The rapidly-spreading COVID-19 pandemic has prompted shutdowns and quarantines in many countries across the world. The prevailing health advice, both from individual governments as well as the World Health Organization, is to practice ‘social distancing’ and stay inside homes, avoiding contact with other people as much as possible. With countries going into official lockdown, whereby stepping outside the house is simply not permitted, people are bound to get bored very soon. There is only so much to do inside the house, after all.
It is here that the internet and our phones come to the rescue. Most people will turn to online streaming as a way to pass the time, while others will catch up on reading and other hobbies. There are a lot of activities to be found on the Apple store, though, so for those with iPhones, the App Store can provide some solace and ability to pass the time till the worst is over.
Educational
Swift Playgrounds is one of the best apps on the Apple Store if you want to do something productive during this time. It allows users to learn how to code Swift through interactive games, making the learning process fun and engaging, and especially so for kids. If you want to learn a human language instead, Duolingo is your best bet. It is probably the most popular app for learning languages, and with over 20 languages available, there are a number of choices available for budding polyglots.
Udemy is one of the world’s biggest resources of online lectures, with a huge range of topics, from singing to coding to public speaking. While there are only a few free courses, most of the others are not too expensive and can help enhance your skills for a small fee.
Entertainment
Of course, the streaming giants Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu etc all have apps on the Apple Store, so you can easily binge-watch your favourite movies and TV shows during this time. Apple’s own Apple TV is also available, with a growing slate of content. Of course, there are also games that can be played, with literally hundreds of games available on the Apple Store. People also have the option to gamble online during this time, with there being a number of casino mobile applications and websites that can be used to this effect. In terms of games, there are a number of games that have been made free-to-play since the COVID-19 outbreak, with the best of these being Alto’s Odyssey, Kingdom Rush Origins, and Prune. Meanwhile, the online game library Steam is offering a number of games for free for a limited period of time, either to be played during that period, or even to download and own for free. The 2013 edition of Tomb Raider, and Football Manager 2021 are two of the most popular games being offered for free for now, but there a number of others which are available on the Steam store.
Fitness
One of the most commonly-cited ways in which people are looking to spend their time indoors is by investing time towards fitness, either to get started on their fitness journey or maintain their progress. To this effect, there are a number of apps on the App Store to help with fitness routines, track progress, and provide information on the best food choices to stay on track for your fitness goals. Down Dog is a great app for finding amazing yoga routines, and additionally, it has made its premium membership free for all users till April 1st. Active is another app which has been made free for a limited period, with a bunch of video workouts and tutorials to keep users active. CARROT Fit is another similar app, which is a free download for the next couple of weeks. In terms of mental health, there are a number of meditation and mental wellbeing apps, such as Balance, Sanvello and Headspace, which are offering premium memberships for free to allow users to calm themselves during such anxious times.
These are only some of the apps and categories which can help you combat boredom and stay productive during your time at home.