App stores are crowded places these days, and because storage space on your phone is often at a premium, you’ll want to fill it with not only the best, but also the most helpful apps out there. Because they come and go quicker than the latest fashion trends, and digging through Google Play, the iTunes App Store, or any of the others is such a mission; a little nudge in the right direction is often very welcome. Here are the apps we think you need to check out this week.
The grocery store can be an intimidating place, especially if you’re trying to eat healthy. Each item of food has an individual label with barely legible print explaining what’s is inside, but you often need to look up what half the ingredients actually are. Trying to find the food that fits into your diet can be like finding a needle in a haystack, unless you have a tool like ipiit.
All you have to do is scan the item’s barcode to pull up the relevant information you need to know. Fill the app with your personal preferences and it can help you avoid the stuff that won’t work and find the products that will. Whether you’re going the way of the paleo diet plan or you just want to cut out high fructose corn syrup, ipiit will bring that information to the forefront every time you run an item through its extensive database.
Everybody could use a little extra break in their day. Make the world slow down around you and get a better grasp on the rest of your day with the help of Pause. Utilizing the ancient principles and mindfulness techniques of Tai Chi, Pause helps you hit the breaks so you can clear your mind of stress. A few minutes with Pause and you’ll be able to approach the remainder of the day with renewed vigor and a stress-free mindset.
Weather apps are a dime a dozen, but they’re worth even less than that if they aren’t accurate. Instead of relying on weather apps that present old data or get their information from less accurate sources, Sunshine aims to provide as personal and local of a forecast as possible. The app taps into the sensors on your phone to read the world around you and gather data that can provide additional insight into what kind of weather you can expect. You’ll never get caught by surprise in a downpour again.
We’ve seen plenty of apps for sharing photos with friends, but how about moving pictures? Vidku aims to keep you connected with the people you care about by making it easy to share personal video clips with your contacts. You can create a group and invite the people you want to share with, allowing everyone to put their videos in the shared stream. The app will show you who’s viewed and liked the footage. You have complete control over who can see your video at all times so it will only be seen by the eyes its intended for.
By now, everyone is familiar with Tinder and the interface that it helped popularize. Swiping right or left has been applied to just about everything imaginable. Posyt is the latest to make use of the UI, though it’s the first one that might actually lead to a better alternative. Posyt is all about sharing ideas. You can toss your thoughts and concepts out anonymously and the app will spread the idea to those who might like it. If you match interest in someone else’s idea, you get connected and can chat. Who knows, you might meet your next business partner.
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.
Samsung’s scandal over its Game Optimizing Service, or GOS, has returned with a bill attached. South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has tentatively fined the company 20.1 billion won, or about $15.1 million, over gaming claims made for the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S22, and Tab S8.
The regulator says Samsung promoted the devices as gaming powerhouses without disclosing that GOS placed preset CPU and GPU limits on certain demanding games. Samsung disputes that conclusion, calling GOS a legitimate way to manage heat.