An App for Everything. {And a $100 Giveaway!}

Rachel Callahan

Updated on Categories Giveaways and Contests 225 Comments

The AppLife.

It’s addictive, it’s easy, and it’s how I live.

When Noah was a baby, I used an app to track breastfeeding, sleep, and diaper changes (which was a great improvement over my strategy with the first baby, The Creeptastic Notebook.) I have an app to track my womanly cycles (my husband has been known to ask me to check it to see if it had an explanation for my current mood.) I have an app that gives me a laundry list of every inappropriate word or scene in any movie so that I can decide if my kids (or myself) should watch it (the word list is also pretty entertaining, such as “6 scatalogical terms, 1 with the use of ‘bag’ and 1 with the use of ‘storm’.”) I even have an app to turn off my bathroom electrical outlet, in case I get fifteen minutes away from home and freak out because I might have left my curling iron on (which I never actually do. But just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean you won’t one day burn the house down with a hair implement.)

But now, oh, now. My life is complete.

Perfect Pop

That’s right. I have an app to ensure that I never have excess popcorn waste again. Minimized unpopped kernels, Maximized popped perfection.

Perfect Pop, by Pop Secret, is a free app that listens with an expertly trained ear to tell you exactly when to turn off your microwave. (If I were as smart as Sheldon and Leonard, I would find a way to hook that app with my outlet-switching-off app and get the popcorn app to tell the outlet app to shut off at the exact right second so that my microwave would die in obedience. But then I’d have to reset my microwave clock every time I popped a bag of popcorn, and that seems like it might overwrite the convenience of not having to turn the microwave off myself.)

So. You turn the app on when you start the microwave, and the cute little kernel goes through a bunch of cartoony changes as it listens carefully for pop-progress.

IMG_1989
(You need to have the phone’s bottom speakers as close to the microwave as possible, so I took advantage of my superior Game Show Vixen hand flourish.) At the exact right second of perfect poppage, the app congratulates you and instructs you to turn off the microwave.

And the results are delicious. No burnt pieces, and hardly any waste.

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I poured out my entire bag and sifted through to quantify that the app did, in fact, reduce the number of unpopped kernels. Here’s what I found:

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Only eighteen kernels.

That just has to be below the national unpopped average. I hereby challenge you to pop a bag of popcorn with less than eighteen unpopped kernels. Download “Perfect Pop” on the App Store* by searching for “Perfect Pop.”

In celebration of their groundbreaking new app, the kind people at Pop Secret (you can follow them on Twitter here) have offered to give one of you a $100 Visa Gift Card!

For a chance to win, leave a comment and tell us: Before Pop Secret made it easy, what was your popcorn strategy?

 

Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the 
following unique term in your tweet message: “”#SweepstakesEntry””; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post”
c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 6/3 – 6/30.
Be sure to visit the Pop Secret brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

 

*Apple, the Apple logo, and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc. Apple is not affiliated and does not endorse, sponsor or support this third party app and sweepstakes.

 

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225 thoughts on “An App for Everything. {And a $100 Giveaway!}”

  2. I’ve always timed my popcorn the old fashioned way by waiting until there were 3 seconds between each pop.

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  3. My strategy has always been to just listen and wait on the popping to slow down. However, my kids can tell you, my strategy isn’t working out so well. I burn popcorn way more often that I should! I’ll have to get this app. The boys will love it!

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  4. Oooh, how does the app for the bathroom work? Is there a WIFI outlet that it connects to? I’m soooo OCD, and that would be so handy!

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    1. It’s called a Belkin WeMo: http://amzn.to/11mlAA1 – you just put your wi-fi code into the app on your phone, and then you can control the outlet from the phone.

      It’s pretty fantastic. You can have as many as you want in the house and name them all differently on your phone so that you can turn them on and off individually.

      Now I want the iPhone enabled garage door: then my life would be complete.

      Reply

  8. Stop at the minimum time listed on the directions and hope for the best…. Not a great strategy, but preferable to burnt popcorn!

