50 best apps for Windows Phone
Adam Fraser Published by Adam Fraser
News June 18, 2015
Whether you’re a Windows Phone newbie or have owned a Lumia
for a few years, be sure to get in on all the app action.
With access to the Windows Phone Store, your Lumia 1020,
Lumia 830, Lumia 735, Lumia 1520, or any other Windows
Phone can be full of all the essential apps in no time.
How many apps do you need to get started? Well, we’ve gathered
50! Let’s start with a couple of preinstalled apps.
Microsoft Office
Stepping away from the desk doesn’t always mean
we’re off the clock. It’s probably not unusual for
a work document to land in your inbox just as
you’re about to jump on the bus home.
Thankfully, with your Windows phone and Microsoft
Office, you can review, edit, or even create new
documents on the go.
OneNote
Preinstalled onto all Windows phones, OneNote is your
digital notebook. You can add photos, videos, audio clips,
as well as any text . Oh, it’s also great for creating
to-do lists.
Transfer my Data
If you are new to Windows Phone and are coming from
(almost) any other phone, this app is a must. It’ll copy
all of your contacts from your old phone to your new one
in no time.
Instagram
Taking photos on your Windows Phone is only half the fun.
Next, you’ll probably want to add a filter, maybe a frame,
and share it with your friends. For that, there’s Instagram.
Facebook
Everyone is on Facebook these days. If your friends are
doing something interesting, you’ll learn about it on this
social-media site. With Facebook on your Windows Phone,
you can update your status, read what others are up to,
and stay connected to the people who matter most to you.
Lumia Camera
Take charge of your camera to take photos like a pro.
With Lumia Camera, you can alter exposure, shutter times,
focus and create action shots with its advanced features.
Blue Skies
Is it going to rain today? How about in four minutes?
Blue Skies shows hyper-local forecasts via a simple,
clean interface.
Lumia Creative Studio
Use a range of filters to give a professional finish to your
photos and blur the background to add depth–all without
ever losing the original photo.
Twitter
Twitter is often the place where news breaks first. Remain
up-to-date with your favourite celebs, brands, friends or
family, with short, easy to digest 140-character updates
with this official app.
Tweetit
If you prefer to stray from the official Twitter app, TweetIt
is a great-looking app with beautiful animations and a clean
user interface.
Netflix
If you love streaming movies or TV shows, you’ll love Netflix.
As a subscription service, you can catch up with your favorite
shows whether you’re on the bus, the couch, or wherever you
have an Internet connection.
News
Read the day’s top stories and breaking news from the best
news media sources. Plus, easily stay up to date on any topic
you care about, from global events to local news.
Bing Translator
How do you say, “Marry me?” in French? What’s that word on
this foreign language menu? What did the tour guide just say?
Bing Translator has all the answers.
Xbox One SmartGlass
If you own an Xbox One, you’ll absolutely need this. With this
app, you can navigate your Xbox One using your Windows Phone’s
keyboard and touch interface, search, browse and pin content to
play on your console, share and post activity feed items and more.
Skype
Make free Skype-to-Skype video and voice calls as well as send
instant messages to friends and family around the world.
OneDrive
OneDrive is your cloud storage service where you can save photos,
videos, and files, all accessible from PC, Mac, tablet or smartphone.
WeChat
Popular all over the world, WeChat helps connect people together via
Instant Messaging. Whether you’re communicating one-to-one or to a
group, you can send text-based, voice and video messages to all your friends.
Adobe Photoshop Express
Although this doesn’t have all features of Photoshop
(it is a smartphone version, after all) this app is very
useful nonetheless. Edit your photos on-the-go by cropping,
rotating, or flipping, as well as removing red eye, adjusting
shadows, contrast, vibrancy and much more.
Flipboard
Flipboard is your personal magazine and it’s the best way
to catch up on news around the world or to dive deeply into
specific topics. We even have our own Lumia Conversations
magazine.
Vine
Create short, beautiful, looping videos in a simple and fun
way then share them with your friends and family on Vine,
Twitter and Facebook.
Afterlight
With 57 customizable filters and wide array of tools
(such as “clarify,” “brightness,” “saturation,” “grain”),
Afterlight is a powerful but easy-to-use photo editor
that fits into the palm of your hand.
Spotify
Tune in to your favorite artists and albums or use your
favorite songs to create your own playlists. Alternatively,
you can listen to any one of ready-made playlists available.
miCoach Train & Run
If you’ve got a Lumia with new SensorCore technology, this
app can collect personalized data such as GPS location, speed
and even steps taken in a highly efficient, low-power way.
