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 another way to livestream through your phone, an incredibly stretchy dog, and a new standalone app from Instagram.
Periscope
For: iOS
Cost: Free
- If you remember Meerkat from a few weeks ago, another livestreaming app has arrived this week and this time, it’s got Twitter backing it.
- It’s called Periscope and it’s a more polished version of Meerkat, allowing you to broadcast whatever’s happening through your phone
- Once you put in your title, you can see who starts watching your video and their comments in real-time.
- Like Meerkat, the fun is in seeing what people are up to, even if the stream in question is boring. It likely will be, but the same could be said about Facebook and Twitter when they started, but curiosity will always win out.
- Choosing it or Meerkat will depend on preference, but if you want a more thoughtful experience, Periscope is the one to go for.
Diorama
For: Windows Phone
Cost: Free
- Tilt-shift photography is a nice effect to include in any photo, especially landscape photos, so it’s no surprise that more apps based around it are popping up.
- Diorama is pretty simple and straightforward, it’s very much a case of what you see is what you get.
- Adding blur effects is a simple drag process, and you can adjust the colour and the intensity of the blur as well.
- It’s a free app, meaning ads are displayed and that’s one problem with it. They’re displayed on the upper right-hand corner of the screen and you can accidentally tap it when you’re trying to adjust your image.
- Still, if you’re looking for a simple way of giving your photos a blurred effect, you could do worse.
Silly Sausage
For: iOS, Android
Cost: Free
- It’s getting ridiculous the number of games Nitrome is releasing right now, but what’s really crazy is how it manages to keep releasing one high quality game after another.
- Silly Sausage continues that great run of form with some simple, but original mechanics and combines that with a tight design.
- Taking control of a dog that can stretch, you must make your way across Meat Land (just roll with it, ok) and avoid anything that might hurt you.
- It will remind you a little of Snake on the Nokia 3210. Swipe to make your dog stretch in a specific direction and collect as many gems as you can. You can set restart points, but they cost you gems, and you need them for further on in the game as things become more complex and bizarre.
- Right now, Nitrome can do no wrong and this is another strong addition to its collection.
Next Dublin Bus
For: Android
Cost: Free (€1.99 for full version)
- Before we start, we should mention this was created by TheJournal.ie’s own iOS/Android developer Stephen McBride. Now that we have that out of the way, onto the app itself.
- It’s an unofficial version of the Dublin Bus app, but it’s sleeker and it takes advantage of Google’s Material Design, giving it an attractive and straightforward design.
- It’s much easier to find stops and it also links with Google Maps so if you’re not sure of a location, you can familiarise yourself with the location while you’re checking times.
- The full version allows you to add shortcuts so you can check your stop quickly and home screen widgets if you have more than one stop to check.
- A great replacement to the official Dublin Bus app.
Layout
For: iOS
Cost: Free
- It’s been quite the week for high profile app launches. Before Periscope arrived on the scene, Instagram brought out another new app at the start of the week.
- Layout allows you to create your own collage using one or many photos.
- It’s surprisingly simple to use. You’re three screens away from booting it up to creating a new image and it manages to offer variety without being overwhelming.
- None of the photos have borders, which allows a greater deal of creativity when creating a new photo.
- Expect this to be a bigger hit than its last app Hyperlapse.
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