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  13. I listen for the pops too. I used to just use the popcorn button on the microwave but I would end up with so many unpopped kernels that I had to adjust. My husband thinks it is crazy to sit and listen to a microwave, but I am all about reducing waste. :)

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  14. After a bad experience in college where a mini bag of popcorn burned and ruined our microwave and stunk up our apartment for weeks, I gave up microwave popcorn and only use my air popper. I feel like this app would have changed my life a little bit had it (and smart phones) existed then.

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  18. I always just listen to see when the popping slows down. My strategy is to always stop it a few seconds before I think I should. About a 75% success rate :) I’ll have to try this app!

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  20. My strategy…hmm…rarely works! I wait until I smell smoke! It leaves about half the bag for good eating! This app is a must for me and my smoke detectors!

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  22. I push the popcorn button and if it’s still going strong at the end I add 30 seconds. When the popping gets to five seconds in between is when I call it quits.

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  24. my popcorn button is off – i always have to add 30 extra seconds. but i ALWAYS wait for a few second between each pop. sometimes i win, sometimes not so much. now if only this were available to those with android lol

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  26. Wow there really IS an app for everything! We use an air popper b/c I HATE burnt popcorn. Too bad this app didn’t come into my life before I switched over. :)

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  29. We use an airpopper but this app is really cool. I think I burnt more bags than not back in my microwave popcorn days.

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  32. I stand by the microwave and listen for the pauses between the pops. It’s not an exact science.

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  37. I really do think the counting for 2 seconds between pops works, but with all these demanding kids around (hehe) we eat a fair bit of slightly burned popcorn.:)

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  43. I wait til the pops are 1-2 secs apart. Would be easier if I were good at counting seconds. Tangentially, my mother is famous for getting frustrated at me once when I was a teen. I kept yelling “just a sec!” to her requests to do some chore, and she finally yelled across the house, “No more secs!”
    And the children did laugh.

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  44. What I do so that I do not burn the popcorn is put in a glass of water to microwave for about 5-10 seconds and then take that out and pop the popcorn per directions and usually this works and most every kernel pops.

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  45. My popcorn strategy was to read the directions and cook the popcorn for less time even if it meant ending up with some unpopped kernals.

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  47. we use to pop our popcorn in a pot with a lid on the stove. Wow…that was years ago.
    Thanks so much.

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  50. I always cooked it on the stove: add oil to the pot, add the corn kernels, and shake and shake and shake that pot to prevent burning until it was mostly popped, then off the heat. Stressful, to be sure, but always made great pop corn.
    jslbrown_03 at yahoo dot com

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  58. Microwave – so much easier than old fashioned way! Wait for pops to slow down.
    tvollowitz at aol dot com

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  59. I would set the microwave timer to 5 minutes and listen to the pops

    tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com

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  61. We go old school too – kernels in the pan on the stove. My fail proof method for perfect popcorn? “Dear, would you make me some popcorn tonight?” (I love having a husband who loves to cook!) If I have to do it, then it might be in a paper bag in the microwave. Either way, there’s no strategy, just the gestalt “when it sounds right” slowdown of popping.

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  62. I usually follow the instructions on the bag. But when it got a little burnt I would take out the cheddar cheese powder and cover the whole bag with it!

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  64. learned pop corn button some times is too long an some times too short so gotta listen stop it or add to it

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  65. That’s so cool. I’ll have to see if it works on homemade popcorn bags. I also need that movie app you have. Which one is it?

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  72. I cook mine on the stove or with an airpopper. My secret is: I just know. I am a WIZARD. Actually, not really, I just sort of listen/guess. But this app is super cute! (Also, what app do you use for period tracking?)

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  73. I stand by the microwave and listen for the popping to slow down then stop it before it burns.

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  77. I have to admit that I stove pop and I listen for it to slow to 1-2 seconds. No microwave for me.

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  85. I think my strategy is no strategy. Every single time I do it differently and hope for the best. If something works, then I immediately forget exactly what I did so that I might try something different next time. I guess I am preprogrammed for flying by the seat of my pants each and every time.

