This post, 5+ Apps for Connecting and Locating Family & Friends at Comic Con, is shared as part of a #Save4Summer shop that has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and Walmart Family Mobile. #CollectiveBias
This year is a big San Diego Comic-Con milestone for our family. This will be the first year that we won’t have one of our kids attending with a free child pass. Cue the drum roll – our youngest has finally graduated to the “junior pass”!
This is a big deal. We liked not having to pay for him while it lasted (child passes are free), but having a junior pass has almost instantly made it him feel more older and more mature. No more “CHILD BADGE” around his neck AND his badge will have his name. It might seem like such a little thing, but he’s excited.
With his junior badge comes some added independence. Over the past year, he has developed an interest in anime. He’s has spent some time going through old Comic-Con schedules and was excited about all of the anime panels that might happen at Comic-Con this year. Since he’s the only one interested in the anime sessions, he’ll be attending some of them by himself.
The only problem: he needed a phone so we could keep in touch with him. Right now, he shares a cell phone with one of our other kids. But since they would both be in different places at Comic-Con, we are short 1 phone.
Adding a new line to our current cell phone contract is an option, but an expensive one. We’ve been with the same cell phone company since 2006, we have an old plan with a great rate AND we have unlimited data plans for our iPhones. But, we have no more available lines to add and if we did add a line, it would require getting rid of our plan, increasing our rate substantially, plus getting rid of the unlimited data. This would cut into our budget quite a bit.
After much thought, we figured out our solution: Walmart Family Mobile.
What we liked it was only $29.88 a month for the first line, and that would give our son unlimited talk, text, and date service, which includes up to 1G of 4G LTE data. Not bad at all.
Besides the price, we also really like that there is no contract. He can use the phone at Comic-Con, and then we can cancel the service is we don’t feel we need it after Comic-Con. Also, if our son uses all of the 1G of data, he will still have data use, but speeds are slowed. This means no extra charges on our bill, which will keep our summer budget in check.
Disclaimer: All prices for phones and plans included in this post are accurate as of the date of posting; however, these prices are subject to change. Please refer to http://cbi.as/ax84
The phone we chose for our son was the ZTE ZMAX. We didn’t know much about it other than a few reviews online, but it’s turned out to be a great choice. Our son especially like that it has a large 5.7″ HD touchscreen.
He says it’s perfect watching videos and playing games.
Now that everyone in our family has a phone that will allow all of us to keep connected at Comic Con, I’ve searched for apps that can make keeping in touch easier. At any given time at Comic-Con, our family will be split up into 4-6 groups and we want easy ways to find each other and reconnect when we are done with a panel or even to share the photos and things we’re seeing when separated.
When considering each app, one important criteria I had was that it must be available on both iPhone and Android (since that’s the two types of phones we have in our house). I’ve also only listed apps that are free or low in price so that we can all continue to save for summer!
5+ Apps for Connecting and Locating Family & Friends at Comic Con
Glympse: This is a real time location-sharing app. The nice thing about Glympse is that no sign up is required, you only need someone’s phone number or email to share your location or to request their location. You can also sent an expiration for sharing. Available for free on Android and iPhone/iPad.
Voxer: This app allows you to talk to family & friends through voice messages, but the coolest part is the walkie-talkie mode. You can also send voice messages, text, and photos to 1 person or a group of people. Available on Android and iPhone/iPad.
Path: This app feels like a kinder, more gentle social media. They say they are “designed with the people you love, your closest friends and family, in mind”. It’s ad-free and it will allow you to share messages, photos, check-ins and much more all in one place. You can share with all your friends on Path or just your “inner circle”. Available on Android and iPhone/iPad.
Carousel by Dropbox: No doubt you’ll be taking lots of photos at Comic Con. The Carousel by Dropbox app will allow you to automatically (or manually) backup your photos, even freeing up space on your device. The part we like best is creating shared album just for your Comic Con trip which allows you to share it with certain people who can then comment on the album, like photos, and contribute their own shots. Available for Android and iPhone/iPad.
Periscope: This app is fun for recording and sharing something that is happening in real time. It’s great if you are in one place, while a friend/family member is in another place, and you spot a something cool that you want to share. While many users use Periscope make their broadcasts public, you can broadcast privately to just your family or friends by pressing the lock icon before going live and choosing who you want to invite. Available for Android and iPhone/iPad.
Waze: This is a navigation app designed more for drivers, but it’s fun style makes it a great choice for locating friends and family at Comic Con who are walking around. We like that it’s easy to tap and send your ETA to others. If you are driving to Comic Con, it will also help you to navigating the roads and freeways. Available for free for Android and iPhone/iPad.
Life360: Another location-sharing app. I found Life360 to be quite popular among parents, but there is no reason it can’t be used among groups of friends too. There is premium addons for this app, but there is a free level. Available on Android and iPhone/iPad.
CapsuleCam: This is another photo sharing app which will allow you and your family/friends to upload photos from Comic Con to a privately shared group photo album. While the app was primarily designed for weddings, it’s a good choice for events like Comic Con or vacations. Available for Android and iPhone/iPad.
[…] you remember our cell phone story from last summer, then you know that we’re one those unusual families that actually has two different mobile […]