Our 5 favourite new Windows Phone apps of the week
Another month down! Though we’ve barely noticed, as we’ve been so busy with our new apps and games.
If you’re worried about entering June with a shortage of new toys to test, then never fear, you’ve come to the right place. Here are five to get you started – our five favourite new and updated apps from the past seven days. Get downloading!
Guitar Tuna
What is it: a guitar-tuning app
Why we love it: Okay, this is from the last eight days, but we didn’t want you guys to miss out! This newly updated app claims to tune anything – any type of guitar, that is, both acoustic and electric, from banjos and ukuleles to 12-string guitars. There’s an auto and a manual mode for tuning, a built-in metronome that flashes and beeps, and also three mini games to help you learn the chords and train your ears. Easy to use once you’ve got some rudimentary knowledge, and great value at the grand prize of no money at all.
Who it’s perfect for: mobile musicians
BBC iPlayer
What is it: a mobile TV app
Why we love it: This is another update rather than a brand-new app, but the BBC have really overhauled it so we thought it was worth flagging up to our UK license-holders. Apparently they’re now using what’s called an adaptive bitrate player, which means you should get better pictures even if you’ve got low connectivity. While radio services have been removed (they’re working on the radio version of the app), Live TV has been added so what you get in the mobile app reflects more accurately the desktop iPlayer experience. An excellent edition to your app portfolio if you live in that region.
Who it’s perfect for: UK-based TV fans
Telegram
What is it: a messaging app
Why we love it: Back in February we covered the third-party Telegram client, Migram, which we liked, but it’s still good to see another option come to WP. It’s a cloud-based encrypted messaging service which feels, on the user-end, very similar to WhatsApp, but it’s supposed to be more secure. It’ll auto-save incoming photos (if you enable that), it’s got in-app notifications and it allows group messages. So far, so good! Definitely worth checking out.
Who it’s perfect for: texters
Clipr
What is it: a photo-editing app
Why we love it: This is on the funky rather than the deadly-serious end of photo apps: it lets you take bits from one picture and merge them with another, creating your own photo-montages. Clip people from snapshots and stick them in front of a new background or layer one image over another – it’s not super-sophisticated, but it’s fun. Try it and see!
Who it’s perfect for: fun-loving photographers
PinPNG
What is it: an app for personalising your Start screen
Why we love it: This is a WP 8.1 app, so those of us who have yet to upgrade won’t get the benefit, but for those of you who have made the move, this is a handy little number which lets you pin imported PNG files (photos or other images) to the Start screen in the form of tiles. Like other apps, it supports transparent tiles, but what makes it special is that it lets you choose which of the tiles are transparent and which are not. We reckon the user experience could be a little smoother, but the results look great. What do you think?
Who it’s perfect for: tile artists
These should sort you out for today, at least. And if you’ve found anything else that warrants a mention, please share the app love in the comments below.
Image credit: ItsPaulKelly