Best Blog Apps
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Blogging is a constantly changing business, and you need to be able to keep up while you are on the go. You need to be productive while waiting in line or while you are in transit.
There are plenty of smartphone apps that help you achieve just this, and the best blog apps will make it so that it’s as if you never left your computer.
Here are five of the best blog apps to get you started:
1. Virtual Private Network
Best Blogging Apps
Before you do any other work on your blog from your phone, you need to protect your phone from cyber criminals looking to steal your identity or your blog.
One of the biggest problems most internet users don’t know about is unprotected public networks and sniffer programs hackers use to intercept all data being transferred over a network.
This means the login info for any account you have is at risk. You can work out the potential damage for yourself, but it could easily destroy your blog.
This threat is why you need a Virtual Private Network (VPN) on your smartphone. What it will do is connect your device (you can also use it on a laptop or desktop) to an offsite secure server that will mask your IP address, making it harder for you to be tracked or attacked.
The connection is also encrypted, protecting your connection from hackers with a “tunnel” that keeps outside eyes out. They can be found on any smartphone OS and shouldn’t cost you more than $10 a month.
Some of the best ones as mentioned by Secure Thoughts (an expert website on VPNs) include ExpressVPN, IPVanish and HideMyAss, although there might be others suited to your needs if the listed options aren’t to your liking.
2. WordPress/Blogger/Etc.
Whichever platform you are using to host your blog (although the odds say it will be WordPress), you should check to see if there is an app for your smartphone.
While you can use the website from your phone’s browser, it isn’t nearly as efficient. A dedicated app will give you opportunities to easily respond to comments, edit errors you spot in posts, write new posts, collaborate easily with other bloggers and give you a tiny base of operations in the palm of your hand.
Think of all of the little spaces of time in the world where you could be blogging instead of doing nothing. You could probably squeeze out at least a half-hour a day blogging using the best blog apps at your disposal.
While it isn’t the same as a keyboard and mouse, you can get your daily blogging chores done this way. Whichever app is appropriate, try to think of how you can take advantage of it.
3. Dropbox
You need a backup of your blog and your writing. You also need to be able to share your work with other writers and receive similarly shared work.
Dropbox is your solution. Its name is so common I’d be surprised if you haven’t heard of it. Professionals love to use it to share and store files, and it is extraordinarily easy to use on any platform.
You can find a version of the app for any platform and a basic account is free. It is worth a try at least. If you don’t like it, you can try out a different cloud service to protect your vital blog data. You might even want to invest in redundancy and get a couple of apps similar to Dropbox.
4. Google Docs
Slightly related but not exactly the same as Dropbox, Google Docs will allow you to directly edit and share your documents and spreadsheets (even presentations, if your blog uses them). This is one of the best blog apps you can have in your arsenal.
You might not always find it ideal to write on your smartphone, but sometimes you will have an idea that you simply have to get out of your head.
At other times, you will be stuck at an airport or a particularly boring party and you just want to write an article while you can. Google Docs provides you with a platform to do so that gives you more tools than nearly anything else you can use on your smartphone.
One of the best parts is that you can access those documents anywhere via a cloud storage service for free and continue from where you left off on any computer with internet access.
You can also continue documents started on your computer, making it perfect for those large projects. Any Word document can be uploaded and used as well, getting a lot of compatibility problems out of the way.
5. Evernote
Do you occasionally get an idea for a blog post or a topic while traveling around town? Do you have lots of ideas? If so, Evernote might become your best friend.
Based on the title, you would think that it is an app that will help you take notes. You would be right. Yet it is so much more than that, allowing you to take pictures or voice recordings and use them as notes.
You can comment or annotate as you need to, and the app is great for making task lists for your blog. If you are creative, you can likely find even more productive uses for it.
You can find a version of Evernote on just about every smartphone OS at no cost (there are premium versions, but they are mostly unnecessary). Every blogger needs a proper way to organize their ideas, and this app might be your best tool for the job.
Conclusion
There are as many applications in the world as there are grains of sand on a beach, and that number is only going to grow and provide tools for you to improve your blog.
Have you found any other applications that have become integral for the maintenance of your blog?
Have you found any great alternatives to any of the best blog apps listed above? Leave a comment below and join the discussion.
About the Author
Isa Cox is a tech blogger who likes to focus on technology tips for other bloggers. She is fascinated by our constantly changing computer culture.
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Best Blog Apps
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Best Blogging Apps
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