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 a crowdsourced map of WiFi hotspots, zombies on pogo sticks and a great iOS mail app from a surprising source.
Wave
For: iOS
Cost: Free
- Email isn’t really that fun an activity. Ok, we’ll be honest, it’s a chore, a massive chore that nobody really likes, but that hasn’t stopped some from making it more fun.
- Wave approaches the concept by turning your Gmail emails into instant messaging chats. So think of your email in the form of WhatsApp.
- Conversations are grouped and there’s no need to refresh your feed as messages come in straight away.
- And even handier, any signatures included with email are left out, meaning you only see what the email is about.
- If you find your emails are mostly conversations anyway, this may be a handy app to have.
waveappteam / Vimeo
Zombie’s Got a Pogo
For: Windows Phone
Cost: Free
- Just so we’re all on the same page here, the title alone should suggest that this isn’t a particularly serious game.
- Zombie’s got a Pogo is an endless runner except instead of being a breathless experience, it’s a easy-going game.
- Controlling your zombie is pretty simple. Tap/hold the left/right part of the screen to tilt your zombie and you’re away. However, getting far is easier said than done.
- It starts out easy with numerous inanimate objects strewn on the ground, but as you progress, cannons, tennis ball launchers and landmines all threaten to stop your zombie from going any further.
- A rather laid-back game with a bit of challenge thrown in for good measure.
WiFi Map
For: iOS, Android
Cost: Free
- Keeping your data usage under control isn’t the easiest. That’s why WiFi spots are such a godsend when you’re coming to the end of your billing period.
- WiFi Map is a crowdsourced map of restaurants, cafés, public spaces and other places that include public WiFi and their passwords if applicable.
- Think of it as similar to Foursquare in that you can share the WiFi connection you’re using. (Just be careful not to share a private one if you are using it).
- You can even download the list for future reference so you don’t waste any data looking for hotspots.
- Handy if you’re running out of data and need to find something fast.
TIDAL
For: iOS, Android
Cost: Free (Subscription costs €19.99 per month)
- You may have heard the news that Jay Z bought a music streaming service there yesterday. Well the company that owns it has another service that recently launched here.
- TIDAL is all about high quality music. Instead of using MP3, it uses CD quality music and the difference is apparent.
- On top of that, there’s quite a collection of music here, as well as HD video, playlists, articles
- The obvious drawback is the price. €19.99 a month may be a steep price for such a service but you get unlimited access
- However, there’s a seven day trial which is more than enough time for you to get a feel for it and decide if it’s worth the price.
Outlook
For: iOS, Android (preview version)
Cost: Free
- While it’s a new version of Outlook, this is effectively a rebranded version of Acompli, an app Microsoft bought two months ago, so if you used that one before, you know what to expect here.
- But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth a look, far from it. The interface is fantastic and clean, making it easy to wade through your mailbox.
- Alongside the traditional inbox and subsections, it manages to sync up your calendar, files from Dropbox and Google Drive and compile a list of people you’ve emailed recently for easy access. More importantly, it does it well and makes things rather efficient.
- On top of that, there is a decent amount of customisation available to make things even easier. For example, you can decide what action swiping left or right compete or choose the browser links open. They’re small but useful changes.
- If you find using Gmail or Apple Mail on iOS to be a trial, this is a great replacement.
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