The Best Apps for Making Memories

Sure, your phone can distract you from paying attention to your little ones.  And that’s absolutely something we should all be aware of and be careful not to fall victim to.  But for just a few minutes, I thought we could celebrate the memories that can be made because of our smartphones.

Before I even jump into beneficial apps, how about we give thanks for how you always, always, have a camera on you.  Who out there remembers the days of carrying around a digital camera (or crazier… one with film!) and being upset when you didn’t think to bring it along with you?  Now, your camera is always in the palm of your hand, ready to catch the next memory so you can keep it for a lifetime.

But let’s talk about some apps that can enrich your life in the memory making world…

1. Instagram – If you’re tech savvy enough to have found this blog, it’s pretty likely that you’ve heard of Instagram.  So, I’ll assume it needs little introduction.  It’s also likely that you’ve witnessed the highlight reel effect that can come along with it.  Seeing everyone’s beautiful children, amazing vacations, and delicious food and beverages?  It can become a source of dissatisfaction for sure.  But it also is such a wonderful tool to document memories for a life time.  Something particularly fun about Instagram is the ability to add hashtags.  Consider creating a special hashtag for each of your children so you can search that hashtag later and revisit all the moments you caught of them on camera.  Or maybe create a fun hashtag for a party you’re planning so you can easily collect all the photos your friends post of the same event.
2. Chatbooks – I can hear a lot of you now… happy for the digital world of pictures, but missing having photo albums and prints to enjoy.  Lucky for you, Chatbooks exists!  With this app, you can sign up to have your Instagram posts printed in albums and shipped to you automatically!  60 pictures… 60 pages… $6!  Now that’s pretty cool!  Set them out on the coffee table for all of your friends to enjoy!
3. Little Hoots – Kids say the darnedest things, am I right?  With Little Hoots, you can easily document the fun things they say along with the age that they said it at.  Turn it into a cute little image and post it for your friends to see!  I’d like to say I use this all the time, but it unfortunately is still only available on iPhone.  And I’m a little bit jealous.  And bitter.  ;)
4. TimeHop – This is the best.  At most, it will only distract you for 5-10 minutes of your day because it only updates once a day.  Essentially, TimeHop shows you everything you posted on social media on that particular date in past years.  To me, this is such a fun way to revisit memories of my kids and see a quick snapshot of them growing through the years.  And one of my favorite things is cuddling in bed with my kids in the morning and looking at the pictures with them.  They are always so proud to see how they’ve grown and talk about those fun times the app reminds us of.
5. Artkive – This one is new to me, but I couldn’t be more excited!  If you have a kid in preschool, you know that they come home with a new art project every day.  And unless you have an entire closet (perhaps an entire room), you cannot possibly keep every single one of these.  But throwing them in the trash just feels wrong, am I right?  Well, with Artkive, you can keep, share, and print your child’s artwork on your phone!  Hold onto hard copies of your favorites, but simplify down to just images of their everyday creations!

Komae assists you in making memories in the best of ways.  When using a traditional babysitter, your kids may be well taken care of, but they are not forming life long friendships.  With Komae, your kids are excited because they get to play with friends!  My husband and I both had a bridesmaid and groomsman in our wedding that we had each known since the age of three.  How cool is it that our kids could be building those kinds of friendships simply because their parents decided to swap babysitting with their trusted friends? What a gift we could be giving to our children by letting them grow up alongside other families that are like minded and willing to invest their time with them.  That is what makes the hearts of your Komae team happy.

And speaking of hashtags… we’ve started one ourself!  By searching #komaekids you’ll be able to see snapshots of families across the country benefiting from Komae!

If you’d like to learn more about how Komae works and how you can play a part in making this dream become a reality, get connected with Komae today!  You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and most importantly… Kickstarter!

Update 3/17/16: As of October 19, 2015, the Komae app was fully funded on Kickstarter!  Beta testing is scheduled to begin in April 2016.  Space is limited, so request an invite today!