Woman on tablet

Apps for Your #AutLife

Like anyone else’s day-to-day life, autistic life has its challenges. A good deal of ours relate to social communication, sensory processing, and executive functioning. And luckily, those are exactly the sorts of things with which tech can provide great support. Autistics did, after all, invent a ton of it, right? Peruse these and see which you can press into service of a better every day.

A while back I took to #AutisticTwitter to crowdsource this list of apps used by real-life people in their real lives. Since then, our community members’ top picks have been added. Each recommendation is someone’s favourite.

This list is refreshed periodically. Hopefully there’s something here for you*.

Time & Task Management Apps

Hello Executive Function! How are you?! When you struggle with keeping track of time or completing tasks, apps can be enormously helpful in making the most of your day.

Amazing Marvin

“Marvin incorporates principles from behavioral psychology to help you beat procrastination, feel in control and finish your to-do list.”

The desktop app is ridiculously customizable so you can make it work with the way your brain works, not the other way around. Give the adorable Marvin a try and take your time with it. You’ll be happy you did.

Try It Free

Tiimo

Tiimo is a paid subscription app that helps you organize your life, stick to your routines, and work towards your personal goals in a original, visual way.

Subscribe on the App Store Subscribe on Google Play

ClickUp

ClickUp is a wildly customizable freemium project management app. With calendar views, Kanban boards, a workload tracker, and more, the feature-rich free version is ample for managing most everyday lives.

Get even more features plus 30% off the Unlimited Plan or 15% off the Business Plan when you upgrade using this link!

Try It Free

Google Calendar

This popular tool is a robust calendar that integrates with your other Google services. Schedule what you want to do and get reminders when it’s time to get to it.

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play

KanbanFlow

Kanban is a Japanese system for tracking all the things you’d like to do and what needs to be worked on in a day. This simple app allows you to stay on task with color-coded “cards” combined with limits you set. Want to know how I use Kanban? Ask me on Twitter!

Free
Todoist logo: a red rounded square with three downward pointing chevrons in the style of a military badge

Todoist

A freemium natural-language, rewards-based tool that can handle as many different types of tasks and projects as you can throw at it. Accounting tasks, travel packing lists, client management, and more

Download at Todoist

The Skylight Calendar

Keep the whole family organized and informed with The Skylight Calendar WiFi-connected digital display. It showcases your family’s schedule and syncs with its free mobile app to help the whole family easily plan and manage events.”

Shop At Skylight
The Skylight word mark: a serif font in blue on a plain white bkgd

Sweepy

Gamify cleaning your home. Create chore lists, track progress, get notifications of what’s up next, share tasks, and more. 

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play

Motivation & FOCUS Apps

Level Up Life

Level Up Life allows you to gamify your personal goals. Track your daily achievements and gain motivation while progressing in an RPG-style online platform.

Free on Google Play

Habitica

A habit-building adventure. “Habitica is a video game to help you improve real life habits. It “gamifies” your life by turning all your tasks (Habits, Dailies, and To Do’s) into little monsters you have to conquer. The better you are at this, the more you progress in the game.

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play
Habitica logo: a griffin with a pixelated tail

Forest

“Forest is an app that helps you stay focused on the important things in life. Whenever you want to stay focused, plant a tree. Your tree will grow while you focus on your work. Leaving the app halfway will cause your tree to die. Stay focused daily and turn hard work into a land of lush forest.”

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play

Grocery & Meal-Delivery Apps

For days when you just can’t feed yourself well or to ensure you always have nutritious meals and snacks on hand (and if you have the means), try these apps.

Out of Milk

A little time spent adding your pantry and regularly purchased items pays off with this popular sharable, sync-able shopping list app.

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play

Instacart

Get access to everything your local grocery has in-store. Instacart’s local shoppers personally pick your order then bring it straight to you. Available in the U.S. and Canada.

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play

Amazon Fresh

Grocery delivery with Amazon Fresh and Amazon Prime Now. Large urban centres currently enjoy free 2-hour delivery from Whole Foods Market and local restaurants. App available on Amazon.com

Free on Amazon

Hello Fresh

Meal kit delivery service. “HelloFresh delivers weekly meal kits with delicious ingredients and recipes directly to your door.”

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play

GrubHub

One of many (many!) delivery apps that access most local restaurants in an area. Cooking for yourself is most healthy and economical but sometimes getting a meal on the table is what’s needed.

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play

2nd Brain Apps

Because no one can keep all the plates spinning in the air at all times, make tech come to your rescue. These apps allow you to offload some your cognitive processing bandwidth hogs, be executive function support, and more.. What’s not to love?

Goblin Tools logo which is an illustrated adorable creature's face, with fangs.

Goblin Tools

“goblin.tools is a collection of small, simple, single-task tools, mostly designed to help neurodivergent people with tasks they find overwhelming or difficult.”

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play

ChatGPT

“Free to use. Easy to try. Just ask and ChatGPT can help with writing, learning, brainstorming, and more. With ChatGPT, you can type or start a real-time voice conversation by tapping the soundwave icon in the mobile app.”

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play
ChatGPT logo which is a series of interlocking links in a Celtic knot style

Google Keep

Allows you to do more than jot notes. You can set location- and time-based alerts that help you follow through, dictate reminders, snap photos, share lists, and more!

Free on Google Play Free on the App Store

Evernote

The granddaddy of note-taking apps. Dictate notes, doodle, and share it all.

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play

Medisafe

Set personalized reminders for each of your medications and get drug interaction warnings (US feature).

Free on Google Play Free on the App Store

Communication Apps

Zoom wordtype

Zoom Workplace

Video meetings with built-in live AI captioning and transcription. Free limited use as well as paid subscriptions. 

