For a lot of people, a ‘house party’ is getting together with a few buddies, ordering some food, putting the music on loud and waking up with a hangover the next morning. While I can’t help you get rid of that hangover, I can suggest a few apps that could help you plan a great party next time.
Hello Vino
We all have that one friend who’s a wine snob. At the next party, if you want to shut them up or show off instead, Hello Vino can come to your aid. The app basically provides you with all the knowledge of a sommelier; it helps you figure out what wine to pair with which food, what to gift a friend, you can even sneak a peek at the cheat sheet and join in a conversation with hardcore vinos. There’s a great wine search engine, a pretty comprehensive wine database and guide, and even a wine label scanner. That last one, however, has a few issues, so be careful.
Drinking Buddy
The app, by its own description, “allows you to monitor and track your drinking habits”. And unlike your girl/boy friend, it does not nag you into it either. Drinking Buddy compares your habits with the rest of your friends, shows you graphs of your alcohol levels and lets you check your Blood Alcohol Content (BAC). Additional features include drinking facts, etiquette tips and world stats. The best feature, however, is that the app sets your phone to call a friend or a cab when your BAC is above a certain limit. Also, when you purchase the app, a part of each sale goes towards non-profits that fight drunk driving and alcoholism.
Simple Soiree
Alright, enough with the alcohol. Let’s get down to brass tacks – planning the actual shindig. Simple Soiree has been designed by a professional party planner, so rest assured, you are in good hands. The app helps you organise all your to-do lists – shopping, menu planning, entertainment options, décor ideas, last-minute errands, et al. The best part? You can create invitations, send them and track the RSVPs from within the app.
Pepperplate
If you love cooking for big groups of people (you need help, buddy, or a teaching position at the local Mary Poppins School), this app is a pretty decent assistant just before you throw that big party. You can plan the menu, tweak and customise it, manage recipes and import them from your favourite sites, follow up on shopping lists, and even set cooking timers so you can easily organise the actual cooking. So where’s my invite? Kidding. Not.
Party Mixer
Too broke to afford a DJ? Join the club. And download this app. Party Mixer lets you play a couple of tracks simultaneously, cross-fade between them, change their pitch, tempo and seamlessly mix them. You can create a playlist, edit it, or use the AutoDJ mode to let the app automatically mix the songs for you. However, there is a bit of an issue with the app sometimes turning itself off automatically. Worry not, the app-makers are working to fix it. Meanwhile they suggest you “go to Menu -> Settings and check ‘Use old playback implementation’. Then, stop all playback and back out of the app completely and relaunch it. Note that this will disable pitch control.” Party on, y’all.
