplus food that is still fit for consumption. These donations are exempt from value-added tax.
Offer of packaging for leftover food: Restaurants and bars are required to provide their guests with free, reusable or recyclable packaging so that they can take home uneaten food. The aim is to raise consumer awareness of food waste and encourage them to take leftovers with them.
Promotion of the sale of products with approaching expiration dates: Retailers should offer products that are nearing their expiration date or have aesthetic defects at reduced prices to encourage their sale and reduce waste.
Hierarchy of priorities for dealing with surplus food: The law establishes an order for handling surplus food. Priority is given to human consumption through donations. If this is not possible, the food should be used for the production of processed products. The last options include using it as animal feed or for energy generation.
Sanctions for violations:
Companies that violate the provisions of the law can expect fines ranging from 2,000 to 500,000 euros.
Critique and Outlook:
While the law is considered an important step in the fight against food waste in Europe, there is also criticism. Some voices argue that the strict framework of sanctions could disproportionately burden companies and that the law does not sufficiently address the role of consumers, who are responsible for a significant portion of food waste.
Nevertheless, the law is seen as a significant advancement in reducing food waste and promoting a more sustainable awareness in society.
Join in and reduce food waste! 🌱📲
Spain's new law demonstrates: Sustainability starts in the pantry! With the Speisekammer App you can keep track of your groceries, plan meals efficiently, and avoid unnecessary waste.
👉 Download the app now and join the movement for less waste and more conscious consumption! 💚 Try it now!
Sharing supplies together – why the Shared Economy is now moving into the kitchen
The concept of Shared Economy has long been more than a short-term trend – it's changing our everyday lives. More and more neighborhoods, shared apartments, and community projects are discovering how practical it is to organize groceries together and manage supplies transparently.
Why sharing supplies is becoming increasingly popular
- Save on costs: Bulk purchases become cheaper when more people participate.
- Save space: Not everyone needs their own package of rice or pasta.
- Better organization: Digital tools make it easy to see what is available.
- Experiencing community: Food brings people together – as does camping together.
From the flatshare to the neighborhood
Especially in shared apartments or families with multiple households it pays off to keep a communal stock of supplies. But neighborhood projects or small communities are also recognizing the added value: shopping, storing, and using together.
How Smantry helps
This is where Smantry comes into play:
- Community Feature: Supplies can be managed collectively.
- Transparency: Everyone can see which items are available.
- Efficiency: Duplicate purchases are avoided, leftovers are used up in time.
- Flexibility: Soon it will become even easier to manage entire communities (including new features such as categories or the option to completely delete communities).
👉 The shared economy doesn't stop with cars – it moves right into your kitchen. With Smantry sharing supplies becomes easier than ever.
At last, it's here: The categorization of articles 🎉
Over the past few months, we have collected numerous feedback from you – and the request for better organization of supplies was one of the most frequent wishes. Soon, it will be possible to sort your items into individual categories, so that you can keep track of everything even more quickly.
Why categories are so practical
- 🥦 More organization in your pantry: Instead of a long list, you can structure your products into categories such as "Vegetables", "Beverages", or "Household Goods".
- ⏱️ Faster Finding: No more long scrolling – jump straight to the right category.
- 👨👩👧👦 Improved collaboration: In communities or family households, everyone can immediately see where things belong.
- 🌍 Customization: You can create your own categories that suit your needs – whether for meal prep, stockpiling, or just your everyday life.
Your wish will become reality ✨
We know how important this feature is to you. That's why our development team has implemented categorization as a high priority. It will soon be available step by step in the app – fulfilling one of the biggest wishes of our community.
We are thrilled that we can make everyday life even easier for you with this. Stay tuned – as always, we will keep you updated on when the feature will be officially released.
👉 Do you already have ideas on how you want to structure your categories? Feel free to send us your suggestions or requests – your input might directly influence the ongoing development.
Get the most out of your Smantry App: Activate these premium features!
🖼️ Private photos for your articles
Make your inventory management visual! With the feature "Upload Your Own Images" you can add a photo to each item – for example, of the packaging, the jar, or the portion in the freezer. This is especially helpful if you share with others in a community or if you want to visually remember your supplies better.
Activation: Open app → Account (last tab in the mobile app) → Settings → "Activate Personal Pictures"
🔍 Target nutritional information
The app automatically displays calorie and nutritional information – super convenient when you're shopping or eating mindfully. Don't need this info right now or want a cleaner view? You can also simply hide the display!
Control:Profile → Account Settings → Enable “Hide Nutritional Information”, to hide it.
💶 Prices & Expenses at a Glance
If you want to know how much you spend on which item or how much money is lying dormant in your pantry, the Price Entry feature can help you. With it, you can plan your shopping even better and even track your budget.
Activation: Open app → Account (last tab in the mobile app) → Settings → “Enable price input”
💡 Prepper Mode: Even More Control
The Prepper Mode has been introduced for those who really want to keep track of everything – including minimum quantities, emergency supplies, and individual notes for serious situations. It's also useful if you just want to make sure you never run out of anything important.
Activation: Open app → Account (last tab in the mobile app) → Settings → “Show Prepper Information”
Here's how you can find your account settings
In the mobile app you can find the settings easily in the last tab on the far right (Account). In the web app click on Account → "Settings".
All mentioned features are part of the Premium-Version. If you don't have a premium license yet, feel free to check in the app or on app.speisekammer.app/upgrade – there's also a family license available!
✨ Conclusion: You have more options than you think. Activate the hidden premium features now and get the most out of your Smantry app. Because smart inventory management starts with the right tools.
If you have any questions about activation, feel free to contact support or check out our Help Center. And if you have feature requests – we always welcome your feedback!