Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
EACH WEEK, WE highlight five apps that are worth downloading for your smartphone and tablet. There are a lot of apps released on a daily basis, but not all of them are worth paying attention to.
This week features notifications for (almost) everything, email encryption made easy and a CEO fighting werewolves.
Hooks
For: iOS, Android
Cost: Free
- Notifications can either be incredibly useful or incredibly annoying depending on how they’re used. But what if you could control the exact alerts you see?
- That’s the premise of Hooks which will alert you to updates to a large number of situations and moments throughout the day.
- There are over 100 channels to choose from ranging from sports, games, weather, AMBER alerts, mentions, site updates and lotto results.
- Getting ones up and ready is easy and you get a number of suggestions to start you off.
- An app that has great potential so long as you don’t overdo the number of channels.
mlist
For: iOS
Cost: Free
- If you’re the type of person who signs up to a large collection of newsletters, you’ll know the trouble of keeping up with them daily while your inbox is flooded with new mail.
- Mlist tries to simplify this by bringing some of the biggest newsletters together and giving you one easy place to access them.
- There are a number to choose from, covering a number of different sectors and industries.
- It’s rather basic though. It’s only limited to a specific number of newsletters and there’s no search option for the smaller ones. If you want to sign up to one, you’re redirected to its browser page which may stop some people from completing a signup.
- For those who subscribe to a number of newsletters but has trouble keeping them organised.
Flick
For: iOS, Android, Windows Phone
Cost: Free
- When we share files between devices, we normally use the cloud, email or a service like Apple AirDrop, but what if you wanted the latter but to share with different devices?
- Flick allows you to do this with the flick of a finger. provided you have the app running on both or all devices (desktop or smartphone), you can share them.
- The app covers all major devices and allows you to share any file you may have, provided you’re all using the same WiFi connection.
- There are a few other features on display like ‘auto destruct’ which gets rid of shared images or notes after a set amount of time.
- If you have multiple devices and find sharing items between them to be a bit of a pain, this will speed things up.
Jumble
For: iOS
Cost: Free
- It’s true that some email providers use an encrypted connection so you’re safe when checking your inbox, but what about encrypting the mail itself?
- Dublin company Jumble offers this service, and it doesn’t require any knowledge to use. Just install the app, and follow the steps to add it (it doesn’t manage or access your emails, just adds an extra layer of security to it).
- While it’s an iOS app, there’s also a Chrome extension as well for your browser so you can keep your mail secure while on desktop.
- If you send a mail to someone who doesn’t have it installed, they will be directed to a secure page where it can be unencrypted.
- For anyone who’s conscious about security but don’t know where to start with encryption, give this a go.
The Executive
For: iOS
Cost: €2.99
- Being the CEO of a large multinational company is tough. You have to grow the company, hold shareholder meetings, fight supernatural creatures, keep employees happy. You know, the usual stuff.
- As well as running a company, you need to save your employees and eventually the entire city from a horde of werewolves and demons. It’s incredibly silly, but more importantly, it’s a lot of fun.
- It’s part beat-em-up, part management sim. It’s the former that will keep you addicted thanks to a well-designed interface and a system that is surprisingly deep.
- Fighting isn’t a case of mashing buttons. Knowing where to aim and whether you should go for a quick punch or a slow but powerful kick is key to winning.
- If you enjoyed 2D beat-em-ups of old like Street Fighter II, you’ll enjoy this.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
condolences to his family and friends look twice think bike. Not implying who was in the wrong but I know who came out the worse as is normally the case
@ter: I remember back in the day when i was on a motorbike in Dublin. Drivers just conciously donr see bikes. There needs to be a media flood of Think Bike. My own son is now on a Motorbike and Ive it drilled into him, mind drivers pulling out at junctions. They are looking for cars not bikes. Most just wont see you even though your lit up like an xmas tree.
@Carina Clarke: I went for a spin on the back of a friends motorbike, in the distance of only four miles two cars pulled out in front of us, only my friend is so experienced on his bike and anticipated what the drivers were about to do we would have been involved in a collision.
Another tragedy :(… Condolences to family and friends. All drivers please take care with weather warnings..
“His moped collided with a car.” …How do you know this? The wording of these collisions needs to change. It’s like the most vulnerable road user is always to blame.
Just yesterday I was, as someone who cycles a bicycle, chatting with with a guy who drives a moped about the possible ice on the roads and the perilous journey home. He said, “They just don’t see us.”
@Brendan D’Arcy: Drove a motorbike for years, best advice I got was “its not that you’ll hit someone, they’ll hit you. They don’t see you”. Best advice I ever got, even with lights on and hi viz, you could look a driver in the eyes and they would still pull out in front of you.
@Barra O Brien: best advice I got while doing the bike lessons, treat every journey as if you are invisible. Every single car at every junction can’t see you
Driving motorbikes for 40+ years. Best mindset is to assume all drivers are complete idiots and will do the most unexpected thing. Anticipation is the only thing that keeps you alive on a bike no matter how much hi-vis you wear. Condolences to this poor guys family.
@Declan White: I think cyclist and motor bikers over estimate the visibility drivers have sometimes, not that there aren’t many bad drivers, but every day I see bikes sitting in blind spots and popping out of no where.
Just because you see the car, doesn’t mean the driver can see you.
@ED: I ride a bike and drive a van. I’m as likely to be unseen in my large white high-roofed Transit as I am on a bike. People don’t look! Nobody pops out of nowhere, we’re there all along, just unseen.
I live near here and have seen plenty of accidents over the years but this is sadly the first fatal one I’ve heard of. Traffic filters into that junction from 6 different roads. One slip in concentration or an inexperienced driver is all it takes. RIP.
Motorbikes are VERY dangerous……. “According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), you are 37 times more likely to die in a motorcycle accident than a car accident – and nine times more likely to become injured while riding a motorcycle than while driving a car.”
@William Grogan: “become injured”??? That summs up the mentality. Injuries are caused.
Another one who thought is a hero on the street. Too much GTA played.
@Hubert Dworniok: the driver of car is now charged and appearing in court tomorrow morning. Moped driver was not in the wrong. If the motorcyclist in the was the wrong the car driver would not be charged with offences!
have your say