The last twelve months have just flown by and it’s almost time to usher in 2012 with style, so you know we had to bust out a list of apps to help you celebrate the coming new year. We’re just going to list some of our favorites but feel free to chime in with your own in the comment section.
Keeping in touch
One of the best thing’s about New Year’s Eve is getting to spend some quality time with your friends and family but it can be tough to get everyone together, particularly once the adult beverages start to come out. Luckily, there are multiple ways to use your smartphones to keep in touch with people.
The group-messaging category was a hot topic this year for a reason: these apps make it extremely simple to keep in touch with multiple people at once. Facebook Messenger, GroupMe, TextPlus and many others make it easy to send messages between groups. Many of these also enable pure SMS support so a person in your group doesn’t have to be using a smartphone in order to get in on the good times. Of these, I’d probably say that GroupMe is my favorite because it has a really nice layout, works really well in crowded situations (it worked at SXSW) and it will soon be part of Skype, so you don’t have to worry about it dying like some of the other group messaging apps we saw this year.
If text isn’t enough for you, you can use your smartphone and apps to do video calls or share video moments. There’s the near-ubiquitous Skype and it’s cross-platform, is relatively easy to use and will continue to get better with things like the GroupMe purchase. Apple’s Facetime is probably the simplest way to make video calls but it’s limited because it only works with Apple devices. The Tango app is another great way to make video calls across all platforms.
Finding the fun
New Year’s Eve is all about partying, so put your phone to work by making it help you find what’s going on. Of course, the traditional social networking apps like Facebook and Twitter are good options for discovering what’s going on but newer entries can also help. Foursquare is still kicking around and I’ve found that the company has secured a ton of deals around the country with multiple types of businesses, so it doesn’t hurt to check in because it may help you save on a cover charge or on some food costs. After a bumpy start, Path came out with a beautiful 2.0 version which is very personal and should be a good tool for seeing what your close friends are up to.
If you’re looking for some food or drinks and own an iPhone, go ahead and check out the Alfred app while you still can because the company has been purchased by Google, so the personalized recommendation app may be going away soon. I’ve found it takes a little bit of training but it’s a good way to get some serendipitous suggestions on what you’d like.
For some of you (and myself), New Year’s Eve will also include a lot of adult beverages and your smartphone can be an enabler with this too. iBartender is a good, cheap way to figure out how to make fancy cocktails. If you’re using an Android phone, there are also a variety of bartending apps. While it might be a bit on the nose, the official Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball app is a fun way to bring a bit of that end-of-the-year magic to wherever you find yourself.
Read: Mashable’s 18 iPhone drinking apps to get the party started
(Photo via Shutterstock, keren-seg)
Staying safe
New Year’s Eve is often filled with a ton of booze-filled joy but it’s also a night filled with tragedy, as too many people drink and drive. It’s stupid and it’s just not worth it. It’s also very selfish because you’re not just putting yourself at risk, you’re putting innocent people in harm’s way. Don’t do it.
There are a variety of alcohol calculator apps and while these aren’t 100 percent precise, these can give you an idea of how drunk you will be or are. Many cities offer free cab rides on New Year’s Eve, so you can use apps like Taxi Magic to get one to you or if you want a cushier and probably easier-to-find private car, Uber may be the right app for you.
If you cannot get home, getting a hotel room may be the best bet and even though it’s New Year’s Eve, there are still some options. Hotel Tonight is a fantastic app for last-minute hotel rooms and it’s even running a special on Dec. 31 where rooms in certain cities will be $99 on New Year’s Eve. This promotion starts at noon local time and there’s a limited quantity, so check it out immediately.
We hope you all have a wonderful and safe New Year’s Eve and you can be sure that IntoMobile will be bringing the heat in 2012.
Read: Celebrate New Year’s Eve responsibly with sobriety apps for your cellphone
(Photo via Shutterstock, Arena Creative)
[Main image Photo via Shutterstock, Suzanna]