MORE than
four million software programs are available in the Apple and Google app
stores, including games, productivity tools and weather apps.
This year,
only a few stood out. Some of these apps were exceptional; others were useful
or funny or just well designed. Here are my picks for outstanding apps of 2016:
NUZZEL Though Nuzzel was released in
2015, it gained more popularity this year as people realized how clever it was.
The app is a news aggregator with a trick: It curates news items users may be
interested in because their friends or followers on Facebook and Twitter have
already read and shared them. This social angle works well and I find Nuzzel’s
home page is always worth scanning.
The concern
with a news app that relies on social curation is that it can create an echo
chamber — users may end up reading only the news they prefer. But another
option is to read news shared by friends of friends, which is a wider social
network that will deliver more diverse news articles. While people should not
rely on Nuzzel exclusively for news, this free iOS and Android app is worth checking out.
NPR ONE This year, NPR added new
features to its NPR One app that turned it from a popular radio-listening app
into something broader. By connecting to audio content from other suppliers,
including podcasts and locally sourced news programs, NPR One is now a one-stop
shop for all sorts of fascinating audio.
The app
even recommends related stories after users listen to a radio segment, which
can offer more about a particular topic or give a more nu
anced view about
something in the news. NPR One has a clean and simple interface, and it is free
on iOS and Android.
CASTRO Podcasts are a big phenomenon,
and the Castro app provides an elegant way to listen to podcasts and discover
new ones. Designed like a news feed, the app shows popular charts so users can
see what other people are listening to. On iOS 10, the app even integrates with
Apple’s newly enhanced iMessage chat app so users can easily share podcasts
directly inside iMessage. Elegant and powerful, Castro costs
$4 for iOS devices.
UNTAPPD This beer-tracking app got a
big upgrade in 2016, adding the ability to scan a bar code on a beer bottle so
users can add its details to a log. It also lets people hail an Uber from
inside the app so they can get to a particular bar or pub responsibly and
safely.
The Untappd
app has always been great for craft beer fans, letting aficionados keep track
of beers they have tried and those they have yet to sample. The app can
recommend beers based on someone’s previous choices and includes a social angle
to see where friends are and what they’re drinking. It’s fun, easy to use and
free on iOS and Android, though the new Uber features haven’t arrived
for Android users yet.
PIX Microsoft’s Pix brings
artificial intelligence to the smartphone camera. The app is essentially a
smart camera assistant. It can adjust different camera parameters while
shooting a quick burst of photos, and then choose the best result to keep.
In
addition, for users with shaky hands, there’s automatic image stabilization
when using Pix to shoot video. Video can also be saved at a different speed
than it was recorded. The free app is easy to use and is iOS-only.
CHEEKY
FINGERS This
is my favorite kind of app — it does a single job very well, with excellent
design and a sense of humor. The app is an assistant for those learning to play
the piano. It’s a chord dictionary that contains everything a beginner needs to
know about playing chords, using cute graphics that show fingers over a
keyboard. Cheeky Fingers is far from the most sophisticated app, but it’s
adorable and is staying on my phone. It costs $3 on iOS and Android.
A Trio of
Games
Finally,
there are guilty-pleasure apps — the time wasters, as I call them.
SUPER
STICKMAN GOLF 3 This
is a cartoonlike golfing game for thwacking a ball around unlikely terrain,
trying to avoid getting stuck to gooey walls, falling into sand traps and so on.
It’s simple but fun and free on iOS and Android.
PINOUT This is a pinball game for iOS and Android devices that brings neon lights to the
classic game, turning each table into something that looks like it’s out of the
movie “Tron.”
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