BBM
BBM is another popular instant-messaging app where you
can send messages, pictures, voice notes and more to
other BBM users across different platforms.
#1 ToolKit
Here’s quick access to a ruler, compass, protractor, level,
flashlight, unit converter and more–all in one very useful app.
Uber
With support in more than 40 countries, Uber can order
your very own private driver at a press of a button.
Payments are all handled electronically within the app,
so there’s no need to carry cash.
Office Lens
Use you smartphone’s camera to capture receipts,
whiteboards, business cards, and other documents
in a readable and accessible way. Images are saved
to OneNote and can be converted to Word or PowerPoint files.
Video Tuner
Once you’ve filmed your video, edit it right on your Lumia.
Apply filters, add music, trim, crop, rotate, flip, mirror,
change speed, and adjust exposure, contrast, saturation
and volume to make stunning videos.
Health & Fitness
Find more than 1,000 exercise and workout videos, a nutritional
and medical reference, and trackers for diet and exercise to
help you meet your health goals. This app also makes use of
SensorCore technology.
Amazon App
Everybody uses Amazon to buy something: books, console
games, PCs, clothing, new smartphones. Whatever you buy
from Amazon, this app makes the process quicker and easier.
PayPal
Many people, even businesses, use PayPal to send and receive
payments. PayPal on your Windows Phone means you can send
and request money on the go.
Mint
Mint pulls in all your personal finance accounts into one place,
helping you manage your money from anywhere. Track your
spending, create a budget, and save more.
HERE Drive +
HERE Drive offers turn-by-turn voice guided navigation with
offline maps, meaning you’ll always get to your destination
without an Internet connection.
Wikipedia
Love Wikipedia? Is it your go-to place for learning everything?
Try the Wikipedia app with offline mode, Cortana support,
social and NFC sharing.
Dictionary
With more than 100,000 words and definitions, Dictionary
is an interactive English Dictionary.
Metrotube
If you like nothing more than watching cats play piano or
dogs skateboard down a street, you’ll need Metrotube.
Weave News Reader
Exclusive to Windows Phone, Weave is an RSS newsreader
that delivers news from any website or blog.
Nextgen Reader
A fast, clean and beautiful RSS reader for both Windows and
Windows Phone, NextGen provides offline support for reading
articles and documents later. You can also save to OneNote.
Baconit
As a social-networking service, Reddit connects millions of
people around the world to share news and entertainment.
If you love Reddit, you’ll love Baconit. Pin all your favourite
sub-reddits to your Start screen for easy access.
Readit
Another great Reddit client is Readit. Beautifully presented,
Readit features Live Tiles, Lock Screen backgrounds, toast
notifications and the ability to pin sub-reddits to your Start
Screen.
Evernote
Evernote is another note-taking app that makes saving your
thoughts and then finding them again a doddle.
All Recipes
With AllRecipes, your Windows Phone becomes a mouth-watering
cookbook by connecting you with thousands of allrecipes.com
members from the world’s number one (their words) food site.
Audible – Audiobooks
If you have no time to read a book or if you simply prefer
listening to stories, plug into Audible–the premier provider
of digital audiobooks.
TrueCaller
One of the best ways to block unwanted calls and identify
‘spammy’ callers is to use Truecaller. Works worldwide.
CycleTracks GPS
One great way to keep fit is to cycle, and millions of us
do it daily. CycleTracks GPS tracks your route and provides
real-time stats while connecting you with Strava, a
community of athletes.
Cloudoh
SoundCloud is a community of artists, bands, podcasters
and creators of music and audio. Cloudoh is simply a
SoundCloud client.
Plex
With Plex, you can easily stream your videos, music,
photos and home movies to your Windows Phone from
your home computers running Plex Media Server
(available for free at https://plex.tv/downloads).
Files
Manage the files on your Windows Phone. Browse, search
and launch files, or create folders to better organize
your content.
Microsoft Pocket Magnifier
Developed in collaboration with the Royal National Institute
of Blind People, this app can help people with poor eyesight
read books, posters, public transport timetables, etc. Let’s
face it, we’re all going to need something like this one day!
JobLens
Not only can JobLens help you create your CV, discover a
local job and guide you to the right place for your interview,
it also offers detailed location demographics and employment
trends in your field.
There you have it, 50 essential Windows Phone apps to get started.
