APPS
Android - FREE
Looking for an alternative to Google Maps on your Android device? Nokia has made its maps and satnav app available in beta form for free. It’s impressive, whether navigating on foot or by car, particularly offline when reception is low or non-existent.
iOS/Android - FREE
Recently ported from iOS to Android, this is an excellent way to catch up on new music if you don’t have time to read dozens of blogs. Its magazine-style issues are released every three months with reviews, features, interviews and streamed music.
Android - FREE
Humin is an interesting attempt to reinvent the humble contacts app, sorting the people you talk to and text in a smarter order than alphabetical. It lets you search by contexts, including where they live and when you last met them.
iOS/Android - FREE
Backed by one of Skype’s founders, Wire is aiming to top that app as a better way to communicate through voice calls and instant messaging. Its swish design impresses, as does its call quality, but for now it’s missing one big feature: video calls.
iOS £1.99/Android £2.19
This app’s developer was behind the undead-themed fitness app Zombies, Run! This hass a different slant: you battle virtual alien invaders with real-life punches and crunches.
iOS/Android - FREE
Millions of children are avid viewers of the Minecraft videos of Stampy, aka British YouTuber Joseph Garrett. Now there’s an official app for his engaging blend of creativity and digital buffoonery – crucially, without swearing, unlike many of his peers.
iOS/Android - FREE
Recently crossing from Android to iOS, Lingua.ly aims to help you learn languages by reading articles and tapping on words you don’t know to get their translation. This is then reinforced with multimedia flashcards. Simple and very effective.
iOS/Android - FREE
You set an alarm and are woken up by a call from a real person: another Wakie user. But they’re friendly, with calls capped at 60 seconds and the promise of “no awkward goodbyes”. It’s rather charming.
iOS - FREE
Not many children have a 3D printer to hand at home, but My Little Monster lets them dabble with the new technology from afar. They create a colourful little monster within the app, customising its eyes, teeth and accessories. Then you can order it as a 3D-printed figurine for under £19, including postage.
iOS/Android
Indiegogo is the main rival to crowdfunding website Kickstarter: a place where musicians, film-makers, gadget makers and others try to raise money for their grand schemes. Indiegogo’s app is an easy way to keep track of campaigns you’ve pledged to, as well as browsing ones you might be interested in.
GAMES
iOS/Android (freemium)
The most addictive mobile game in recent memory, this takes the road-crossing premise of arcade classic Frogger, then runs (well, hops) with it. Your job: to cross roads, rail tracks and rivers with a host of characters, hitting restart after every splat to get them back into the action.
iOS (£2.99)/Android (£3)
Jules Verne’s book gets reinvented as an excellent mobile game: a choose-your-own-adventure novel that encourages repeated ‘plays’ to discover different cities and characters. Sitting somewhere between books and gaming, it’s an absorbing read and play.
iOS/Android (freemium)
Tired of match-three puzzle games in the Candy Crush style? Best Fiends could be the answer: you trace lines of coloured symbols to help your cute fiends destroy grumpy slugs. It’s got lots of just-one-more-go addictive qualities.
iOS/Android (freemium)
The original Peggle remains a brilliant mobile puzzler and while its reinvention as a freemium game was risky, it should find a wider audience. Firing balls into a screen of pegs to make the orange ones disappear sounds simple, but there’s plenty of strategy involved.
iOS (£1.99)/Android (£1.80)
There are no in-app purchases in Twisty Hollow, just your own skills. It’s a neat spin on the match-three genre, as you work your way through 50 levels making combinations to build items for townsfolk.
iOS (£1.99)
Many think great platform games need physical controls - buttons and joypads. Bean Dreams proves them wrong: it’s a beautifully crafted platformer with slick touchscreen controls and bags of character. Its polished sound and visuals ooze quality.
iOS (freemium)
Seabeard takes many of its cues from Nintendo’s Animal Crossing franchise, but adds other features. This pirate game sees you restore an island village and quest across its quirky world.
iPad (£4.99)
By some distance the bleakest game you’ll play on iPad – but also the most thought-provoking. You play an immigration officer in a fictional east European country, juggling rules and responsibilities with a sharp revolutionary subplot.
iOS/Android (£2.99)
If snow comes in 2015, kids’ interest in walking in the air may be rekindled. This is a lovely take on the latest Snowman TV film, as you soar above London and other cities collecting snowflakes.
iOS/Android (freemium)
This colourful game comes from the company behind children’s virtual world Moshi Monsters, but it’s for gamers of all ages. You collect historical warriors and send them out to fight, upgrading their levels as you go. It has the makings of a fun and rewarding game.
