Patch's Favorite Northbrook Apps

It’s a cliché and a punchline now, but that doesn’t make it any less true: “There’s an app for that.” 

And iPhone apps no longer cater to just urbanites. Whether it's food, services, maps or guides, mobile apps are increasingly catering to the suburbs. With that in mind, here are some of my recent favorite iPhone apps for Northbrook.

1. Walgreens (free) Even though I’m largely a shopper (it’s closer to my house and I prefer its customer service)— has the best iPhone app. Why? Not only can you renew your prescriptions (something that at least three competing CVS apps allow) but you can upload photos from your phone and have them developed in Walgreens in an hour. Awesome. Also in the app: weekly ads, a shopping list function, store and flu shot locators and the ability to scan the barcode on your prescription bottle to have it refilled. 

2. Yard Sale Mapper (free) I’ve been addicted to this app all summer. Essentially, it aggregates garage and yard sale information from Craigslist, condenses it and adds it to an interactive map that also shows your location. It’s fun and simple to use, although beware: Sometimes the locations and dates can be off. I once went to a house expecting a sale, only to find out that it had been held the weekend before. Another time, it put a Palatine garage sale at an Oak Park address. These instances are relatively few and far between and given the price (again: free), it’s worth it. Using this one app, I found a full set of golf clubs ($15), PlayStation 3 games ($3 each) and Black & Decker toy workbench ($10) for my twins.

3. The free Redbox mobile app for the iPhone essentially lets you cut in line for the movies.

How?

It allows you see what titles are available at the Redbox location(s) near you, and then lets you to reserve the ones you want.  

Now, admittedly, I’m primarily a Netflix customer. I get DVDs in the mail, use the Netflix’s streaming app and play a ton of Disney’s Phineas and Ferb (for my 3-year-old twins) through our PlayStation 3. But when we’re on vacation, Redbox comes in handy. If we’d only had this app earlier this summer during our beach vacation, maybe I could have saved myself from “The Green Hornet” by reserving a copy of “True Grit” (which was rented out completely, two days running, at a local grocery store).

The Redbox app does take a little while to set up with your credit card information and an associated email address, but once you’re green-lit everything else is fast. (Bonus: I got a free movie rental when I signed up.) The browsing and search functions replicate the Redbox shopping experience, complete with movie descriptions, ratings and run times.

4. IL Support (free) This is my “happily married” disclaimer—but I found the Illinois Child Support Calculator fascinating. You would want to consult an attorney if you were ever considering divorce, but before then, this app will scare the hell out of you. It helps calculate child support through factors such as number of children, wages, health insurance and who is the custodial parent. It’s very broad and Family Law Software, Inc. has multiple apps for different states, but as a free app, it’s legal rubbernecking at it’s finest. Think of it as CSI: Divorce, in app form.

What’s your favorite app? Tell us on our Facebook page and maybe we’ll feature it in a future article. Patch also has its own iPhone app, which will connect you to local news, weather, events and business listings in your town.