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 way to squeeze more photos into limited space, tracking your phone and physical activity and another hit from the people behind Crossy Road.
IceCream
For: iOS
Cost: Free
- There is a vast collection of great cloud photo apps that back up your snaps and free up space. Google Photos is going from strength to strength, but if you’re not keen on using it, this could be a viable alternative.
- IceCream is able to free up space on your phone, telling you how much space you can free up and how many photos you can fit in.
- You can free up 50MB, 200MB or 500MB of space for photos by using the app and once you get through the signup process, it’s straightforward.
- Your photos are backed up as well. The optimised photo is stored on your phone while the full resolution version is saved online where you check and download them if you so wish.
- For photography lovers who want to squeeze in more photos into limited space.
Oh Clock
For: Windows (8.1 and 10 versions available)
Cost: Free
- If you’re one of the few people who has the beta version of Windows 10 mobile (the official release should happen this month), then you would have noticed a number of compatible apps arriving in the store recently.
- Oh Clock is one of them and while it doesn’t overdo it with features, it has the standard alarm, stopwatch, time zones and countdown timers, it makes up for it with an easy to use interference.
- It also comes with voice commands which work well and live tiles tell you when timers and stopwatches are running (but not alarms unfortunately).
- If you don’t have Windows 10, the 8.1 version is still in the stores and offers the same functionality.
- A decent alternative to the standard clock app you get on Windows.
Whiteboard
For: iOS, Android
Cost: €2.99 (iOS), €2.19 (Android)
- To-do lists are one of those things that we all say we’ll put together but never do. It’s more like we need a to-do list to help remind us to put together a to-do list.
- Whiteboard is a lightweight and fast app that helps you schedule and complete tasks. Think of it as a combination between Remember the Milk and Slack.
- While it can be used to organise personal tasks, it is designed more for businesses and collaboration. You can have a group of people commenting on tasks and updating them as time goes on.
- You can create different workspaces should you want to keep certain tasks separate, lists for specific groups or just have one for personal use.
- For those who just can’t quite get a grip on their day-to-day tasks.
Instant – Quantified Self
For: iOS, Android
Cost: €2.99 (iOS) Free (Android)
- Do you really want to know how often you check your phone or your fitness activity? Maybe you do but most apps only deal with specific elements but what about one that brings it all into the one place?
- Instant brings all of these different factors together into the one place. Fitness, phone usage, and places you’ve visited are all tracked (if you allow it).
- The app works in the background gathering this information and presents it all on the one dashboard. You can go into further detail if you want, but the main page will suffice for the most part.
- The Android version allows you to track app usage as well, meaning you’ll learn just how much time you spend playing Candy Crush Saga or checking Snapchat. You have to upgrade though if you want more than just the basic tracking though.
- If you really want to break down your life in terms of activity (both physical and smartphone), give this a look.
Shooty Skies
For: iOS
Cost: Free
- Despite only being on the radar for a few months, Hipster Whale has made a name for itself with Crossy Road and Pac-Man 256. Now Mighty Games, which has two developers from Hipster Whale, is keeping the momentum going with its latest game.
- Shooty Skies takes inspiration from old bullet-hell arcade games but simplifies it for a smartphone audience.
- Holding down on the screen moves your craft around, it fires automatically, and taking it off the screen charges up a shot. The latter is risky since you can’t move when doing this, leaving you vulnerable to attacks.
- And like all good arcade games, it becomes hectic pretty quickly yet it manages to balance the difficulty so that both newcomers and veterans won’t be frustrated when they fail (and you will fail a lot).
- Another finely crafted game that has the potential to be another addictive hit.
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