Make Mom’s day with digital gifts at her fingertips

Ask Mom what she wants for Mother’s Day and she’ll probably look through her smartphone or tablet for answers. That’s good news for you, because we have a roundup of apps to complement all those flowers, dinners and at least handfuls of peace and quiet the woman who gave you life so richly deserves.

That means you better give Mom at least some of those tangible gifts come Sunday. Just take heart: You can also shower her with cheeky ecards, digital roses and other treats to make her smile at her touchscreen. Here are some must-have Mother’s Day apps to answer the occasion.

Relaxation

So you can’t fly Mom out to that beachfront spa in Tahiti. She can still get away from it all — at least virtually — with the right relaxation apps. Calm (free, Android and iOS) offers free meditation basics as well as subscriber options so Mom can lose herself in relaxing sounds and soothing backgrounds with timed meditative sessions for better sleep, energy and overall Zen. The app also works with Apple Watch should Mom need some Nirvana via wearable.

Mom also can doze off to the meditative ambience of white-noise apps such as Meditation Music (free, Android) and the Dr. Oz-endorsed White Noise Free (free, Android) and White Noise Lite (free, iOS). Ah, mobile serenity.

Beauty

Nothing like bringing out Mom’s inner and outer beauty with the right beauty apps. Sephora Pocket Contour Class (free at m.sephora.com/pocketcontour via mobile browser) shows Mom how to get her face in fashion-forward shape with shadow and highlight tips from the makeup masters at Sephora. Just upload a selfie and follow those contouring steps.

YouCam Makeup (free, Android and iOS) uses facial detection so Mom can craft the best cosmetic and hairstyle combinations for her true one-of-a-kind look, using hundreds of mix and match lipsticks, eye shadows and other combinations. And for some true DIY beauty, Trusper (free, Android and iOS) delivers tons of helpful tips and tutorials on beauty, skin care and other topics with user-friendly “bite-size” servings from around the globe.

Cards

If you’re going to send a digital Mother’s Day card, take a page out of the Internet and send the very best in sweetness or snark. On the sincere side, justWink by American Greetings (free, Android and iOS) combines classy card designs with the ease of online or even snail-mail delivery, featuring a Mother’s Day category with the traditional (“any mom” and “my mom”) and the nontraditional (“from the pet,” anyone?).

For the latter kind of humor with more edge, Someecards (free or 99 cents full version, Android and iOS) combines meme-worthy Mother’s Day sentiments with kitschy clip art. The result: choice ecards with phrases such as “I love how we don’t even need to say out loud that I’m your favorite child” and “Thanks for always thinking about me to the detriment of your own mental health.”

Or indulge your own creative madness with Photo Grid (free, Android and iOS), a quality photo collage app that rocks 300-plus layouts for Instagram, plus photo filters, stickers and the power to make video slides.

Flowers

Virtual bouquets may not carry the same weight or fragrance as the real thing, but they can still brighten up mom’s favorite mobile or computer screen, along with her day. The limited edition Flowerly — Mother’s Day (free for iOS) offers free and premium bouquets you can deliver with a special Mom’s Day message via Facebook or email. (Try the regular Flowerly app, too.) Or tend to your own Flower Garden (free, Android and iOS), where you plant seeds, grow flowers and clip them to make sharable bouquets.

For a more kid-friendly bouquet maker, Make Bouquet (free, Android) has a simple interface for laying out all kinds of floral arrangements, while Flower Mania Drawing Pad (free, Android and iOS) lets you draw up kaleidoscopic neon-colored flowers. Both apps make it a cinch to share via email and social media.

rguzman@express-news.net