THE BEST Apps

Science education channel Kurzgesagt teamed up with storytellers Wait But Why to create their first official mobile app, an interactive plaything that lets you view the relative size of things in the universe. Swipe left to zoom in. Swipe right to zoom out. Then tap on objects for fun facts about them. Available on iOS and Android.

Do you have trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep? Restflix is a streaming service dedicated to putting you to sleep. Its 20 channels are loaded with meditative music, bedtime stories, and calming videos to help relax your mind and help you drift off. Works with iOS, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Roku, or Android devices.

This bundle of five self-improvement apps and online services offers tools for mind, body, and soul. Learn new languages with uTalk, improve your focus with MindFi, read faster with 7 Speed Reading, tune-up your fitness and diet with Fitterclub, and grow your job skills with Integrity Training. All five subscriptions include lifetime access.

Cord cutters rejoice! This service unifies guide data from countless TV stations and streaming services, giving you easy access to 10,000 free movies, 250,000 free TV episodes, and 50,000 radio stations, as well as an easy way to find paid content across platforms. Save on a 2-year or 5-year subscription in The Awesomer Shop.

Working from home means more e-mails and teleconferences. ShoulderTap aims to fill in another communication gap from physical offices – being able to pop over to someone’s desk for a quick question. The MacOS app works with FaceTime to enable instant audio calls based on your colleagues’ availability preferences.

No time in your busy schedule to read those books on your shelf? Sumizeit combs through popular business books, pulls out the most important points, and turns them into easy-to-digest snippets you can read in 3 to 5 minutes each. Take an extra 15% off a lifetime membership using code BFSAVE15 (expires 12/15/19)

Grab a great deal on the Pro version of Fotor’s online image editing app. It includes tools for portrait touch-ups, over 100 photo effects, sticker and frame overlays, and cloud storage of your files. Choose a 1-year, 3-year, or 5-year subscription in The Awesomer Shop.

Minecraft Earth is an upcoming free-to-play augmented reality mobile game for iOS and Android devices. It will let you build small or life-size structures with the real world as your canvas, as well as collect and battle mobs. A closed beta will launch this summer 2019.

Jumbo is a privacy app that makes it easy to access your social media account’s deletion or security settings. Right now, it lets you delete old tweets and your Google search history, as well as set your Facebook privacy settings. It will soon work with Instagram and Tinder.

Sennep Games’ Alphaputt is an iOS game that combines mini golf, typography, animation and physics to create a fun experience that’s pleasing to the eye. You can play solo or with up to three other players. Play through the alphabet or type in a custom course.

HazeOver is a great addition for any Mac user who works on a large display, multiple monitors, or just keeps lots of windows open. To reduce distractions and improve focus, it automatically dims all but the front-most window, or all windows on the front-most app.

This app for Mac and Windows automatically enhances still photos taken with drones. It analyzes your drone’s camera type and accounts for lens correction, haze, colors and more. It can batch edit images and can be used as a plugin in Photoshop and Lightroom.

Locast is a nonprofit organization that set up a platform where customers in the US can stream local broadcasts absolutely free. You can go to their website or download their apps for iOS, Android and Roku. They’re currently available in select cities only as of this writing.

Here’s something that all online shoe stores should have. Wannaby’s Wanna Kicks is an augmented reality app for iOS. It projects 3D models of commercially available sneakers on your feet. The models are sized to your feet and accurately change perspective when you move.

AirBuddy connects your AirPods to Macs in the same manner that the earphones do on iOS devices. It also lets you see the battery status of nearby AirPods, their charging case, and even iPhones, iPads and compatible Beats headphones.

Dized is a board game companion app for both newbies and experienced players. It’s already available on both iOS and Android. You buy credit to either permanently access rules and tutorials for one game or access all resources for a month.

Progress Bar is a simple app for MacOS designed to make you more aware of the passing of time. It sits in the menu bar and shows a bar or a percentage of the day, month and year’s progress. You can even include an eerie estimate of your life’s progress.

Premiere Rush is Adobe’s easy-to-use editor for creating online videos. It has simple tools for color, audio, motion graphics and more. It also has preset export settings for social media sites. You can even shuffle your editing between its Mac, PC, and iOS versions.

In 2019, Adobe will bring a full version of Photoshop CC to the iPad. Aside from the convenience of mobile image editing and creation, the app will launch with a cloud version of PSD files, letting you continue your work from a desktop PC to your iPad and back.

Pelican Town will soon be in your pocket. The charming and addictive farming sim Stardew Valley is coming to iOS devices on 10/24/18. It’s the full game – minus multiplayer – optimized for touch controls. An Android version will follow.

Reachability Cursor is an Android app that aims to make it easier to use large smartphones by introducing a cursor that you can operate one-handed. You simply create a virtual trackpad on part of your screen that lets you swipe and click with the cursor.

FR Legends is tearing up the iOS App Store with its blend of easy to learn mechanics and comprehensive customization. The free-to-play game lets you participate in drift battles, then use your earning to pick up upgrades such as engines and body kits.

Civilization VI works great on the iPad. Now you can experience it on the iPhone as well. The critically acclaimed strategy game now works with the iPhone 7 and above. The first 60 turns are free; you can then pay to unlock the full game. It also has DLC.

Run An Empire is an augmented reality game that motivates you to run. It tracks your location and makes areas you run through part of your virtual empire. As you run, you can invade other territories and earn coins to improve your kingdom. Available for both iOS and Android.

You can stream and play Xbox One games on a Windows 10 PC. But what if you have a Mac or an iOS device? That’s what OneCast is for. It’s an easy to setup streaming client that supports the Xbox One controller. It costs $20 for Macs and $12 for iOS devices.

The built-in screenshot tool in Macs is neat. But CleanShot improves on it in several ways. First off, it can hide your desktop icons – even when you’re done taking shots. It also automatically centers the window you’re shooting. It also has quick actions for saved shots.