If you’re like me, the effects of social distancing has left me feeling a little stir crazy. Luckily, there’s more than one way to stave off boredom while staying indoors. In response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a handful of apps and services are free for the coming weeks. So while you’re stuck at home, keep your mind off of coronavirus with free movies, TV, concerts, internet, fitness sessions, classes, and more. Compiled below is a list of free apps and services to take advantage while you are social distancing. Just be sure if it is a limited-time free subscription that you cancel before any charges begin.
Entertainment:
- HBO is offering 500 hours of programming available for free for a limited time. You can find the free titles, which include titles such as The Sopranos, Veep, and The Wire, under the heading #StayHomeBoxOffice.
- NHL – Hockey season is on-pause for now, but sports fans can get their fix for games. The National Hockey League is providing free streams of full replays of games form the 2019-2020 regular season games.
- Nightly Met Opera Streams – The Metropolitan Opera in New York City is offering free nightly live opera performances. The performances can be streamed on the Met website or through the Met Opera on Demand apps for Apple, Amazon, Roku devices and Samsung Smart TVs.
- Scribd, an e-book and audiobook is offering a free 30-day trial that gives you access to over a million titles.
- Virtual Museum Tours – Many museums are offering virtual tours you can take from the comfort of your living room. Below are a list of Museums across the globe that are offering free virtual tours:
- The Louvre, Paris, France
- Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C.
- The Vatican Museum, Vatican City, Rome, Italy
- The British Museum, London, England
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY
Health and Fitness:
- Peloton is currently offering a 90-day free trial to their full library of digital classes, which includes cycling, meditation, yoga running and more. The in-app workouts do not require you to own any Peloton equipment.
- Down Dog, is a yoga fitness apps that offers guided yoga, HIIT, and barre classes is opening its library free until May 1 for everyone and until July 1 for students, teachers, and healthcare professionals.
- Planet Fitness is streaming live, at-home workouts for free on its Facebook page daily, Monday-Friday, at 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. For individuals who can’t make it to the live workout, they will be able to view the workout afterwards on the Planet Fitness Facebook page and YouTube channel.
- Headspace, the popular mindfulness and guided meditation app Headspace is going free for US healthcare professionals who work in public health settings through the end of this year.
- Core Power Yoga, a popular yoga studio chain, is currently offering free online classes through its Core Power Yoga On Demand platform. The classes are pre-recorded and range from 30 minutes to up to an hour long.
- SWEAT, is now offering new members one month of free access to its app. That means you can check out a wide range of on-demand workouts requiring minimal equipment, from beginner exercises to high-intensity style training, taught by expert trainers like Kayla Itsines, Kelsey Wells, Chontel Duncan, Stephanie Sanzo, and Sjana Elise.
Education:
- Cambridge University Press is opening its library of college textbooks, book chapters, journal articles, and key reference works to students for free until the end of May.
- Coursera is offering more than 400 free Ivy League courses for a limited time during the COVID-19 outbreak.
- LinkedIn is offering free learning opportunities to help adults connect and collaborate, while easing the stress of working at home. LinkedIn’s free courses include working remotely, time management, productivity tips, how to use Microsoft Teams for collaboration and virtual meetings, and how to project an executive presence on virtually.
- Rosetta Stone is offering three months free for students during the coronavirus pandemic to learn a language of their choice.
- Tableau, a data visualization tool, is offering a free three month training, Includes courses exploring all facets of the data science software Tableau. A subscription normally costs $15 per month.
- Nikon, from now until April 30, Nikon is offering its online photography classes for free. Each class is normally priced at between $10 to $50.
News Sources:
Many news publications are waiving their fees or bringing down their paywalls for nonsubscribers to make it as easy as possible for readers to stay up to date on the pandemic. Below are some national sources doing so:
- The New York Times
- The Wall Street Journal
- The Washington Post
- The Guardian
Remember, Powercat Financial continues to offer financial counseling sessions either online via Zoom or via telephone for current students. Appointments may be request from the link on our website at www.k-state.edu/powercatfinancial.
Sarah Meenen
Peer Financial Counselor I
Powercat Financial
Powercatfinancial@ksu.edu
