Bet your smartphone is within easy reach right now and it’s already helped you with your freelancing today? Scheduling, to-do lists and notes – without a smartphone, we freelancers would sometimes be pretty much screwed. But are you really using the full potential of your mobile phone yet?
In this article, I’ll tell you how to turn your smartphone or tablet into a toolbox thanks to 13 innovative apps that will turn you into a true organizational talent, make your daily life much easier and turn you into a productive freelancer. Thanks to artificial intelligence, these apps are also becoming more and more useful.
What are we looking at specifically?
- General Freelancer Apps
- Freelancer Apps for Programmers
- Freelancer Apps for Designers
- Freelancer Apps for Copywriters
- Freelancer Apps for Virtual Assistants
- Freelancer Apps for Photographers
- Special tip for all self-employed
General Freelancer Apps
Freelancers are project managers, accountants and marketers in equal measure. We have to be available around the clock and, on the side, structure and implement the ideas buzzing through our heads.
What sounds like stress to some is worth it to us freelancers. In return, we are rewarded with independence of location and free time management – which in turn requires organizational skills. Because we still have to function. However, apps and tools that make work processes faster, more effective and more productive can help.
By the way – If you are a freelancer currently looking for new jobs, please take a look here. There are new opportunities here every day.
But now let’s get started with the first app:
#1 Clockify – the time tracking app
For freelancers, “time is money”. So, in order to get as much done as possible in a day, you should make use of your precious time. You also need to control how many hours you can bill your clients. A time tracking tool helps you with all of this.
With the free app Clockify you can control your daily working time and manage individual project steps. This enables you to plan upcoming tasks more efficiently and to better estimate your own time expenditure.
While you concentrate on your work, Clockify tracks your time. So you can save yourself the trouble of looking at your watch (okay – your smartphone). Once you have finished all your tasks, Clockify offers you a detailed evaluation table of your productive phase. Observe these statistics for a few days, you can use your time even more optimally in the future.
What else can the Freelancer app do?
- Time recording
- Calculation of billable time
- Ability to save, export and share projects
- visual evaluation of daily and weekly working time
#2 Mint – the budget planner
Sure, you have an online banking app on your phone, but do you really have a comprehensive overview of your finances? Accounting is not exactly one of the favorite activities of a freelancer. Often, even one account is used for professional and private and the financial situation is usually in the dark – at least until the tax bill flutters in the mailbox.
With the free app Mint you can manage your finances, plan your budget and calculate your salary better. Simply link Mint to your bank accounts and you’ll keep track of all your income and expenses.
What else can the Freelancer app do?
- Budget planning for projects
- Overview of transactions of the accounts as well as Paypal
- Weekly evaluations of the financial status
Freelancer Apps for Programmers
If the display suddenly turns black and lots of little green numbers appear, it can only be the PC or the smartphone of a programmer. But as an IT expert, do you already know these apps?
#3 UltraEdit – Programming on the go
UltraEdit is a code developer that lets you write, edit and manage codes. This application is probably more similar to a programming software than an ordinary editor app. Thus, it lets you edit text-based files, such as HTML or JavaScript, and open source codes, such as C,C++ or Java. You also have the option of accessing an integrated FTP client.
What else can the Freelancer app do?
- Editing XML and text files
- Marking the syntax for most programming languages
- Search and replace lines in files
- Choice of an editor theme
- Manage remote server files
- View a wide range of information about files
- Add extremely long lines of code (up to 20,000 characters before wrapping)
#4 Oh MyZsh – the open source framework
This app is an open source framework with numerous functions for professional developers and system administrators – or those who want to feel like that one day. The focus is on managing your ZSH configurations.
What else can the Freelancer app do?
- more than 200 plugins for different packaging systems and programming languages
- more than 150 themes
- Community for developers
Freelancer Apps for Designers
Let’s move on to the designers: constantly on the lookout for inspiration and full of creative thoughts. But these also have to be implemented. With the following apps it’s easy and uncomplicated.
#5 Canva – Graphic design made easy
Granted, you don’t have to be a professional graphic designer to create graphics with the free app Canva. But that’s exactly what makes this app so wonderful. Whether it’s a logo for your business, your post for Instagram, an infographic for your new blog ( verlinkung hinzufügen )or graphics for consistent branding, Canva lets your creativity run wild but lets you be guided by inspiring templates.
What else can the Freelancer app do?
- Creation of graphics on the basis of numerous templates
- large selection of free stock photos
#6 Figma – the tool for collaborative designs
Are you constantly creating new designs and want to share them with your remote team? The Figma app is a web-based collaborative design tool that lets you work with your freelance colleagues or clients in real time and in your own browser. Constantly emailing back and forth or dropboxing is finally a thing of the past.
Figma also creates the ideal communication basis for designers and developers.
