Three niche apps I use to manage work and life

Exploring lesser-known apps has been like a fun scavenger hunt for me. In this article, I'll walk through three apps that have been particularly useful in organizing different aspects of my life. I've tried to provide a comprehensive review, evaluating them based on visuals, user experience and pricing. Hopefully, this will be helpful if you're looking for apps with these particular features.

Tiny Decisions  

I often struggle with decisions like which local restaurant to visit with friends or what to wear tomorrow. When that happens, I turn to Tiny Decisions to take the stress out of choosing. The app has a simple, clean design, and its features are easy to use.

On the homepage, you'll find four icons: a wheel, a pointing hand, a "42" and a dollar sign. The wheel lets you create custom spinners by adding questions, cute emojis or different options to choose from. The pointer hand icon launches “Finger Roulette”, where multiple fingers on the screen decide a winner. The "42" icon generates random numbers, and the dollar sign flips a coin for those simple yes-or-no choices.

Even without upgrading to the Pro version, you can access plenty of free features. Ads do pop up occasionally, but they're brief and not too frequent, so they don’t disrupt the experience. A Pro subscription ($1.99/month or $9.99/year) unlocks extra perks like ad removal, wheel weights and iCloud syncing. You can also try out these features with a three-day free trial.

Tiny Decisions is available on both the App Store and Google Play, making it accessible for Apple and Android users alike. Whether you're deciding what to eat or picking the next song, this app adds a fun twist to everyday decisions.

TimeTree 

While Apple Calendar and Google Calendar are great for managing personal schedules, there are times when I need to sync my plans with others. That’s where TimeTree comes in. It’s a group scheduling app that makes sharing and coordinating schedules with friends, family and coworkers incredibly easy. Everyone in a shared calendar can add events, see updates in real-time and chat directly within the app. You can also customize each calendar with a cover image, notifications, to-do lists and even lunar dates. Public calendars let you share events with a wider audience, while private ones keep things more personal. Plus, you can add memos to keep track of important tasks tied to specific events.

If you need more features, TimeTree Premium offers perks like vertical displays, file management and event-pinning. However, the free version already has plenty of functionality—you can share calendars and stay organized without needing to subscribe. If you're curious about the extra features, there’s a one-month free trial. Available on Apple, Android and desktop, TimeTree is a fantastic tool for keeping your plans organized and syncing up with others!

Money Manager 

For keeping track of my personal finances — like school supplies, groceries and transportation — I’ve found Realbyte’s Money Manager app to be super helpful. It helps make budgeting feel manageable and even kind of fun.

The app lets me track expenses in real-time — whether it’s a quick coffee run or paying rent — all within a colorful and user-friendly interface. I can sync it with Google Drive, export everything to Excel and track both my cash and credit card transactions in one place. The visual reports — like graphs and charts — make it simple to see where my money is going. Plus, it has a password lock feature for added security.

If you’re looking for more tools, the Premium version offers ad-free usage, access on a computer and advanced analytics for deeper financial insights. Its double-entry bookkeeping system ensures every transaction is accurately recorded, so you don’t need any accounting experience to stay on top of your finances.

For a busy college student like me, it’s been a great tool to help stay on top of my budget. It is definitely worth checking out, especially if you’re trying to save up for something like a trip during winter break.