Imperial Leisure's apps of the moment

In the workplace, our smartphones are a necessary extension of ourselves. With a swipe and a tap, we can arrange our diaries, answer emails and stay on top of notifications.

At Imperial Leisure we don’t just use the cookie cutter workplace apps. We use apps to help us cut lengthy processes down to a breeze, to stay more creative and to help us stay ahead of the curve.

With thousands of apps available to download at the press of a button, we’ve rounded up the top apps that we use day-in-day-out at Imperial Leisure, to help you decide when to tap ‘download'.

1Password

Ask any of the team at Imperial Leisure what their most used app is, and the answer is likely to be 1Password. It’s our go-to password manager, working across devices and accounts to save complicated login info, basically making our morning routines 10x faster. It also allows us to stay secure on the Internet, which is essential when we’re working on different projects. 1Password creates secure passwords without us having to write them down on paper, and it syncs across all our devices. What more could you ask for?

Focal Marked

Any insta-addict knows the key to getting your content out there is using strong and relevant hashtags. However, researching and developing the right hashtags for each post can take a considerable chunk out of your day. There are a ton of hashtag generators out there, but the app we use time and time again is Focal Marked. Super simple to use, input some context such as location and up to two categories, and Focal Marked presents you with a list of up to 30 hashtags that will suit your post. The feature we love the most has to be the easily copied layout that takes away the fiddly process of inputting into Instagram. No more strained thumbs!

Teamwork

Project management is a phrase that can send even the most organised of team leaders into a tailspin. Teamwork eases the pains of project management at Imperial Leisure – giving us more time to do the work we love. Across all our devices, this handy app is how we keep track of projects, tasks and milestones, as well as tracking time, deadlines and even send quick messages to team members via Teamwork Chat. Phew!

Sprout Social

Facebook posts, Twitter DMs, Instagram comments – day-to-day social media management can be overwhelming without a top-notch content management system. Sprout Social is our app of choice when it comes to keeping our social media activity under control. It integrates with all the social media platforms we use, allowing us to post or schedule to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with just a few taps. As well as that, we can discover and engage with audiences. Our favourite feature of Sprout Social is how collaborative it can be. It’s easy to assign tasks, create notes and give feedback – making it the perfect social media management app for streamlining our work across the team.

Pages

Apple’s offering of the traditional word processing app is so much more than that. Creating stylish documents on the go has never rivalled working from a desktop until this nifty little app came into our lives. Using Pages, we can use our smartphones to whip up a professional report, letter, proposal, – you name it! Preinstalled on iOS, Pages is handy for getting work done when inspiration strikes away from the office. Once we get into work, sharing documents between devices is effortless, with full integration with Apple’s iCloud.

Whiteagram

Sometimes, you have a beautiful image to post on Instagram, but it just doesn’t look quite right cropped. Social Media Manager Lili answered our prayers by introducing us to Whiteagram. In its essence, it’s a framing app that edits your images into a customizable frame to fit the ideal insta-dimensions, but it also features so many more editing functions. For photo editing novices, it offers enhancements based on what type of photo you’re working with – such as scenery, food, or portrait. The savvier users like Lili can edit aspects such as lighting, colour, sharpness, text and more.

Keith

Unique to Imperial Leisure, Keith is an instrumental part of our team; and we wouldn’t get much done without him! He lives upstairs in the office and works tirelessly to keep us up to date on what’s happening on social media. No, we’re not talking about a grossly overworked co-worker, Keith is the nickname for our social listening server. As we work in social media, it’s essential to be on top of trending topics, hashtags and links. It’s important to join in the conversation on exciting and relevant trends, which is why Keith is such a crucial part of our working day. He works to pick up every single conversation around pre-set topics and keywords. Keith gives us an always up-to-date list of what’s both trending and popular on an hourly basis – helping us to stay connected and proactive across our social media channels.