5 mobile apps to help forgetful UAE residents get their life back

The kids are back to school, the traffic has never been so bad, and the office work just doesn’t seem to get over. On top of all these things, you come back home with more work piled to take care of, and 24 hours in a day don’t seem enough to manage your life.

Sounds familiar? Read on.

If you are caught up in this tick-tock life, it’s only human that you will, once in a while, forget that important day at your child’s school, skip credit card payments and pile up on late-fee fines, or come home to realise that the fridge is half empty because you forgot to stock up on the food supplies for the week.

It’s best to sit back and take stock of your life to get more organised but if you are looking for an immediate and quick-fix solution, simply download some mobile apps that promise to make your life simpler. There are plenty on the local and global app stores, but we present our pick of 5 that will come especially handy if you, like us, are the forgetful kind.

#1 RTA’s mParking app

Finding a parking spot is a difficult task in many of the crowded areas in Dubai and the constant stress of looking for coins, running down every hour to purchase and place the ticket on the windshield, and then returning to your desk could be a huge hassle. The worst is when we are caught up in the middle of a meeting and are late by a few minutes only to find a parking fine staring at us from under the wiper on the windscreen.

The RTA's mParking service is a boon in this case. The app alerts you in advance via a text message about the expiry of the parking ticket, and you can easily renew it via sending a short text message.

It’ll be easy to remember when your mobile alerts you and you will not be wasting your precious time – or money in fines.

#2 Children’s school apps

This one is for working parents. Many schools have their mobile and online apps and with it, you can keep track of important things going on at school. Such an app is provided by a big private education provider in the UAE.

Newsletter links, calendar events, school news, sport and extra-curricular activity and reminders – all can be accessed via this app. You can use this app and not miss out on something important in your child’s life.

Basically a calendar app, when enabled, the service throws pop-up reminders on your desktop or buzzes you on your mobiles to warn you in time for the upcoming parent-teacher meeting or sports day or whatever.

Check with your child’s school if they have such an app and download it on your mobile device. All the reminders will help you stay aware of what’s happening in your child’s life and s/he sure will not feel left out as you will be a part of the important things/events in her/his life.

#3 Get a location reminder mobile app

Many of us leave home in the morning with all the to-do tasks stored in our brain cells but half of them are forgotten by the time we reach work.

If you do show these forgetful traits, getting a location reminder app can help you. There are many such apps available that you can download.

With such an app, you can remind yourself to buy something when you’re near the store or send SMS to friends/family near a location.

For example, you’ve run out of milk and this app will remind you once you are driving near a grocery store or are in the vicinity.

You can feed in several location-based reminders, like the bank, the laundry, the uniform shop and it will remind you to do things. Also called the nagging spouse app, this app lets you remember things just in time even when your better half isn’t next to you. There are a few apps and some paid in this domain, but a one-time payment of a few dirhams may actually save you a lot of hassle and trouble later.

#4 Grocery store app

Even after being alerted by a location-based reminder app, it’s likely you may be too tired or stressed out to even step into the grocery store. If the problem persists, take a double dose of technology for further help.

The UAE now has several grocery stores and laundries that will deliver at your doorstep.

There are several online supermarkets like supermart.ae and trolley.ae, with the latter even having its mobile app. You can simply download the app on your phone and order urgent grocery items easily.

Remember, however, to compare prices with offline groceries every once in a while – while most online grocery deliveries maintain that they do not mark-up prices and operate on volumes, it wouldn’t hurt to be sure.

#5 App to manage in-house inventories

Yes it’s true – technology can help you keep track of things in your fridge that may be about to run out. There are mobile apps that you can use to keep stock of things that are in the house and those that you are running out of.

Apps like Nest Egg or My Home Pro provide one-touch access to a list of all the household items you’ve listed, category-by-category and even a location-based list.

These apps can also remind you if a product’s warranty is about to expire, and can even be used to keep track of items you’ve lent to someone.

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