Our 5 favourite new Windows Phone apps of the week
Sunny days, grey days, drizzly, foggy or heat-wave days: any type of day is an app-tastic day round these parts!
So sit down, polish your Gorilla Glass and ready those tapping fingers for our latest dose of fun – here’s the best five apps (some new, some updates) that we’ve rooted out in the Windows Store this week. Also, as the WP8.1 rollout gains momentum, were going to start featuring a few more apps specific to that platform, but don’t worry: we won’t be abandoning the WP8 crew! Commence downloading in five, four, three…
Swarm
What is it: a social-media check-in service
Why we love it: This is the new app from FourSquare: it’s less about point-scoring than its parent app (no more being Mayor of your local cornershop) and more about seeing where your friends are hanging out – focusing on the stalking element of social media, one might suggest, but fun nonetheless. It came out over a week ago and was rather buggy, but the latest updates have corrected that. Mixed reports so far, but we’re still interested…
Who it’s perfect for: busy social types. WP8.1 only.
Songbox
What is it: A singing game for social media users
Why we love it: Record yourself singing a snatch of your favourite song, upload it and wait for other users to rate it… Sort of like a peer-reviewed X-Factor for your phone, this is pretty funky for those of us that like karaoke. You’ll need to set up an account but it’s all free. Not for the tone-deaf!
Who it’s perfect for: Singers
GT Racing 2
What is it: a racing game
Why we love it: This one isn’t exactly fresh out of the box (it hit the Windows store in June), but the latest update means it’s now available for users with 512B phones – so it’ll be brand new to quite a lot of you. It’s a realistic raver with a garage-load of swish cards, a great physics engine for realistic moves, plenty of tracks, single and multi-player modes, and more.
Who it’s perfect for: racing fiends
AccuWeather
What is it: a weather app
Why we love it: We’ve long been fans of AccuWeather, but this update brings the incredibly handy MinuteCast feature, which brings your really detailed precipitation forecasts for your exact street address! Great for anyone who likes to leave the house – and UK users might especially appreciate the update! So far this particular feature is only enabled for the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland and Japan, but that’s a pretty good start.
Who it’s perfect for: anyone who wants to avoid the rain!
OneDrive
What is it: Microsoft’s cloud storage system
Why we love it: We’re already on record as loving OneDrive, and we particularly like the way the storage limits have expanded lately, but this latest update adds even better functionality: version 4.3 includes recycled bin access to the mobile app. This means you’ll be able to access recently deleted files, and while that sounds minor, we’ve all binned the wrong document from time to time, right? Now you’ll be able to tap those files to restore (or permanently erase) them. Very handy indeed.
Who it’s perfect for: folk who access documents on the go.
How was that? Does your cup runneth over? By ‘cup’, of course we mean Lumia, and if it’s leaking you’re probably in trouble, but either way, drop us a line! Let us know in the comments which apps you’ve enjoyed this week and whether or not these five have tickled your fancy.