Imagine parenting without a smartphone! With a recent explosion in family-friendly apps, Apple-recommended Hoop selects  five of the best to make life easier.

Mush
Taking inspiration from dating apps, Mush makes it easy to find like-minded mums. By considering who lives nearby along with their interests, children's ages, how many children they have and any shared connections, Mush hooks you up with people you’ll actually want to organise a play date with.
letsmush.com

Pitapat
Made by parents and completely free to use, Pitapat is your local marketplace for buying and selling pre-loved baby and kid’s stuff. Find amazing bargains on everything from clothes to car seats in just a few taps. 
pitapat.co

Childcare.co.uk
Childcare.co.uk connects you with local childcare services, from babysitters and nannies to private tutors and nurseries. Read reviews of local childcare providers from other parents, or chat with local families in the UK’s largest community of parents and childcare providers. 
childcare.co.uk

Lifecake
Secure and easy to use, Lifecake solves the problem of where to save and how to share all your family snaps. Zoom through time to see your memories evolve, and share them privately and securely with the people you love – perfect for long distance grandparents!
lifecake.com

Citymapper
Find the quickest, simplest journeys across towns. Citymapper takes some of the stress out of navigating busy transport systems, so you can focus on having an amazing family day out. 
citymapper.com

Hoop
Looking for things to do with the kids? Hoop is a free app that makes it easy to find out what’s on for children. Listing thousands of activities and updated daily with new ideas, everything on Hoop comes with a recommended age so you’ll only find things that are right for your family. The easy to use app was picked by Apple as one of the 10 best apps of 2016, and is available in over 20 cities across the UK.
hoop.co.uk