Apps that Entertain Me | Favorite Windows 8 Apps

Apps, apps, apps!  Not being a smart phone user... (Gasp! I know! Oh, the horror!) ...it took me a little bit to get used to this app thing.  Okay, well more like fifteen minutes.  Once I got started, I couldn't start.  Although I consider myself app-happy, I did go through and uninstall the apps that I knew I wouldn't really use.  Sports.  Multiple weather apps. (I only need one.) Games. (I'm not a big game player. No, not even Angry Birds.)  

I want to share with you my personal favorite apps, but listing a bunch of apps all in one post became a challenge.  So I'm dividing the list up into several posts.  Today, I'm featuring the apps that entertain me.  In upcoming posts, I'll talk about the apps that keep me productive and the apps that keep me socially connected.  But let's start with the fun stuff!

One thing I love about Windows 8 apps is how you can move them around, re-group them, re-size them from a rectangle to a square, and turn on/off live updates.  It really enables you to personalize your app screen.  My most used apps are right at my fingertips, while I have to slide to the right a bit to find the ones I don't use so often.  

The app store is convenient and packed full of apps---free, trial, and some that you pay for.  So far, I've only downloaded free apps.  There's so much good stuff out there for free!  I don't feel the need to pay for any yet. ;)  Apps are grouped in categories, plus you can search for them.  You can preview screenshots of an app and check out its ratings.  Then, if you so choose... the app downloads in seconds!

My favorite entertainment app is 8Tracks.  8Tracks is my go-to listening website.  You can browse user-created playlists by genre, mood, artist, and any combination of the three.  My mornings consist of Morning + Upbeat + Folk.  My workdays are Chill + Indie + Happy.  My evenings go something like Sleep + Folk + Chill.  And when I read, it's definitely Classical + Instrumental + Reading. You can create playlists yourself and favorite others'.  

8Tracks is really the only music app I need in my life.  I'm soo smitten with it.  (For more about 8Tracks and a playlist created by yours truly, check out my post here.)

How could a Pinterest app not end up in my favorites?  ;)  It's just as addictive.

When I'm not "seriously" editing photos (seriously meaning using Photoshop), I like to play around with Fhotoroom.  I mostly use it for customizing photos that I use here on the blog and on my Facebook.  It's quick, easy, includes Instagram-y filters, and fun leaks to play around with.  I'm guilty of some extremely rainbow-ish photo edits with this app, but it's just too pretty to resist!

I've had a Kindle for several years and while I do still read books with pages, most of my reading has gone digital.  My Kindle, however, is one of the old ones.  All it's good for is reading.  (It's not a fancy Kindle Fire like my mom enjoys, haha.)  Having the Kindle app on my tablet makes my archaic Kindle obsolete.  

I love the display.  I love that I can read in bed.  (My Kindle didn't light up.)  I love the smooth transition of turning the page with a flick of my finger across the screen.  It's all rather lovely in a literary way.

Architectural Digest is in my top entertainment apps because I just can't get enough pretty interiors.

I go to the Allure app for my beauty advice.  (Both Architectural Digest and Allure offer sampler versions of recent issues.)  And I am magazine-lover, after all.

I also find myself enjoying the tips, ideas, and sheer prettiness of the Style Quick Tips app.

One that I swore I took a photo of but most have deleted is Netflix!  I'm not on it all the time, but it's nice when I want to curl up in bed with an episode of Downton Abbey, Dollhouse, or Firefly. ;)

What about you?  Have you played around with any Windows 8 apps?  Any suggestions?