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  86. My popcorn strategy was to stand there, listening to the pops & waiting for them to slow so I could pull them out when they had the most kernels popped without burning! Not a very exact science :)

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  92. I stand by the microwave and listen to it pop. when the popping tapers off then I shut it off.

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  96. My popcorn strategy is to stand by the microwave and listen to when the popping slows down. It’s not much of a strategy. I still burn it half of the time. I can’t wait to try the app.

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  98. Oh I have to get that app for our popcorn!

    We used to pop ours on the stove and then put real melted butter on it. Oh, and I also had a air popper when I went off to college. That was some dry ass popcorn!

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  99. I would listen for the popping to slow down and look at the bag to see if it was pretty full. It was kind of guess work!

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  102. I am really not good at making pop corn evne with microwave, my strategy is to let hubby handles this job.

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  106. I can hear the popcorn talking to me, just like my breastpump. When it starts whispering “get me out- get me OUT”, that’s when I figure it’s done.

    Actually, I just wait for it to slow down. Anyone who doesn’t follow your blog and reads my comment might try to have me committed. Oh well. :)

    Reply

  112. It seems like everyone uses the same method: counting the seconds and guarding the microwave like a hawk! I’m no different. I always hate the unpopped kernels at the bottom, but in trying to get the perfectly popped bag, once risks making the house smell like burnt food!

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  114. My strategy is to ask my husband to make popcorn. He got tired of our super-heated air popper scorching it, and we can’t afford to replace it right now, so he’s been making it on top of the stove. It’s pretty good, and reminds me of all the popcorn we used to make when we were kids.

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  118. My strategy was always to listen to see when the popping slowed down to tell when it was done.

    Thanks for the chance to win!
    wildorchid985 at gmail dot com

    Reply

  121. I used an old stainless steel pot and stood at the stove, moving and shaking the pot to prevent burning. Very time consuming not to mention hot during summer.

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  123. Hover and wait for the popping to slow. I would rather have some unpopped than deal with that awful burnt smell!

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  127. The popcorn button on my microwave goes too long and it always burns if I don’t stand there the whole time, but I don’t have the patience and sometimes forget its there.

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  134. I hover near the microwave and listen for the popping to slow down. I’d rather have unpopped kernels than burnt.

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  139. We have timed each brand of popcorn and have a chart we go by since our microwave is old and we can’t go by the directions on the packages. Our wattage is lower, as well. Works most of the time!

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  146. I used to just wait until it had been a few seconds without a pop. Gotta act fast though, because it burns quick.

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  147. Before this fun app, I just have to stand close to the microwave and stop the heat when I don’t hear the corns popping for 10 seconds or so. But that doesn’t always work. I can’t wait try this app.

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  153. I would stand and wait by the microwave until there where very few pops left.

    lisalmg25 at gmail dot com

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  158. Add me to the list of people who keep it simple and just hit the “Popcorn” button on the microwave. The popcorn feature on my microwave is pretty darned accurate!

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  175. I used to have one of those air popping machines. It worked well, but another machine to clean and store.

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  178. I never had a strategy. We have a popcorn setting on our microwave. But it does usually result in some unpopped kernels.

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  180. I would always listen for the popping to slow down and hurry and stop it before the popping stopped and it was burnt!!!

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  184. I realize this will probably sound ridiculous… but this was totally an AHA moment when I read this post.

    See… I’m profoundly deaf. And have sat there watching the dim shadow of a popcorn bag circling round and round inside my microwave… hoping to ascertain by movement alone if kernels were still popping inside.

    This app would totally be my ears for me – genius!

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  189. My popcorn strategy used to be to pop the corn in an electric popcorn popper. Life is so much easier now!

    shawn113(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  192. We used to buy this disgusting popcorn in a bag. All the kernels would never pop and it was always burning.

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  198. I’ve always just used the popcorn mode on the microwave. I will listen at the end to see if there is time between pops to see if I need to stop it. Thank you!

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  200. They used to say count so many seconds between each pop, so I’d stand in front of the microwave counting lol

    Reply

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