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play

Ava.me

“Captions for All.” Great for captioning phone calls for greater comprehension and executive function support. Free limited use plus paid subscriptions.

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play
Ava logo (and ampersand in a circle)
Otter logo (a circle and abstract lines representing T-T-E-R)

Otter.ai

“Use Otter to record and automatically transcribe both in-person and virtual meetings, from your favorite device and applications.”

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play

Make It Big

A super simple app that makes the text you type HUGE and easy for someone else to read when you show them your phone.

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play
White text on black background says "big"

Flip Writer AAC

“Every word you type will be shown in the flipped display. Offers high-quality text-to-speech” in four different voices. Perfect for conversations IRL.

Buy on the App Store

Proloquo2Go

Proloquo2Go is a free symbols-based app Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) app for iOS. Perfect for non-speaking people, those situation mutism moments, and when you need a communication break. AssistiveWare also offers Proloquo and Proloquo Coach as paid upgrades.

Free on the App Store
Proloquo2Go app logo: an illustrated owl raising one wing, beak open, as if making a point.

WhatsApp

Standard messaging apps like WhatsApp allow you to communicate by text when other methods are not available. In a pinch, you can type and show your device to the person in front of you. Not super clever but effective when you need it.

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play

Apps For Getting Around

Commuting and travelling can take all our mental resources, leaving little for when we arrive. Sure there are great map apps out there but apps like these take things up a very useful notch.

Transit

Your public-transit companion currently available in ten countries. Clear visuals not only allow you plan your trip but you can monitor upcoming arrivals and count down to when you need to exit your bus or subway car.

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play

Waze

We like to know what’s up ahead of time. “Always know what’s happening on the road with Waze. Even if you know the way, Waze tells you instantly about traffic, construction, police, crashes, & more. If traffic is bad on your route, Waze will change it to save you time.”

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play

Health & Well-being Apps

Because when it comes to feeling good, strong, and balanced, who doesn’t need all the help we can get?

Daylio

A mood tracker and personal diary because neuroscience has proven that getting your thoughts out of your mental churning can be incredibly beneficial for every person at a every age. Track the highs and lows of every day so you can spot patterns that affect your moods. Brilliant!

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play

Youper

An AI assistant that helps you monitor and take control of your emotional health. We love robots and robots love us.

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play

Finch

“Finch is a self care pet app that helps you feel prepared and positive, one day at a time. Take care of your pet by taking care of yourself! Choose from a wide variety of self care exercises personalized for you.”

A cute, gamified way to build your self-care routine.

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play

Gentler Streak

A better fitness app that adjusts to your actual capacity and feedback. “Gentler Streak stimulates a self-compassionate approach to exercise, where recovery is as important as intensity. Find your balance and fully embrace active life done your way.”

Free on the App Store
The Gentler Streak logo: A simple graphic interpretation of a heart

Clue

“Accurately predicts your period, helps you understand your symptoms, and can be used as a reliable ovulation app, menstrual calendar, fertility tracker, birth control pill reminder, and menstrual cycle tracker complete with your period history.”

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play

Tampon Timer

“A simple alarm. To set up a reminder (tampon, pad, menstrual cup, pill), tap on the product you’d like a reminder for and select a time.”

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play

Gratitude

A simple interface that lets you quickly jot note what you’re grateful for. Daily zen feature drops positivity into your day if you choose.

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play

Guava

A personal health tracker that offers insights into correlations based on your inputs. A chronic-illness management recommend. “Monitor your symptoms, medications, and lifestyle easily, making your day-to-day health management a breeze.”

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play
The Guava logo: a simple graphic stylized guava fruit depicted as a white circle with a detached white leaf at a jaunty angle all on a plain green background
The Amazon OneMedical Logo: Text on a plain white background with the Amazon smile below

OneMedical

“Book same/next-day appointments at offices near you, plus get 24/7 on-demand virtual care” through Amazon’s OneMedical service. They bill insurance, promise low wait times for appointments, have labs on-site and refer to local specialists as needed. 

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play

Sesame

Essentially a direct-pay Uber for medical care. “The Sesame Marketplace makes half-priced, high-quality health care accessible to hundreds of millions of Americans: No surprise fees or bills. No waiting to see a doctor. And no insurance needed.”

 

Free on the App Store
Sesame logo: Purple sans-serif font on a plain white background. The 'E' contains a sesame seed shape.
Solace Health logo word mark

Solace

“Find a care advocate who will help you unlock better healthcare by phone or video—no matter what you need. [Solace advocates] can’t replace your doctor, but they can break down the barriers standing between you and the quality healthcare you deserve.” Service costs covered by Medicare and some US insurance plans.

Go To Solace.health

MEDITATION & Sleep Apps

Whether learning to meditate for the first time or practicing our 10,000th hour, the Internet has the app for you.

Headspace

Learn how to calm the mind, train your focus, understand your anger and more with this app. A range of sleep stories and soundtracks are available by subscription.

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play

Calm

Daily meditations, music, video sessions and more to help you connect body to mind and improve your wellbeing overall.

Free on the App Store Free on Google Play

AI VOICE AsSistants

Tools like Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, Google’s Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude, and others can be hugely supportive when integrated into our daily lives. Each tool has its strengths, drawbacks, and even proprietary ecosystems so a thoughtful deep dive is warranted. I’m including them here for your consideration as notetakers, transcribers, list makers, audiobook readers, executive function support, and more.


There are LOADS more out there in the wild. If you have a tremendously useful app that could change a life for the better, share it here in the comments or tag me on socials @WeAreAutastic!

Notes:
*Recommended apps are U.S.-based. Look for similar apps for your area

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