Redditors Share the Most Useful Apps They Can’t Believe Are Still Free in Informative Thread

Author image for Mel Dawn
Mel Dawn
Oct 21, 2023 3:00 PM EDT

The first time I ever used Shazam, the application that identifies music with the click of a button, it felt like magic. To this day, it's probably my favorite app. Wherever I go, if I hear a new song that I'm vibing to or one from my past that I totally forgot the name of, I'll shamelessly hold my phone in the air and let Shazam do its thing. It's amazing that the service is still free for users. Of course, Shazam makes its revenue from ads and commissions from referrals to music and streaming platforms. But for the user, it feels like a gift. 

There are lots of amazing apps and software that feel like they shouldn't be free, and a bunch of redditors recently got together to discuss some of their favorites.

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  • 01
    Font - r/AskReddit u/sheldongriffiths • 5d ● What app is so useful you can't believe it's free? 4 ↓ 12.8k 4812 ↑ Share
    via u/
  • 02
    Font - LibrarianExciting244 . 5d Copy Me That. Get the recipe. Cut the long winded blog post about the leaves changing color and how the author's nana had a one eyed cat named Buster.... Reply 43k ...
    via u/LibrarianExciting244
  • 03
    Font - Klosterhaus. 5d Merlin Bird ID - Its basically Shazam for birds. I'm becoming a bird nerd as I get older and this app has only enabled my transition. 47.5k ↓ Reply
    via u/Klosterhaus
  • 04
    Rectangle - R2D2coffee • 5d Libby for library ebooks and audiobooks Reply ... ↑ ↓ 9k
    via u/R2D2coffee

    "Important to remember that this is free because of your library service. Shout out to libraries for being f-cking awesome!" —u/the-zero-st

  • 05
    Handwriting - Roach2791.5d Tunity. If you're at a loud bar/party and want to watch the game/movie/show it just scans the TV and gives you audio for your earbuds ... Reply 10.7k
    via u/Roach2791.5d

    "This sounds too good to be real damn" —u/DimlyWhispered

  • 06
    Font - Various_Frosting4888 . 5d shazam. Impressive accuracy and speed for a real problem Reply 9.3k
    via u/Various_Frosting4888

    "Shazam is what convinced my boomer father to get a smartphone. He had always had a cellphone from way back when they first came out but insisted smartphones were pointless. We were having breakfast in a hotel and some song from his youth started playing and he was wracking his brain trying to remember what it was called. I pulled out my iphone and Shazam told us the artist and song title in a few seconds. He upgraded to a smartphone the next day." —u/GisingGising

  • 07
    Font - feartheOcean . 5d VLC media player - Plays anything you throw at it. Download VLC Remote for your phone and your computer now works like a Firestick. You're welcome. JustWatch - Wanna watch that movie but don't want to cycle through the gajillion streaming services to see where it's showing for free? Use this app to tell you where to see it and what it will cost you (in your country's choice of apps and currency). Reply 45.8k ...
    via u/feartheOcean

    "The VLC creator is a French guy and a redditor (forgot his pseudo or I'd ping him, he is very active here and I think he did an AMA recently). He explained that he always was a big opensource advocate, and he's been denying dozens of millions of euros/dollars, again and again and again over the last 20 years, from companies who either wanted to buy VLC or to put adds on it. True god." —u/axilane

  • 08
    Rectangle - Abyssal Redemption . 5d Not really an app per se, but uBlock origin. For all the work the developers put into it, it's a godsend on the web. 44.9k ... Reply
    via u/AbyssalRedemption
  • 09
    Font - chinchenping 5d googlemap. I have no sense of direction whatsoever, literally changed my life Reply 46.2k ↓ ...
    via u/chinchenping

    "Offline Google Maps is, like, a cool human achievement." —u/NutellaGood

  • 10
    Font - surfkaboom • 5d Medisafe. I take medication everyday and this has reminders for what/when. Also, timestamps when you take it so it gives doctors a good record if you ever need it. I've been using it for years and they just recently added a feature to adjust dosage based on time zone changes when travelling. It really does help to keep me alive. Reply 4 1.2k ↓ ...
    via u/surfkaboom
  • 11
    Font - Syed Muhammad Mustafa • 5d I used to love the app called "stumble upon" but then it stopped working for some reason. Reply ... 2.3k
    via u/SyedMuhammadMustafa
  • 12
    Font - legion87845d DaVinci Resolve. Professional grade video editor and it's free! Better than anything Adobe has put out. Reply 1.6k ...
    via u/legion8784
  • 13
    Font - Electric Milk. 5d Blender. Extremely powerful 3d modeling and animation software that is comparable to the software the industry uses. Completely free, no ad's. ... Reply 42k ↓
    via u/Electric__Milk
  • 14
    Font - Network-Ninja7 . 5d Wikipedia. It's actually free in all senses of the word. If you want to nitpick that it's a website and not a software, well it's a software too. You can download the wikimedia software, set it up with no hassle, download all of wikipedia and set it up in your instance of wikimedia. So now you have your very own wikipedia. With blackjack and hookers if you want. Reply 3.5k
    via u/Network-Ninja7
  • 15
    Font - MissHibernia . 5d Google Translate Reply 41.9k
    via u/MissHibernia
  • 16
    Font - Faamee • 5d Gonna save this thread and never look at it again Reply 11.6k
    via u/Faamee

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informative app recommendations technology interesting apps askreddit software free apps best apps reddit thread Reddit
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