Service apps 2015: Seven of the best

Some apps you download, twiddle with a bit, and delete a minute later. Other apps, you download, use, and swiftly claim as the most useful pieces of technology you’ve ever encountered, unable to comprehend that inefficient tool (manual labour) which used to organise your days. In 2015, brace yourself for apps ranging from versatile laundry delivery to actually secure mobile payment.

LAUNDRAPP

Tired of the walk to the laundrette, or the flatmate with an infinite tower of filthy clothes? The geniuses behind this new laundry app will pick up your suits, shirts, skirts, jackets, trousers, kilts, ties and other garments, clean them at a professional facility, and get them back to you within 48 hours. The best part: they sort everything for you. Our order included as many sorts as could be mustered from the depths of laundry which constitute a student flat (without breaking the bank); not an eyelash batted. Your front door is now your washer door. There’s a range of special offers for large orders, outfits, or bed sets and Laundrapp is now available in Edinburgh, Birmingham, and London.

• Download Laundrapp for free on the App Store, Google Play or Amazon.

 Uber

Taxis are convenient, but why not take a Mercedes? This popular app galvanises a local fleet of commercially licensed drivers with cars ranging from smaller (UberX) to larger (UberXL) to Mercedes E-Class types (UberExec) to get you where you’re going however you please. Just be sure to check out your driver’s rating before hopping in. Look for Uber in Scotland sometime in 2015.

• Free download on the App Store, Google Play, and Windows Phone Store.

 LiftShare

Enter where you are, enter where you need to be, and this new ridesharing app will give you a list of people driving that way, as well as their fees. On the flipside, advertise your own services if you’re heading somewhere in the UK but need help footing the bill. Terrified of awkward silences? The app’s messaging system lets ride partners have a chat before the trip. Stranger danger? Check out the app’s reviews system for a quick background check. LiftShare is easy-to-use and boasts 50,000 connections every day.

• Free download on the App Store and Google Play.

 HungryHouse

This food delivery service boasts new updates in 2015, with a smoother interface but the same convenience: pop in your postcode, get a list of nearby takeaways, and wait while a delectable pizza or morsel of your choosing makes its way to your flat. Your front door has also become your oven door. Available in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Manchester, Liverpool, London and throughout the UK.

• Free download on the App Store and Google Play.

 British St. Food

For those of you who thought you’d walk away from this article with plans to never actually go outside again, don’t forget those lovely street vendors along with their crêpes and kebab. This food listings app finds street vendors nearby, and tells you if they’re trading at the moment. If they are, start walking! Updated before the New Year, British St. Food makes vendors across the UK as accessible as their more permanent counterparts.

• Free download on the App Store and Google play.

 GETTAXI

This international taxi app channels licensed cabbies into a single mobile platform to get you where you need to go, whether you’re in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, or London. Unlike the old taxi apps, GetTaxi’s got a slick interface, features you actually want (spaceship taxis), vehicle choice, and a points system wherein more rides equals better drivers. No more fumbling apps stuck on iOS6, just hit a button, and get picked up!

• Free download on the App Store, Google Play, and Blackberry App World.

 ZAPP

A mobile payment app which won’t require you to pass companies highly sensitive information?! Indeed. This app coming to the UK in the first half of 2015 will take advantage of your own bank’s mobile app to get what it needs for you to pay the grocery checkout or the water bill. This may not just be another fad, as you can expect Sainsbury’s, ASDA, and House of Fraser to accept Zapp later this year.