Awesome Apps

Switchboard is an iOS app that offers hands-free voice chat. You can mute contacts, set your availability and control how your music player’s volume will adjust when someone’s speaking. It also offers Slack integration. You can try the MacOS beta here.

Justin Fincher’s Skyline is an Android app inspired by the Pixel 2’s live wallpaper. Enter the name of a place or a set of coordinates and it will generate a wallpaper using the location’s terrain. The wallpaper moves slightly when you swipe on the screen or rotate your phone.

Dries Depoorter and David Surprenant’s chat app has one unique criteria for its users: you can only enter a chat if your phone has less than 5% battery left. So chat away with strangers and express your woe as your phone’s battery icon turns red and fades off into oblivion.

You can now take advantage of Grammarly’s helpful grammar- and spell-checking features on iOS and Android devices, thanks to the free Grammarly keyboard. Grammarly Premium users will also be able to see suggestions for style and vocabulary enhancements.

Reflector 3 wirelessly mirrors your iOS or Android device’s screen to a Mac or Windows computer as well as to an Android device, such as Amazon Fire TV or Android-enabled smart TVs. You can take screenshots, record screens and even have audio-only streams.

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp might just be Nintendo’s most faithful mobile game port yet. Available for both iOS and Android, it retains much of the spirit and gameplay of its 3DS counterparts. Make friends, collect items and upgrade your house, albeit at a smaller scale.

Waltr 2 is a Mac and Windows program that lets you transfer music, video, ePub and PDF files to iOS devices over USB or Wi-Fi. No need for iTunes. It automatically grabs metadata online, and converts your music or video for playback if needed. It also supports legacy iPods.

An idiotproof way to stream videos and music from a Mac to a variety of TVs, media players and speakers. Just drag and drop files, select a destination and start playing. It works with the Apple TV and Google Chromecast, as well as devices that support AirPlay and Google Cast.

Action Launcher does more than provide an alternate launch screen and customizable themes for your Android device. It also adds convenient features such as the Pixel 2’s search bar, app shortcuts, a Google Calendar/weather combo widget and so much more.

Movies Anywhere gathers your movies from Vudu, iTunes, Google Play, Amazon and Blu-ray download codes into one streaming app. The app is available on iOS, Android, Roku and Chromecast devices. It works with Disney, 20th Century Fox, Universal and Warner Bros. films.

Pinstriped is a specialized presentation software for running more efficient and organized meetings. It lets you set a timer for each part of the meeting, organize content under each part, add content during the meeting, send follow up emails and more.

(PG-13) The future of comic books. Written, illustrated and animated by André Bergs, Protanopia is a digital comic book set during World War II. Each panel is made of layers of animated 3D models. When you tilt your iOS device, the panels’ view adjusts accordingly.

The best furniture augmented reality app we’ve seen. Housecraft for iOS 11 is incredibly responsive and has resizable furniture and plants. You can save layouts and load them in other places. Or just see what it would be like if you had a dozen couches.

Become the wind and bring life to flowers’ dreams. No threats, no wins, no scores. Previously exclusive to the PlayStation 4, Thatgamecompany’s critically-acclaimed motion-controlled casual game Flower is finally available for iOS devices.

IKEA’s Place is a new app that takes advantage of iOS 11’s exclusive augmented reality features. Scan a space, then browse for furniture. Your chosen product will pop up on your iOS device’s screen, accurately scaled to your room. You can even go around and zoom in on the furniture.

MoviePass is a monthly subscription service that lets US residents watch up to one movie per day in a theater. It recently lowered its monthly fee to just $10. The problem? You have to sign up first to see if there’s a supported theater in your area. And AMC wants out of the deal.

Keep your Mac’s desktop clean and more with Unclutter. It has drop-down fields where you can store files and shortcuts, manage your clipboard and make notes. It can also sync your files and notes via Dropbox. If you own DaisyDisk, you can buy Unclutter for just $5.

Another challenging escape the room-style puzzle game from the makers of The Forgotten Room. In All That Remains, your character must unlock and get out of his family’s bunker to rescue his sister. Available for Windows, Mac OS, iOS and Android.

Privatix’s free service lets you generate dummy email accounts for anonymity and security. It has apps for iOS and Android plus browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Opera. The only downside is that you have to go to their site to check your dummy inbox.

DigiDNA’s free software lets you wirelessly backup your iOS device to a Mac or Windows computer without using iTunes. If you want more features such as individual app, file and media backups, check out its big brother, iMazing.

(PG-13, Gore) A turn-based puzzle that parodies slasher flicks. You play as Skullface, a serial killer who can move only orthogonally. Like a skull-faced rook. Observe your victims’ movement, evade cops and collect gruesome trophies. Available on PCs, iOS and Android.

YouTube for podcasts. Anchor lets you make and publish podcasts right from your iOS or Android device. You can broadcast anything that your device can hear, including music from Spotify and Apple Music, and even call-ins from your listeners.

The sequel to one of the most beautiful and enthralling puzzle games ever made. Monument Valley 2 introduces a new story and new characters. Help Ro teach her child about the magical ways of Monument Valley. Currently on iOS only.