April is upon us already, and you’ve just about survived the barrage of the worst April Fools’ puns the Web can throw at you, but before you close your browser in disgust, check out the best of last month’s new and updated iPhone apps.
As always, only the best apps each month make it into these roundups, so no skipping ahead.
And when you’re done, you can let us know your favorite ones I missed out in the comments below.
Letterboxd
If finding a movie to watch feels like an endless chore, then cinema buffs will be pleased to hear that Letterboxd’s awesome Web app has finally made the jump to iOS.
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You get a feed of popular movies across the user base, things that your friends watch and reviews on how much they enjoyed them. Once you’ve watched a film, you can then mark it as watched (and leave your own review).
Naturally, you can also scan through the catalog by ‘most popular’ or for searching for a specific item.
However you find something, it’s got to be better than sitting there saying ‘what shall we watch’ for hours on end.
Flyover Country
If you make a lot of frequent flights, or simply don’t get enough information from your in-flight info systems, then Flyover Country can fill in the gaps about your journey.
Available for iOS and Android, the app not only shows your exact location, but also any points of interest that you’re passing over. If you see anything that particularly excites you, you can dig further into the data.
And no, you won’t need the (often pricey) in-flight WiFi for the app to work – it uses GPS and cached data to work out your position.
Kaboom
If you love messaging but would rather not have your messages out there for all eternity, then Kaboom’s keyboard that creates destructible links is worth checking out.
In a nutshell, it’s a keyboard for iOS devices that lets you type out your message, attach any images you want to include (if applicable) and then it generates a secure link and sends it to the recipient.
You can set the message to expire either based on a timer, or based on the total number of views it gets.
It’s probably not going to be your everyday messaging app, but if you need to send info to an entire group of people, it could well come in handy.
➤ Kaboom
Remente
There are a lot of apps available for mood logging and stress reduction, but few offer advice on a whole range of different aspects of your life in order to make you a bit happier.
Remente, however, tries to do exactly that by walking through a quick happiness rating tour of various parts of your life – like money, relationship, health etc.
It then suggests programs of goals to achieve those ends, or you can set up your own custom ones.
Handily, it’s also free to download on both Android and iOS – though a Premium subscription that gives access to in-app courses on things like leadership and stress management will cost you a not inconsiderable $8.99, making it about the same price as Spotify or Netflix.
➤ Remente
CD Scanner for Spotify
Listening to CDs might not be the everyday occurence it once was, but I’ll bet you probably still have a stack of your favorite albums tucked away somewhere ‘just in case.’
Now, you can ditch them once and for all by using CD Scanner for Spotify to import your collection into playlists within the music service.
All you need to do is scan the barcode on the CD case, and the album will be imported into your playlist. If the same version isn’t available on Spotify, the app will look for a different version of the same album.
It’ll cost you $1.99 to download, though.
Logo Foundry
Need a logo in a hurry? For some reason only want to design it from your phone? No worries! Logo Foundry for exactly this purpose.
It’s perhaps not going to give you the same results as hiring, say, an actual designer, but it’s worth a look if you’re after some templates with pre-loaded fonts and support for things like layers and rounded logos.
If you fancy having a play around with it to see what it can do, it’s free to download and also useful for things like stickers, if you don’t have a company brand to conjure up right now.
Cryptomator
If you’re concerned about the security of your files and the privacy of your personal data, there’s a good chance that you’re all across the encryption tools available, but in case you missed it, Cryptomator’s new iPhone app will secure all your files locally before uploading them to the cloud.
Encrypting before uploading ensures additional peace of mind that no-one can intercept your unencrypted files before they reach their destination.
Cryptomator works with a range of popular cloud storage options – including Google Drive and Dropbox – and offers 256-bit AES client-side security.
Right now, it’s only for iPhone and desktop, but there’s an Android version on the way.
Imgur
No one knows the faltering attention spans of millennials like everyone’s favorite GIF repository Imgur, which is why last month it updated its Android and iOS apps with a new look and some redesigned features.
On iOS devices, the update brings 3D Touch support and Spotlight search, as well as a landscape mode and new gestures for easier navigation.
➤ Imgur
Plane
There are lots of social networking tools, and lots of apps to meet new people, but Plane’s take on how to find interesting people in an unfamiliar area has a minimalistic charm.
All you do is enter a ‘signal’ with the sort of people you want to get in touch with and wait for the responses to roll in, or so the theory goes. Responses are initially public, but can be made private to exchange contact details.
Each Signal fades away after 24 hours, and the app currently supports filtering by city – but only for 19 cities. If you’re not in one of those, you can enter your location manually.
Whether or not it will succeed in such a competitive space remains to be seen, but it’s an interesting approach in an age of information overload.
➤ Plane
Ulysses
If you’re looking for a new text editor for iPhone, then the freshly launched Ulysses on iOS is worth a peek.
Previously existing only on the desktop or iPad, this is the first version aimed at phones, but it keeps the same simple, text-centric approach of its counterparts.
You can flick through your notes in the sidebar, allowing easy access to your files and filters for sorting.
The catch for this simplicity? $19.99 in the US or £18.99 currently in the UK.
➤ Ulysses
Shorts
Shorts is an app designed for the proverbial social butterfly who wants to share every single picture they take automatically.
For some people this will sound like a nightmare, but Shorts allows you to look at any photo on any friend’s Camera Roll – and in exchange, they get to look at all of yours.
If you’ve always wanted access to endless pictures of photos that have been deemed not worth sharing publicly, and presumably more dinner shots than you can imagine, then Shorts is free to download on the App Store.
➤ Shorts
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