What else can the Freelancer app do?
- Design creation
- Editing foreign designs
- Share, comment and communicate with the team
Freelancer Apps for Copywriters
The following tools are worth their weight in gold for copywriting with MacBook, iPad Pro and co. – whether for client projects or for your own online business. Texting on a smartphone may not have caught on yet, but tools and apps for checking written texts are a real boon for any copywriter.
#7 Grammarly – the check for your text
The text is written, but the correction phase takes quite a bit of effort. Now imagine that an app takes over this step for you. Grammarly makes it possible and checks your text for spelling mistakes, grammar and style.
What else can the Freelancer app do?
- error correction
- genre-specific improvement of stylistics and vocabulary
- Create a personal dictionary
- Evaluation of writing style via performance statistics
#8 Ahrefs – SEO Tool with a difference
As an online copywriter, you need to check all your texts for SEO criteria before you publish them. With the SEO tool Ahrefs you can optimize your content and make it ready to be found online. Above all, Ahrefs is suitable for analyzing the backlink profile of competitors. This is how link building can be taken to the next level – whether for broken link building, organic link building or other possibilities.
What else can the Freelancer app do?
- Carrying out the keyword research
- Assessment of the relevance of each keyword
- Traffic scan
- Create a personal keyword list
- Analysis for link building
Freelancer Apps for Virtual Assistants
When it comes to organization, no one can fool the virtual assistants that fast. Nevertheless, there are some apps that organize and structure their thoughts a bit so that they don’t end up in chaos.
#9 Doodle – the digital planner
Here an errand, there a phone call and the mails have to be answered as well – if you as a virtual assistant sometimes don’t know where your head is, the app Doodle will soon surely be your new best companion. In this tool you manage and organize all your tasks so that your customers are completely happy with your work.
What else can the Freelancer app do?
- Manage all tasks via a to-do list
- Arranging meetings or discussions
- Scheduling calls, conference calls and Skype meetings
- Personal organizer
- automatic reminders about upcoming events and tasks
#10 Buffer – Your virtual social media manager
Planning multiple social media posts and want to publish them at the exact time your target audience is active? Buffer links all your social media accounts together and you can schedule and post upcoming posts – in parallel and for multiple channels.
What else can the Freelancer app do?
- Planning of social media posts (in advance)
- Creation of contribution-supporting graphics
- auto-publishing of articles
- Analysis of user activity and engagement
Freelancer Apps for Photographers
As a photographer, you probably already have a smartphone cam that shoots high-quality images. But can you already edit these images to perfection on your phone?
#11 Camera+ 2 – the all-in-one photo app
This app is an all-in-one solution for photographers and creatives. With Camera+ 2, you can not only shoot photos in high image quality, but also edit them afterwards.
Just like a high-quality camera, this app gives you the ability to adjust shutter speed, ISO, and white balance on your shots. With the dual lens, you can even switch between a wide-angle and telephoto lens.
What else can the Freelancer app do?
- Creating raw recordings
- Depth detection and processing
- Editing images with tools and filters
#12 ThePhotographer’sEphemeris
Arguably, the biggest struggle photographers face is capturing the optimal lighting conditions. This is where The Photographer’s Ephemeris app comes in. It tells you in real time how the light is shining through the sun or moon at a location of your choice.
This way you can plan the perfect photo session from home before heading to the location.
What else can the Freelancer app do?
- Create a list of saved locations and their geographic details
- Information on sunrise, sunset and moon phases for desired locations
- visual simulation of a location with its lighting, shadows and other light conditions
Special tip for all self-employed
Despite all the diversity of our freelance jobs, there is one thing we all need to do: Communicate. So the bonus tip applies to all freelancers equally.
#13 Franz: one messenger for all accounts
Franz is not only the former emperor of Austria, but also a free app that combines all messaging services. Whether WhatsApp, email or Facebook Messenger – simply add the services you use and communicate with clients, team members or other freelancers in just one app.
This way you have all your important contacts under one roof. By the way, you can separate your friends from your professional contacts and thus hold a 14-person virtual team meeting while you arrange a parallel meeting with your best buddy.
What else can the Freelancer app do?
- Use of all messenger services with one tool
- Communication in different languages
- Control over all notifications
Conclusion: Productivity 2.0
Bye bye scheduling chaos, time wasting and productivity blockade – from now on just whip out your phone and make your work life easier with your new apps. It’s best to start with the free or trial versions first. When it comes to benefits, you can weigh up how high your ROI (return on investment) is for working with the respective app before you buy the premium version.
Which app is the right one for you is of course individual and while some can’t do without apps, others prefer to scribble something in their notebook and use their smartphone only for candy crushing.
Which app could you definitely not do without in your daily freelancing life? Write your favorites in the comments.
