Don’t buy what you can get for free

By Devin Ramos |Staff Writer|

Don’t buy cellphone apps when you can get quality apps for free.

Save money by downloading free apps from iOS and the Android market that are user friendly and won’t break your bank account.

iPhones and Androids have many photography apps that let you take advantage of the high megapixel camera, but among them is VSCO Cam, which is a perfect app to take stunning photos.

VSCO Cam is free for iPhones and allows users to export their photos in full resolution, and use a wide array of editing features.

Student Gabriel Huerta said, “I really like VSCO Cam, because it has really nice filters, and lets me manipulate the photos the way that I want them.”

I’ve found that the app Squaready can go hand in hand with VSCO Cam for getting large pictures into a format that’s friendly with Instagram.

Squaready allows you to export your photos directly to Instagram which will save you the trouble of having to search for it in your photo album.

I found that many students are moving from Instagram to the alternative photo sharing app Snapchat.

Snapchat is free for iPhones and Androids that has the additional benefit of having a user’s photos deleted seconds after being viewed.

Student Vanessa Sandoval said, “I use Instagram and Snapchat a lot because it’s great for sharing photos with only a few friends.”

If you’re a hardcore or casual gamer there are plenty of fun and challenging games that you can download as well.

Dead Trigger 2 is a great game to play if you are a fan of zombies and first-person shooters like I am.

Dead Trigger 2 offers some of the best graphics and controls on OS devices, along with intense action in every mission.

It doesn’t offer too much diversity as far as weapons and weapon upgrades go, so while the game is free frequent suggestions to purchase in-game items may become annoying.

The iPhone offers other simple games for casual players such as the increasingly popular Flappy Bird.

Student Aaron Flores said, “I’ve been playing a lot of Flappy Bird on my iPhone.”

While there are a variety of games that you can download I find that many students are more interested in music apps.

As a music lover, it is really difficult to select which albums I want to put into my iPhone, so I’ve found that the Soundcloud and Bandcamp apps are a great way to have an endless supply of music wherever you go.

I use both of these apps to listen to and explore music from various scenes around Southern California.

Soundcloud builds a custom feed based off of what musicians you follow.

The app has a sleek interface that allows you to listen to your playlists in the background of other apps.

Bandcamp released a music app that streams albums that you’ve purchased from indie artists via their website.

The difference between Bandcamp and Soundcloud is that Bandcamp is focused primarily on the collection of albums that you have directly purchased from artists, and Soundcloud is powered by free content that artists upload onto the site.

It can be daunting to find a solid collection of good musicians that are worth listening to through both apps, but if you’re determined you can have a great library of music for very little money.

Both of these apps are available for iOS and Android devices.

To listen to music from popular artists students said that they prefer to use Spotify.

Student Karen Macias said, “I like to use Spotify over other music apps because it has more of the songs that I want to hear.”

Spotify is free for iOS and Android devices, but can be upgraded to a premium service to get rid of ads and for downloadable songs.

There are many apps that you can enjoy for free on both iPhones and Androids and if you browse the markets you can load your phone with endless entertainment that fits your lifestyle.