“There’s an app for that.” We’ve all probably said this at one time or another when a friend has presented a problem and wanted a quick solution. Or, you may even have come up with a great idea yourself at one point only to find out that there is already an app developed. Well, the government wants to make it abundantly clear that it too is hip enough to create apps. In a press release put out at the middle of March, they outlined six “especially useful” apps you might want to check out.

1. Smart Traveler

Looking to go out of the country for some reason? This app was designed by the State Department to provide information and important alerts that might impact your travel plans. It actually has a 3.8 rating on the Google Play store and coorespondingly good ratings on the iTunes marketplace, so it might be worth getting if you are crazy enough to travel outside the country right now. There are terrorists and shit out there.

2. Government FoodKeeper App

Created for both Android and Apple devices, this government app is probably only used by the original development team. At least, the fact that it only has a handful of reviews, all five stars, seems to suggest this. This one was developed by the USDA and if it does actually help you, you can be sure it is one of the few things to ever come out of this organization that wasn’t complete garbage.

3. FEMA App

FEMA likes when people prepare for emergencies, and if a disaster does strike, this makes it much easier to help. As such, they created this app to help teach people how to best respond to emergencies. It includes some advice on how to build a proper emergency supply kit and is actually not bad overall. At least, the people who have downloaded it seem to like it.

4. IRS2GO

No one likes the IRS, but this helpful app at least makes keeping track of your tax return a bit easier. Though it may be too late to utilize it this year, you might want to keep it on hand for next tax season and have a more convenient way to track your return. This doesn’t at all change the fact that the IRS sucks.

5. CDC Influenza App

Because people apparently aren’t worried enough about the flu and other diseases, this app was designed by the CDC to help users track overall trends around the country. For the average citizen, it really won’t do  much good beyond causing extra panic.

6. Dwellr

Developed by the Census Bureau, this little app is supposed to help those considering a move find the city that is best suited to their lifestyle. Of course, it doesn’t take into account you will need a job to move there, so it might not do you much good in reality. Overall, the reviews of it are also lacklusters, so good old fashioned research might be the better way to go.

A Shameless Self-Promotion

Well, everyone else is doing it, so it must make sense for the government to jump on the train and promote itself too. Why no links to the apps here? Because Article Cats isn’t a mouthpiece for big brother! If you want the app, hop on your phone and download it. They undoubtedly did their best in creating these apps; in other words, don’t have high hopes for them. Still, it seems like the app trend is here to stay, so if you ever think you have the next million dollar app idea, jump on it before someone else does. Apparently, you even have competition within the government.

 


Have you used any of these government apps? How was your experience? Do you think they should continue dedicating resources to developing more apps?


 

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Joseph Macolino
Joseph Macolino
When Joseph is not writing for his Evorath fantasy series, he tries to spend time honing his physical prowess to one day become the Punisher. Most of the time, he just ends up perfecting the art of procrastination by watching Netflix, reading other good fantasy books, or playing some mindless game. Follow him at Evorath