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.
Just about every part of the Web has evolved significantly over the past years. Websites are more vibrant, fluid, and functional. Social networks are more uniform and controlled. Messaging services are much easier to navigate and populate with friends and family. Then there’s email, with its catch-all inbox that serves primarily to be flooded by newsletters you don’t remember signing up for and unsolicited communication from people you’ve never met. No one truly enjoys dealing with email, it’s just the mode of communication that has withstood the tests of Internet time.
Zero aims to finally modernize the inbox to make it a place you don’t fear visiting. The app aims to sort your emails by importance, utilizing an algorithm that notes who and what matters, so those messages rise to the top. It also shrinks emails down to summarized cards that can be browsed through like a social feed, giving it a familiar feel and making it much easier to get the information you need, and when it comes to cleaning out your inbox of unwanted messages, all it takes is a swipe.
With the release of Apple’s latest line of iPhones — the 6S and 6S Plus — came a wealth of additional features included in the devices. One of the most popular additions is Live Photos, Apple’s quick, animated take on photos that shows the moments before and after a still shot is taken. The problem is, those moving shots are pretty much stuck on the device. Live GIF turns those brief animations into GIF format so you can share them just about anywhere and let others get a look at the awesome effect.
No matter how remote a location you think you may have found, odds are someone got there before you, and someone will be there after you. But every visit is a unique experience, and you can capture and share yours with TapTag. Think of TapTag as a sort of digital photography graffiti; when you go somewhere, you can see photos left behind by others who have visited the same place, or you can leave a picture of your own for the next person who passes through.
Pretty much everything on the Internet is in list format. This thing that you’re reading right now? It’s a list. But some lists are better than others. If only you could list the best lists. Well, luckily now you can. From the brain of comedian and actor BJ Novak comes List App, the app that is all about lists. Make a list of just about anything and share it, or browse through other lists and see how people rank anything you can think of. If you had to list all the apps about lists, List App would be the number one.
Video is quickly becoming one of the more popular mediums of communication thanks to apps like Snapchat and live streaming services like Periscope. Chubble occupies the middle ground between those types of apps. Instead of a short, disappearing clip or an hour-long live stream, Chubble lets you share a 90-second live moment as it happens and gives you friends a chance to respond to your video in real time with reactions that you can see.
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.
Apple's next cheaper iPhone could get a brand-new processor while keeping its most stubborn display compromise. Digital Chat Station tips the iPhone 18e for a 2027 release with a 2nm A20 chip and a 6.12-inch OLED screen still limited to 60Hz.
The rumored camera setup includes a single 48MP rear camera and a possible 24MP selfie camera. There's new hardware to consider, but buyers hoping Apple would extend that upgrade generosity to smoother scrolling could be disappointed.