Onavo
For iPhone
Price: Free
Ratings: 5/5
If you're pushing the limits of your data
tariff or travel abroad regularly, Onavo is a real money saver, crunching down
the data you use for apps, email and web browsing. The app runs quietly in the
background, but also has stats to show your savings.
iPhoto
For iPad
Price: $5
Ratings: 5/5
If you'd told us you enjoy photo editing
before we tried iPhoto, we'd have considered you a bit strange. But brushing in
fixes, tints, enhancements and effects with a fingertip is truly joyful, and
creating collage ‘Journals' for yourself and friends is addictive. Powerful and
fun.
New Star Soccer
For iPhone, Android
Price: Free
Ratings: 5/5
Like a cross between Angry Birds and
Football Manager Handheld, the ultra-addictive New Star Soccer
puts you in the boots of an up and coming footballer. Swipe to make passes and
score (both on and off the pitch) in your quest to be the best player around.
Plague Inc
For iPhone
Price: $1
Ratings: 5/5
Life getting you down? You'll feel a lot
better after wiping it all out in this clever strategy game, in which you
evolve a deadly pathogen with the aim of turning Earth into a barren wasteland.
Tasteless? Well, it's what Simon Cowell's been trying to do for years now.
TripIt
For iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Nokia
Price: Free
Ratings: 5/5
Until iOS 6 brings Passbook to your iPhone,
the easiest way to keep track of travel tickets and hotel reservations is
TripIt. Just forward your confirmation emails to it and they'll pop up in the
app and best of all, it's available for multiple platforms.
WhatsApp Messenger
For iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Nokia
Price: Free
Ratings: 5/5
WhatsApp is gunning for BBM's mobile
messaging crown, aided by its multiplatform support. You can message individual
friends or hold group chats, with photo and video sharing too - all free over
your data connection. App is free for the first year.
Pocket
For iPad, Android
Price: Free
Ratings: 5/5
Pocket is one of those apps that you'll
wonder how you ever managed without. Whenever you find an interesting link
online, send it to Pocket and it'll be saved offline to be read later. Just
make sure you've got plenty of time set aside for catching up.
I couldn't live without it
Comics
For Android, iPhone, iPad
Price: Free
Comic collectors who bag their every issue,
file them alphabetically, and wear gloves while reading might not be fans of
the digital comic revolution but it's happening, with or without them. Comics
aggregates digital versions of Marvel, DC, The Walking Dead and loads of
other indie houses, all available through in-app purchases. And thanks to pane
to pane smart reading transitions, it can actually be better than a hard copy,
where it's all too tempting to glance to the page ahead. Throw in over 500
comics available for free, and it's looking like a good deal. Besides, getting
fingerprints on a touchscreen is kind of the point.
News
Since updating to iOS 6 you might have
noticed something missing. No, not Google Maps and (hopefully) not all your
contacts - we're talking about the baked-in YouTube app that's been part of
Apple's mobile OS since day one. You can still watch videos of animals shouting
like humans from Safari (our favourite is here: bit.ly/sealscream), but the new
standalone app is worth the free download. It's been redesigned to look more
like the Android version, with improved navigation, AirPlay support and thanks
to pre-roll ads more music videos available to watch via Vevo. It's not often
that the addition of ads could be considered a good thing, but in this case
we'll make an exception.
