http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/25/technology/personaltech/apps-to-ring-in-the-new-year-and-for-the-resolutions-after.html 2014-12-24 21:47:41 Apps to Ring In the New Year, and for the Resolutions After Apps offer ways to track the arrival of the new year, as well as methods for making and sticking to new year’s resolutions. === IT can’t be New Year’s Eve without a fair selection of apps to get you to 2015. But first: the party. The celebration in Times Square is one of the most famous in the world, and, of course, there’s an official app. The Times Square Official Ball App connects you to a social media feed about the party, plus a live stream for the ceremony in which the ball drops at midnight. The app has a countdown timer built in that allows you to know when the new year hits New York City. There’s not much more to this well-designed app, but it’s free for For a more global take, there is the New Year Countdown app by New Year’s resolutions are notoriously hard to keep, but there are apps to help you build and stick to a habit. My favorite of these is Lift, which promises to help you “Get fit. Get thin. Get rich. Get promoted. Get happy.” The app is part motivator and part prompt. The motivation comes from the community of Lift users and some coaches. You can chat with any of these people, for advice or cheerleading. The app can also prompt you regularly with reminders. It’s elegantly designed and so easy to use that you won’t waste energy trying to figure it out. It’s free for Getting fit is one of the most common New Year’s resolutions, and there are many great apps like RunKeeper (free on But my favorite app for keeping fit and dropping a little excess weight is Breeze. Breeze simply keeps track of your step count every day, and it prompts you when your pace is falling behind around 10,000 steps — a daily goal that is often said to help you keep healthy. The app also displays positive feedback notifications like “You’ve almost achieved your goal for today, keep up the good work!” I find that this gentle nudging helps, though I can imagine that some users may find the repeated notifications annoying. Breeze is free on If you’ve ever wanted to keep a journal, the new year is a fine time to start, and apps like Day One and Diaro can make your paper diary a thing of the past. Day One is a great journal The app lets you include photos and text in each entry, and you can set it up to remind you to add a daily entry. There’s a lot to like about this app, and perhaps its only flaw is that it could be a bit more customizable. It costs $1. On Finally, check out the New Year Fireworks live wallpaper app, Quick Call The anonymous-messaging app Secret has had a major overhaul. It has a much sleeker look and a host of new features, including private messaging so you can anonymously discuss a publicly shared post with its author. There’s also a new groups feature, so you can, for example, only share posts with your work colleagues. The app is free for