Yesterday I posted a bit of a downer as I listed by Top Time Waster Apps for 2023. Today we’re flipping the script to bring you my Top Time Redeemers. These are the apps I use where their positive merits by far outweigh their negatives.

1 – YouVersion Bible

Without a doubt, my best way to start the day is spending time in the Bible. My usual preference is to go analog and use my physical copy; however, when I’m pinched for time or using one of its many reading plans, the YouVersion Bible App is my goto.

For years I’d avoiding doing group plans in YouVersion. But four or five years back, I participated in one of those “Bible in a Year” plans with our Community Group at church. Turns out I loved the comaraderie and encouragement I received from everyone. If you’re on the fence about the same thing, I encourage you to give a group plan a try.

Speaking of group plans, my one gripe with the YouVersion app is the commenting feature at the end of each day. It’s too basic. I’d love to be able to “@mention” other users, and I’d appreciate a more full-featured text editor. But those lack of features may be “by design” as the main focus of the app is easy access to God’s Word.

2 – Unreached of the Day

I’ve only recently been introduced to Joshua Project and their Unreached of the Day app. Each day the app provides you with an unreached people group to pray for. It’s a great way to be a part of the Great Commission.

3 – DayOne

At one point I had a 4+ year streak of uninterrupted daily journaling in the DayOne app. Unfortunately 2020 brought an end to that. However, that hasn’t kept me from returning to it time and again. 

Primarily my journals are about the daily goings on in our family. I love having a record of the little and big moments of our lives. Then I love using the app to get hard copies made of each year’s entries.

Honorable Mention – Kindle

With the way social media has trained me for bit-sized consumption, trying to read a book reminds me of the focus required to follow a thought and allow the author to develop it. Focusing on a good book is certainly a way to redeem my time; however, Kindle only makes honorable mention here because I normally don’t use the app on my phone as I prefer to use my dedicated Kindle device.

This post serves as the second in a two part series where I’ve been highlighting the apps on my phone that waste and redeem my time. If I’ve got you thinking about the same, I’d love for you to share you lists below.