Awesome Apps for The Device-Loving Dad

As tapped into the online world as I am, it really is laughable that I own neither smartphone nor iDevice. But I don’t. And despite the emergence in recent years of a cultural wireless revolution, I’ve been okay with that.  After all, you can’t miss what you don’t have.

Right? 

The concept of e-mail first went mainstream right around the time I graduated from college and prepared to enter the professional world. Electronic mail!? I remember thinking. That sounds way too complicated. I’ll never use it!

Fifteen years later, I challenge you to try – just try - to get me to go one day without checking my e-mail.

For the past several years, I’ve approached the concept of wireless mobile devices with the same skepticism with which I once looked upon e-mail. Especially with regards to apps, which again seemed overly complicated in my inexplicably technology-resistant mind. The sheer volume alone overwhelmed me. Where to start? How to choose? And would apps not just be one more time suck in an already exceedingly plugged-in life?

My husband is even more old-school than I am. A phone should be used for talking, he stubbornly maintains. Nothing more. The thought of him utilizing an app is as laughable to me as my not owning a smartphone.

So, when nTelos Wireless approached me to promote their featured Father’s Day apps, I was all prepared to politely respond, “No thanks. We don’t do apps here.” Until curiosity got the best of me and I actually took a look at them. Far from being a mere time suck, these apps are actually useful!

For instance, Hubs – who secretly fancies himself  Bobby Flay – is fanatical about adhering to very specific grill times for steak, fish, burgers, and pork. He has them all written down on a little piece of paper in his wallet, which he produces with a flourish and studies very seriously each time he fires up the grill. But with the Omaha Steaks Steak Time app, he could have all his grill times consolidated on his mobile device, eliminating the need for that sad little scrap of paper. Then he’d truly be master of his domain!

Fretting over the bills is another one of Hubs’ more aggravating endearing quirks. Enter Pageonce Money & Bills for the dad who wants to conveniently obsess over household finances right from his phone.

nTelos also features apps for the dad who likes golfing, the dad who likes fishing, and the dad who’s really into tying knots. (I mean, I’ve heard of stranger hobbies.)

And for my own tech-savvy dad and his Hokie brethren, there’s even an exclusive nTelos-developed Virginia Tech Key Play app – for those times when it’s just too much trouble to shake your actual keys during a third-down defensive play. (Or for those who only have two keys on their keychain – a foreign concept to me.)

Suddenly, I began to wish my husband and I were more tapped into mobile technology. Because I’ll be honest – I have no idea what to give Hubs for Father’s Day.

For his first Father’s Day two years ago, I set the bar high with a hardcover photo book detailing Lil’ Bit’s first six months of life. But this wasn’t just any old photo book. Oh, no. This photo book was entitled The ABC’s of Daddy and Me and the following passage is just one example of the prose it contained:

 A is for Adorable
Yep, that’s me!

B is for Boo, Baths, and Beer Bottles
Three of my favorite things, you see.

C is for Cousins
And the lifelong friends we’ll be.

D is for Daddy
My one and only.

That’s right, people – it rhymed. All the way through, from A to Z, with each letter accompanied by a coordinating photo (or three). It was a true labor of love and, as God as my witness, I will never again top it.

That said, I can’t help but believe that gift-giving on Father’s Day (and beyond) might be easier if my husband was at all tech-oriented. But despite my growing desire to take the plunge into the wireless world (if only to join the Instagram craze), Hubs remains resistant.

So, for now I’ll save the gadgets and apps for my own device-loving dad, while I continue to ponder exactly what to bestow upon my technologically stunted husband this Father’s Day.

And also when we might both emerge from the Dark Ages to finally join the wireless revolution.

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This post was sponsored by nTelos Wireless, providing dependable nationwide voice and data coverage for over 400,000 retail subscribers based in Virginia, West Virginia and portions of Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kentucky. While I received compensation for this post, all thoughts and opinions and hand-wringing over what to get my husband for Father’s Day are my own. If you’re still looking for a Father’s Day gift for the device-loving dad in your life, check out the nTelos Wireless “Hooray for Dads” board on Pinterest. For a limited time, nTelos is also offering the Android-powered Samsung Admire FREE ($269.99 value) with a new 2-year agreement. Find out more at nTelos and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

What are you giving the dad(s) in your life this Father’s Day?