Like so many things, apps are often put into categories designed to make their selection easier for the consumer – games, social, productivity and the like. I’m not really sure how I would categorise this week’s app though, other than, perhaps, life-saver.

Corporate Cabs has become the first New Zealand cab company to offer an app allowing customers to book a cab with a simple tap of the screen. Now if you’re anything like me, this is fantastic. It is much, much, much easier than phoning, sitting on hold, trying to explain where you are, waiting on hold, then standing around looking silly while you wait for the cab to arrive.

Available on both iOS and Android, the Corporate Cabs app downloads quickly and asks you to register your profile before doing anything else. Once you have set up and saved this, the next time you need a cab you simply work through the screen.  Tap to select your pick up point, destination, date and time (this allows you to book a cab well ahead of time) and details such as the number of passengers and any special requirements. Then it’s simply a case of hitting submit.

The app keeps a record of your past and future bookings, as well as your address favourites, meaning you can save regular routes such as ‘home to airport’ or ‘airport to hotel’. In the future all you will need to do is enter the date and time of the required pick-up.

What’s more, detailed reports can be produced if your team regularly uses taxis to increase efficiency – particularly around airport journeys – and reduce costs. The reports can also be used to check whether staff meet company protocols around taxi use.

It might not be the most exciting app you’ll download this year, and you won’t be able to run up a nice score or produce funky photos with it – but it is very useful and it will help make your life easier. And that, my friends, is what great apps are all about.