App stores are crowded places these days, and because storage space on your phone is often at a premium, you’ll want to find and fill it with not only the best, but also the most helpful apps out there. Apps 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; so a little nudge in the right direction is often very welcome. Here are the apps we think you need to check out this week.
There’s no shortage of dating apps out there, but most of them aren’t all that different. You build a profile, upload some pictures, browse through people, and try to meet someone you can get along with. It sounds simple, but trying to come up with something to say about yourself is harder than it sounds. It becomes a game of trying to craft the perfect version of yourself to present to people.
JigTalk isn’t so interested in that. It’d rather boil everyone down to some basic icebreakers and see where things go. Tell people your occupation, favorite thing, and a random fact about yourself. If those things appeal, a conversation van be started. They won’t see your picture—and you won’t see theirs—until that happens, but not all in one go. The longer you stay connected, the more is revealed. When all 16 pieces of the puzzle is gone, you can see their full face. From there, it’s all up to you.
When you think of email and Microsoft, there’s probably two things that come to mind: the now defunct Hotmail, and Outlook. Microsoft wants to redefine the medium and how you think of it, which is why it’s rolled out Send, the new app from Microsoft’s Garage app works. It’s like turning email into an instant messenger app with your entire address book available. Send off quick notes to people instead of composing a new message so you can get in and out without any additional steps, while getting your message into the inbox it’s intended for.
Social networks usually revolve around text, photos, and videos. SayMore wants to add voice into the equation. The smartphone app connects you with other people who want to chat on the phone. You can chat about whatever you want, find people with similar interests, or just connect with a random person and see what happens. Imagine that, using your phone to talk to people.
There’s a lot of noise when it comes to Twitter, and it only gets louder as you add more people to your “following” list. Storyline is a new app that aims to get rid of all that clutter. The new way to experience the micro-blogging platform organizes tweets by user instead of displaying it in a massive stream. Viewing a tweet makes it disappear from your feed, ensuring you don’t run past duplicate tweets and giving you the feeling of conquering the feed.
Who’s nearby and what are they up to? If you want answers to those questions, you might turn to Nod. The anonymous messenger connects you with people in your proximity so you can chat with other people in your city who have nothing to do but talk with strangers. The app is about as minimalist as you can get: there are no usernames, no phone numbers, and no connecting your social networks. You just fire it up, and see what’s going on around you.
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.