There are so many apps out there that promise usefulness beyond your wildest dreams, but rarely deliver anything even close, that I’ve become a bit of a cynic when I visit the app store. These three listed below are my pick of recent downloads that I can’t do without, so worth sharing and, more importantly, worth supporting.

1. SPLIT-IT! – The cab share concept comes to Singapore

I sat next to Split-it! creator Winnie Tang at a dinner party on Saturday. She was lovely, had just given up her job as a commodities trader at one of the global banks and bravely ventured out on her own to create the only cab share app there is on this island.

Not only great for the environment – I will at least feel like I am doing something to counter the prolific proffering of plastic bags – I am also selfishly hoping it will mean there are more taxis available when it rains (please let that be the case – it’s damn near impossible at the moment). The app is due to officially launch at the end of November but is up and running and available to download now. The amount of participating taxis will obviously be much greater once it has launched, so bear that in mind.

Bad points: Start-up app, cld have teething problems

Cost: free

2. CLOTH – Access your wardrobe from your phone

I love this app (which is actually called ‘Cloth.’ – omit the dot at your peril and all host of clothing apps will pop up when you search for it in the app store). Perfect for lazy people, or busy people too for that matter, it categorises your clothes so that you can see – at a glance – what to fling on for events/evenings/meetings/work/holidays etc.  You can even record which earrings or shoes to wear with what dress and what bag – I can never think about such minutiae when I’m in a hurry. Obviously it only works on the basis of you uploading pictures of the various items, but all you need to do is snap of yourself wearing the dress/bag/shoes and then tag it under the relevant category, be it Everyday, Evening or whatever.

Bad points: It doesn’t work across all your devices.  Categories are fixed and can’t be edited.

Cost: free

3. PRINTIC – Convert photos on your iPhone to prints and get them delivered to anyone, anywhere in the world

Last but not least is Printic which I was very honored to be the first person in Asia to try. It officially launched here on 31st November and is going great guns. The brainchild of a French developer, they have been in Europe for a while and their concept is brilliant, especially for people living away from home.  Just choose some pictures from your phone or from instagram or Facebook, they’ll be printed as individual polaroids and sent to whoever you want. Great for Grandparents, you also get the chance to personalise each picture with a message (or not).

They’ve been careful to only partner with decent labs (all prints are edited using traditional wet labs and personally checked before dispatch). I HATE bad quality prints and was very impressed with my test batch which turned up the other day in their iconic orange envelope:

Pricing: The cost per photo is US$0.99. There are no shipping costs and no hidden costs. The minimum order is 3 prints per recipient.

Bad points: Must order three prints. At the time I used the app, you couldn’t block send the same pictures to all recipients which was a bit annoying. Otherwise great.

Cost: free