Apps That Keep You Cleverly Entertained

A recent study published in the Independent shows that the average Briton spends the equivalent of five years of their life feeling bored.

The study further suggests that we experience, on average, two episodes of boredom every day. Washing up, cleaning the patio, and shopping for socks are identified as some of the most boring activities in the country.

However, you don’t need to subject yourself to constant boredom. Some of the ways to alleviate boredom include playing online games, listening to music, and watching online and offline videos among other activities.

The following are five apps you can use to entertain yourself when boredom sets in.

YouTube

Currently the second most popular search engine on the planet, YouTube is perhaps the best app to keep you entertained around the clock. From educational content to funny clips and even live streaming, just about every type of video imaginable is on YouTube.

It’s estimated that more than 6 billion hours of videos are watched on YouTube every month. In fact, one in seven people (or 1 billion people) watch at least one video on YouTube every day. Such is the popularity of the app.

There are two broad ways in which you can use the app. Firstly, you can use YouTube to watch all the great videos created by users across the world. Alternatively, you too can create and post your videos – for free – and even make money from them!

What makes it even better is that the actual picture quality isn’t the number one factor when creating videos for YouTube. Yes, it’s important to have a good camera, however, if you’re creative enough, your channel subscribers will forgive a few blurry scenes.

Google Books

Google Books is a free Google app. In fact, on Android, the app comes pre-installed. Apple users can also easily download and install the app and begin using it right away.

The app serves one primary purpose – giving users access to millions of books to read in the swipe of a finger! These books typically include NY Times best sellers, new releases, classics, and textbooks, and are available in over 75 countries worldwide.

Google Books allows users to customize the app’s interface to fit their preferences. You can even adjust the font sizes! The e-book reader function makes it possible to continue with your reading offline.

Cross-device access is also supported meaning you can pick up where you left on mobile, tablet, laptop, or PC.

Finally, Google Books allows for bookmarking and highlighting of pages, and you can also add notes.  You can also upload your books and PDF files too!

Spotify

Music is food for the soul. Studies show that when you listen to your favourite music, your body releases the feel-good neurotransmitter – dopamine. As a result, the music will make you feel good even on a tough day.

Spotify was designed so that you can take your favourite music wherever you go. The digital, cross-platform streaming service boasts endless record label content from Warner Music Group, Sony, EMI, and Universal. The app currently has over 30 million songs.

What makes Spotify different, however, is the ability to browse through collections of your friends and artists or even your favourite celebrities. If you’re a big fan of J Cole, for instance, you can log onto Spotify and check out the music Cole listens to. You can also create a radio station within the platform to play your favourite music nonstop.

Spotify has a free account that allows users to listen to music with ads. However, if you want an ad-free experience, a paid subscription service is available at $10/month. The platform currently has close to 100 million paying subscribers.

Lumosity

Gamers can also get bored from time to time. Maybe you’re not sure which game to play or perhaps all the games you play regularly might lose their excitement.

Lumosity is the app to solve all your gaming selection troubles. Not only is the app designed to provide users with the most exciting games, but the games are also carefully selected to sharpen various mental skills.

Lumosity has both a website and an app. The site has 50+ cognitive games while the app only has about 20 games. Each day, you’ll find five suggested games. These five games are always picked to challenge five different cognitive abilities.

When you’re done playing, the app will provide an in-depth analysis of your core strengths and weaknesses. You’ll also get an assessment of your cognitive skills (including memory and problem-solving abilities) to help you understand where you need to place your focus going forward. The evaluation is summed up in the Lumosity Performance Index (LPI). The higher your LPI, the better off you are.

Amazon Prime

Finally, there is an all-in-one package that gives you access to the best shopping deals, trending music, the best movies, and just about any video imaginable – all under one roof. This is called Amazon Prime!

Prime exists to provide lightning-quick deliveries for Amazon shoppers, especially in the US. However, more recently, the service has become more popular for its streaming and gaming service.

Subscribing members get access to an expansive number of songs and movies, same as what you would get on Netflix and Apple Music. Currently, the music section has 2 million ad-free songs. Meanwhile, Prime Video keeps adding new shows and movies every day. Then, there’s also Prime Photos that allows subscribing users to store up to 5GB of documents and photos.

Above all, the service has now partnered with Twitch to offer users what’s known as Twitch Prime where users can broadcast themselves playing all kinds of games including casino games while others watch and chat.

Wrap Up

Boredom is now a thing of the past.  You no longer have to spend hours upon hours feeling lonely and miserable. The five apps we discussed above will give you instant access to boredom-killing, entertaining content that will keep you occupied all day long.