After a short break, the weekly Best iPhone and iPad Apps roundup is back. This is a catchup week, with a selection from new releases in the last three weeks.
And yes, this is usually a Top 20, but the period covered includes the launch of Apple’s iOS 8 software, including a flurry of keyboard-replacement apps. To save them bumping too many other apps out, I’ve added a one-time-only extra section to the roundup.
As ever, the prices provided in brackets are for the initial download only: when an app uses in-app purchases, this will be listed as (Free + IAP).
More interested in Android apps? They’re covered in a separate weekly Best Android Apps roundup . But if it’s iOS you’re after, read on for this week’s selection.
KEYBOARD APPS
SwiftKey Keyboard (Free) [1]
The most popular keyboard-replacement app on Android made the leap to iOS in time for the launch of iOS 8, with its emphasis on the way it learns your writing style â€" with Facebook, Twitter and Gmail logins able to give it a head start â€" to make its predictions even smarter. It also uses the swipe-on-letters technique pioneered by...
iPhone / iPad
Swype - Keyboard (£0.69) [2]
...Swype, which also made its iOS debut alongside Apple’s new software. Tracing your thumb over the keys rather than tapping on them works very well â€" just as it did on Android â€" with Swype also promising to learn from what you write to hone its predictions. A choice of themes should suit most touchscreen typists.
iPhone / iPad
Fleksy Keyboard (£0.69 + IAP) [3]
Fleksy has been available for iOS for a while now as a standalone app, but now it’s progressed to a full keyboard replacement. It’s fast with neat gestures for punctuation, has a choice of colours and sizes, and offers more than 800 oh-so-2014 emoji alongside standard characters.
iPhone / iPad
A quick note on all the keyboard apps, which seem to be suffering the odd teething problem with iOS 8: from text-box and browser URL bar issues to other niggles. Work to be done, in other words.
These apps are very much a case of personal taste, so please do post your feedback on the ones you’ve tested, and how you’ve found them, to help other readers reach a decision based on their own needs.
APPS
Seasonal Cities (Free + IAP) [4]
There are lots of travel apps for iOS, but this one has an interesting twist: its city-guides are rewritten every three months to take account of the current season. It’ll also tweak its recommendations depending on the next few days’ weather when you’re using it, to account for sunshine, rain, plagues of locusts etc. Well, two of them. Each of the 11 guides will cost 69p via in-app purchase from next winter.
iPhone / iPad
Vice News (Free) [5]
Vice News is one of the channels being advertised in the UK on billboards paid for by YouTube, but its new iPhone app provides it with another route to The Young Folk’s eyeballs. Its neat design presents the channel’s reports and documentaries, as well as photos and text articles.
iPhone
Fotograf (£1.49 + IAP) [6]
Fotograf was another app to suffer from the odd bug post-iOS 8 - awkward, considering it was released to take advantage of some of its features. Still, it’s well worth a look if you’re into your mobile photography: some carefully-crafted filters (with more available as in-app purchases) and a neat slider system to see how your shots will look before sharing them.
iPhone
Stress & Anxiety Companion (£3.99) [7]
I’ve been wondering lately about smartphones and stress: the combination of notifications and the ability to check your email wherever you are being a worrying thing for our personal wellbeing. Still, some developers are working on more positive aspects: including this app, with relaxation recordings, exercises to help control your breathing, and tools to help you reframe your negative thoughts.
iPhone
Sleepio (Free) [8]
More wellbeing here, but this time its about helping you sleep better, complete with aims to help you fall asleep “up to 50% faster†and reduce time spent awake during the night “by up to 60%†(the ‘up tos’ are fairly key there, of course). It’s too early for me to judge its medical qualities â€" give me a month or two â€" but at this stage it’s an accessible way to track your sleep data and get tips on giving insomnia the boot.
iPhone
SpeakaLegend (£1.99) [9]
Virtual pet-style apps are big for children, as the billion-plus downloads of the Talking Friends apps shows. SpeakaLegend is a very interesting attempt to take the idea on a big step, with speech recognition technology designed to help children have proper two-way conversations with its 10 animated characters. From the Loch Ness Monster to Bigfoot and Cyclops, there’s a lot of fun to be had here.
iPhone / iPad
AJ+ (Free) [10]
More news: this is broadcaster Al Jazeera’s official app for its AJ+ network, which like Vice News was an attempt to use online video to reach a younger audience that wasn’t watching TV news. Expect short, sharp reports and documentaries, with the app structured around “cards†for watching, voting and chatting to other viewers.
iPhone
London Plaques: Explore London (£1.99) [11]
Wandering around London on foot is one of the best ways to explore the English capital, aided by the blue plaques that show where famous historical figures lived. If you’re wanting to add a bit of structure to your jaunts, try this well-designed app that guides you to nearly 2,000 of them: with offline maps and more detail about the people who’ve been immortalised in plaque form.
iPhone / iPad
ROL (Free) [12]
I have fond memories of random photo-sharing app Rando, which got you pinging images around the world, and receiving them in return. ROL takes that idea and runs with it: your photos and videos are sent out to three random users, then you see how far they travel onwards â€" while also passing on (or not) other people’s shots and vids. It’ll either be a big viral hit or disappear within a year, but for now it’s a fun idea.
