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Going Mobile In Our Vegan World

By on January 13, 2015
Vegan iPhone apps

Bob Dylan said it best “The Times They Are A Changing”. Man oh man how true that is, think of all the change we have seen just in the last 10 years, correction 4 years. The Internet was just the beginning, and never in the existence of mankind has there been so much innovation as there is today in our world. Living in the vegan lifestyle does not separate us from technology in any way. There are a lot of things tech related that cater to the vegan lifestyle including, iPhone and Android apps. Today I want to focus on some apps that I use or have tried that cater to my vegan lifestyle.

To me vegan is living a healthy lifestyle for yourself for the animals and best of all for the planet. Below are some great products I think we could classify as good for vegans because it helps in at least one of these areas. Or it’s just fun for anyone of these 3 things that we live a vegan lifestyle for.

1. Happy Cow App
A must have for any vegan traveler. You know the feeling you get to a new city and you can’t wait to find a good vegan restaurant to have dinner. The Happy Cow app is the solution, yes you could do a search on Google for “Vegan Restaurants” but the Happy Cow app is so much better. Happy Cow gives you the option of pin pointing where you want to eat whether it’s vegan, vegetarian or has vegan options. You have the option to see real life user reviews and leave your own reviews if you like. This $2.99 app is well worth all the work that goes into it.

2. Is It Vegan? App
One of my favorite super market tools is the “Is It Vegan?” app. Rather waste time reading labels, simply scan the UPC code and the app goes to work. It grades the product you are interested in and will let you know right away if it’s vegan friendly. There are a few other apps similar to this but I really like the user interface on this one.

3. Cruelty-Free App
Being vegan is not just about what we put in our bodies it’s also about what we put on our bodies and use around our homes. “Cruelty-Free” app is a database of all companies that are animal free testers. Cosmetics, cleaning supplies find out if the products you are using are indeed vegan products.

4. Apple Newsstand
Apple newsstand and Google newsstand are both online stores where you can purchase digital magazines. There are numerous great vegan publications you can subscribe to here that are not mainstream magazines but are great independent vegan publishers who put out great content. Also keeping in mind the digital magazines mean less paper being used which results in less trees being chopped down.

5. Breeze App
The iPhone has a built in pedometer which counts every step you take. In the new IOS 8 operating system Apple has included a new app called Health Book, which can show you your steps but oddly it’s not a great app. There are a few other much better options. Breeze is a wonderful app, it’s very simple allows you to set a goal and if you exceed it, it congratulates you by dropping confetti on the screen.

6. Argus App
Argus is yet another step counting app. In addition to steps it indicates calories burned and can log heart rate using the Instant Heart Rate app which measures heart rate via your finger by simply holding your finger over the camera lens. It can log your daily weight and has the ability to snap a photo of food you eat. The food photo is kind of strange and I don’t really see a practical use for that. What I really like about Argus is it’s social media aspect. You can discover other people using the app as they share the things they eat and the results they are getting. Beware though this is a health app not a vegan only app, so the foods people are eating may not jive with your lifestyle.

7. Animal Free App
This is a pretty darn cool app. Not sure if an ingredient in a product you want to purchase is animal free, you can search it in the app and Animal Free will tell you exactly where it comes from. One super cool thing is the apps ability to scan a barcode and hopefully tell you if everything in it is animal free. I say hopefully because it did not work for me. Everytime I scanned a product the app locked up on me and I’m using a new iPhone 6 Plus.

I hope these apps help you become and/or maintain a healthy vegan lifestyle. Try them out and let me know your thoughts.

Going Mobile In Our Vegan World

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About Dean Iodice