Free-dom in Solitude: Online Services Slash Prices to Ease Quarantine Life

They say you shouldn’t touch your face during the pandemic. Now you won’t have to touch your wallet, either.

While many are thankful for their Netflix subscription in times of extended homestay, you don’t have to shell out monthly cash to take advantage of free entertainment and media, especially now that many internet-based companies are electing to provide their content free of charge during the epidemic.

Whether you prefer to spend your indoor time watching movies, working out, or learning, there is an option for you. Check out these resources for hours of free fun.

Movies and TV

Independent Chinese Films from dGenerate
Far from military history films that you’ll see on TV or the absurd action movies of the theaters, dGenerate provides a catalog of intriguing independent films. The selection includes Yang Mingming's Beijing-based tale of two struggling writers – mother and daughter – in Girls Always Happy (pictured above). During the pandemic period, you can watch free for a month using the coupon code 1MONTH at the link above.

Free kids content on Amazon Prime
If you’ve got kids around, keep them occupied with a selection of free Amazon original content created just for them. If you're looking for other great free stuff to do with your kids, our sister site beijingkids has compiled this great list.

Reading

Comic Books from Comixology
During the outbreak, Comixology has teamed up with Dynamite entertainment to provide a dozen first issues of popular comic books. If you’re new to comic books, it’s a great opportunity to see what kinds you might like.

JSTOR
If you really want to go down an academic rabbit hole, JSTOR is now providing free access to thousands of eBooks and over 150 journals.

Children’s books from Audible
Don’t let the kids get too brainwashed by Amazon TV. Audible has made their selection of children books free to listen to for as long as schools stay closed.

Learning

Yale Happiness Course
In order to keep the quarantined from losing it completely, Yale has made its popular course on happiness and mental health available for completely free on Coursera. If you want to come out of the other end with a certificate, you can opt to pay USD 49.99.

Fender guitar lessons
Fancy picking up a musical hobby? Now’s the time to grab the guitar you bought with the best intentions of daily practice and finally get to it with free lessons from Fender.

Apps

Tinder Passport
Social distancing doesn’t mean that dating is out, as long as you don’t care about the actual hugging and kissing (etc.). The swipe-to-like service is now providing its “passport” service for free, which will allow users to match with others anywhere in the world. 

Affinity
In an effort to support the creative community as people work from home, designer software service Affinity is extending its free trial period to 90 days.

Moog Minimoog Model D
The Moog Minimoog Model D app is a mobile transmutation of the world’s first portable synthesizer of the same name. First released in 1970, the Minimoog Model D was heralded for making synthesizers accessible to the masses. In the same vein, this iOS app (usually USD 14.99) has the capacity to make you an instant Eno in your living room (or to annoy the hell out of your loved ones).

Korg iKaossilator
Likewise, Korg have also released their iKaossilator app for free on iOS until Mar 31, usually priced at USD 19.99. Perfect for looping beats and creating dance tracks, there are so many options and effects that you're likely to spend hours simply swiping at the trackpad.

READ: China's Musicians Band Together for Two Wuhan Fundraiser Mixtapes

Images: Fender, dGenerate, Fender, Tinder (via Twitter), Music Tech