Apps that make sense and save cents

WIFI FOR FREE

Free wifi does exactly what it say on the tin. It uses GPS to locate and display various wifi hotspots near where you are. It has more than 10,000 locations all over the world contained in its database.

Pricewatch was in Strasbourg last week and we found 14 wifi hotspots within half a kilometre of where we were, which helped us avoid some of the roaming charges that could otherwise have been imposed.

CALLS FOR FREE

Viber allows you to make all the calls you want to fellow Viber users at absolutely no cost, once you are in a wifi zone. This app and others – including the better-known Skype – allow smartphone users to bypass the mobile-phone providers.

While you can also use Viber using the 3G network that will eat into your data entitlements and could end up costing you money. In addition to Skype and Viber, you could also download Voxer, which allows you to make free calls to anywhere in the world.

LOW CALL KNOWLEDGE

We love Forget 1850. A lot of companies use 1850 and other such numbers. While these allow you to call them from anywhere in the country at local rates from a land line, they can cost a lot when dialled from a mobile, with some providers charging as much as 35 cent a minute.

And unlike landline numbers, which are routinely included in the bundled “free” minutes offered by the mobile-phone and landline operators, calls to 1890, 1850 and 0818 numbers are excluded from such deals.

This directory points people in the direction of alternatives to such numbers and can lead to big savings.

AN END TO BILL SHOCK

Smart phones are quite brilliant but they can end up costing you a whole lot more than you bargained for because they allow you to download vast amounts of data – particularly if you are using audio- or video-streaming services.

Once you’ve exceeded your allowance the charges can mount up ridiculously quickly. Onavo stops that happening by keeping track of how much data you download in real time – so you know if and when you are approaching your limit. It can also assess how much data your existing apps are using and how much you are using them, and then kill the ones that are unnecessarily eating into your allowance.

NET EFFECT

The TV and film streaming service Netflix is not without its critics but when it comes to low-cost entertainment on the move, it is pretty good.

You can also get the Sky Sports app for €4.99 a month, which is a steal compared to the price of the telly subscription, which is more than €30 a month.