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 includes a novel approach to image apps, a personalised weather service and a terrifying PC game brought to the small screen.
Scratching
For: iOS
Cost: Free
- Now here’s a picture app that does something a little different and makes it fun in the process.
- The premise of Scratch is you post images online like Instagram, but you obscure some or all of it.
- Then it up to your friends, or people who come across your photos, to scratch out the obscured part, kind of like a scratch card.
- The potential to be creative here is pretty significant. Already there are a few good examples to give you an idea of what you can do with it.
- One for those who like a twist on the traditional image app, just try and get some friends on board to get the most enjoyment out of it.
Five Nights at Freddy’s
For: Android
Cost: €2.27
- If you’re a PC gamer, chances are you’re aware of Five Nights at Freddy’s, but it’s a scary game due to it being a tense experience.
- Taking place in a themed restaurant for kids, your job is to monitor it at night-time. However, the robot creatures used to entertain kids during the day become a little unpredictable when the lights go out.
- The game requires you to switch between cameras and make clever use of security doors and limited electricity to keep yourself safe.
- The real strength of the game is how slowly it ramps up the tension. The use of still imagery, minimal lighting and limited security measures comes together to create a truly scary experience. You will feel paranoid and frantic as you try to keep on top of things.
- Just be warned that while it’s scaled down a bit, the game is a little power hungry (The developer says to treat the Samsung Galaxy S3 as a baseline device so use that to determine if your phone can run it or not).
Appy Weather
For: Windows Phone
Cost: €2.99
- There isn’t a whole lot you can do with weather apps apart from change the presentation a little so it’s always nice when one tries to mix things up a bit.
- Appy weather is a little bit different since it makes the forecasts a little bit more personal, useful if you’re trying to decide whether you will need an umbrella for later on in the day.
- On top of the usual weather forecasts, it suggests what the temperature might feel like later on and when certain conditions will change.
- It breaks everything up into cards meaning that all info is easy to digest and take in, either explaining the forecast or displaying it as a simple bar graph. There’s no use of live tiles (yet) which is a little disappointing.
- The app comes with a free trial (3 days) so you can start using it to see if it’s will replace your current weather app.
Mix by Camera 360
For: Android (iOS coming soon)
Cost: Free
- Android users are spoilt for choice when it comes to photo editing apps, and now, you can add another one to the list.
- From first glance, Mix looks like a cross between Instagram and VSCO’s editing features, which isn’t a bad thing by any means.
- The number of editing features available are quite extensive and they’re very easy to implement. There are few instances where you’re left confused or complete an action you didn’t mean to do.
- A handy feature is by tapping the image, you can toggle between the before and after result of an image, which is useful if you’re in two minds about an edit.
- One that’s very much designed towards photography enthusiasts.
Hyperlapse
For: iOS (Android version coming soon)
Cost: Free
- Instagram’s new app has been mentioned a few times before, but hey, it’s a good app and therefore deserves to be here.
- For those who are only catching up, the app allows you to create faster, smoother versions of videos you shoot.
- The app is rather minimalist, tap to record, save, adjust the speed and it saves onto your camera roll. You have the option to share via Instagram or Facebook if you want
- You can adjust the speed when editing up to 12x, making short videos all the more trippy.
- One of the rare examples where releasing a separate app to a main service works.
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