iPhone
Post-it Plus (Free) [13]
An official Post-it notes app sounds like a ridiculous idea, if it doesn’t involve sticking your iPhone to your computer monitor with Blu-tack. But no, this is actually quite clever: you take a photo of a group of Post-it notes, then the app digitises them so you can organise and share. Of course, it’s only useful if you brainstorm by scribbling on the notes...
iPhone / iPad
GAMES
Turbo Dismount (Free + IAP) [14]
Developer Secret Exit’s Stair Dismount has been making iOS gamers chuckle for years with its ragdoll-physics stairway tumbling. Turbo Dismount takes the idea and runs with it. Well, drives: it’s a crash simulator that involves creating as much chaos as possible, then watching it in slow-motion replay. It’s marvellous.
iPhone / iPad
Plunder Pirates (Free + IAP) [15]
Rovio’s recent layoffs reminded the world that it’s yet to find a hit as big as Angry Birds. Plunder Pirates deserves to be that hit: launched under the company’s Rovio Stars subsidiary, it’s a very impressive piratical adventure blending Clash of Clans-style base building with water-based treasure hunting. It looks good, with deceptive depth â€" just like the ocean you’re sailing on.
iPhone / iPad
FIFA 15 Ultimate Team (Free + IAP) [16]
As a young twentysomething, I was world-beating at football games. As a 37 year-old father, I’ve degenerated to the point where I can only win in FIFA on ‘numpty’ level. Such is life. Still, this year’s mobile instalment is looking very good, focusing on the Ultimate Team mode (hence the in-app purchases, which go up to £69.99), with a new Quick Simulation mode if your time is at a premium.
iPhone / iPad
Phantom Rift (£1.99 + IAP) [17]
If you’re a fan of wizards, spells and dungeon exploration, Phantom Rift is well worth your time and money. It’s a sprawling action-RPG, as you set off on an adventure as a wizard, collecting spells and equipment and battling through monsters in your path. A familiar formula, but one that feels really fresh here.
iPhone / iPad
Rapture - World Conquest (£1.99 + IAP) [18]
I’m a long-time fan of the Civilization games, so Rapture appealed straight away with its promise of similar world-conquering strategy, but with intense, five-minute bursts condensing several millennia. It’s really good fun too, as you batter rival civilisations and rain down natural disasters.
iPhone / iPad
Banner Saga (£6.99) [19]
Known to many as “the game that got into a trademark battle with the Candy Crush Saga peopleâ€, Banner Saga deserves acclaim in its own right as an engrossing tactical RPG ditching the usual fantasy creatures in favour of Norse mythology as its theme. It’s an indie treat that thoroughly merits its price.
iPhone / iPad
Fotonica (£1.99) [20]
Freemium games may make the most money on iOS, but Apple’s App Store has a wealth of excellent paid games that deserve your support too. Fotonica is the perfect example: a stylish endless runner with wireframe-style visuals, a made-to-measure electronica soundtrack, and bags of playability.
iPhone / iPad
Shades: A Simple Puzzle Game (0.69) [21]
From Tetris to Threes, block-shifting puzzle games have been big hits on mobile devices. Can Shades follow suit? It has the simple-to-grasp-hard-to-master dynamic down well, as you drag falling blocks into place to combine and clear rows. Fun for a five-minute bash, but with real challenge as the level-number mounts.
iPhone / iPad
Goat Simulator (£2.99) [22]
Finally: goats. Goat Simulator is more than a meme: it’s a quirky, addictive game in its own right. But yes, the meme looms large: the sheer silliness of running around butting scenery as a goat should bring a smile to your face. The developers are making its bugs a selling point, too: “not even the sky is the limit, as you can probably just bug through it and crash the game...â€
iPhone / iPad
The Secret of Raven Rock (£1.49) [23]
Finally, an atmospheric puzzle-adventure that involves getting to the bottom of a secret in an abandoned town, gathering clues and items to help you unravel the mystery. The puzzles are suitably brain-taxing, but with persistence you’ll find your way through.
iPhone / iPad
That’s my choice, but what iOS apps and games have you been using recently? Make your recommendations â€" or give your views on the picks above â€" in the comments section.
Links
- ^ SwiftKey Keyboard (Free) (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ Swype - Keyboard (£0.69) (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ Fleksy Keyboard (£0.69 + IAP) (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ Seasonal Cities (Free + IAP) (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ Vice News (Free) (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ Fotograf (£1.49 + IAP) (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ Stress & Anxiety Companion (£3.99) (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ Sleepio (Free) (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ SpeakaLegend (£1.99) (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ AJ+ (Free) (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ London Plaques: Explore London (£1.99) (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ ROL (Free) (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ Post-it Plus (Free) (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ Turbo Dismount (Free + IAP) (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ Plunder Pirates (Free + IAP) (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ FIFA 15 Ultimate Team (Free + IAP) (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ Phantom Rift (£1.99 + IAP) (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ Rapture - World Conquest (£1.99 + IAP) (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ Banner Saga (£6.99) (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ Fotonica (£1.99) (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ Shades: A Simple Puzzle Game (0.69) (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ Goat Simulator (£2.99) (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ The Secret of Raven Rock (£1.49) (itunes.apple.com)
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