Everything you want to know about apps... but were afraid to ask:
The Mail runs down the 100 apps that will change your life
Apps are the neatly packaged programs that make your smartphone smart and your tablet more than just a nice, shiny toy. They’re digital tools designed to do a specific job. Here are 100 of the best, most useful apps around. Many are functional, some are just fun.
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Please note this is a UK based article, but still we can find some useful Apps here for us. If you have apps that suitable to use locally in sri lanka then you are welcome to put those apps here on this thread.
if you are mobile app developer then you may find some cool ideas that probably we must have as local versions.
20 ABSOLUTE ESSENTIALS
Google
Apple, Android, Windows
Price: Free
Forget using a web-browser to get Google: just a single tap of the app’s icon
takes you straight there. And you can search without having to type by
asking Google questions via your device’s microphone. The app provides
onscreen answers and even talks back with the latest information.
Google Maps
Apple, Android
Price: Free
Most Android users will have Google Maps pre-installed on their devices,
but it’s a must for iPhone and iPad users, too. Apple’s maps aren’t quite the
disaster they were, but they’re still not a patch on Google and they don’t
have Google’s voice-activated search.
BBC Weather
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire
Price: Free
One of the best-designed and easiest-to-use weather apps around.
It automatically locates you and gives hour-by-hour local weather for the
rest of the day and night, plus less detailed forecasts for a week ahead.
Enter locations around the world for news of what’s happening elsewhere, too.
Skype
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows
Price: Free
Download Skype, set up a user name and with just a click of your mouse
you can video-call any other Skype user, anywhere in the world free, via
the internet. It’s a revolution in face-to-face communications. For a small
fee, you can also call landlines and mobiles.
Facebook
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows
Price: Free
One in six of the world’s population uses Facebook, so this is as essential
as social media gets. The Facebook app keeps you up to date with friends’
posts via a News Feed, notifies you of new friend requests, comments and
‘likes’, and allows you to post status updates and photos via easy-to-use buttons.
Twitter
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows
Price: Free
Twitter’s instant, abbreviated format, with its 140-character limit is perfect
for mobile devices. The app lets you post tweets and photos and send
personal messages as well as tracking all your favourite twe
Instagram
Apple, Android, Windows
Price: Free
Instagram uses your phone’s camera to take square photos, styled using
any one of 20 filters that give different effects from lurid colour, through
faded Seventies tones to pure black-and white. Then post the results online
to be seen by 150 million Instagram users around the world.
YouTube
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows
Price: Free
YouTube has been pre-installed on some devices, but if it isn’t on your
screen, it should be. The app gives you access to all the countless videos
on YouTube, so as long as you have internet access, you’ll always be
entertained. And you can upload your own videos, too.
TuneIn Radio
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows
Price: Free
TuneIn radio turns your device into a radio that can pick up any station,
anywhere on the planet. Just use the search facility to get access to your
local radio from a distant beach. Or hear music, news, chat and sports from
around the world. Also listen to archived shows.
Spotify
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows
Price: Free
Spotify puts more than 20 million pieces of music at your fingertips. Listen
for free to whole albums, create your own playlists, or just dip into Spotify’s
pre-chosen selections. The free version plays adverts between tracks, but for
£9.99 a month the Premium service is advert-free and you can listen offline,
too.
eBay
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows
Price: Free
Anyone who has ever bid for anything on eBay knows how vital it is to be in
on the action in the final moments before the auction closes. Having the
eBay app on your phone or tablet means you need never miss out.
Sky Go
Apple, Android
Price: Free or £15 to £40 per month
A must for Sky TV viewers, this app lets you watch the channels you see at
home on your phone or tablet. An extra £2.50 a month (£5 after 12 months)
buys Sky Go Extra which lets you download material to watch offline. If
you’ve not signed up to Sky there are Sky Go packages from £15 to £40 per
month.
WhatsApp
Apple, Android, Windows
Price: Free
WhatsApp is essentially a text-only version of Skype, using the internet to
send text messages free. Once you sign up, WhatsApp searches your
address book for friends who also use it and you can connect with them
for instant messaging at the click of a button.
1Password
Apple, Android
Price: Free
Problem: you can’t remember all your online user names and passwords.
Solution: 1Password. It creates an online ‘vault’ where you can store
password and account details. It even generates new passwords and holds
them for you. All you need to remember is one password to open the vault.
1Password takes care of the rest.
Dropbox
Apple, Android
Price: Free
Dropbox is not the most glamorous app, but it’s incredibly useful. Just
save a file into Dropbox from your computer, then access it on all your
mobile devices — perfect for working on the move, or taking notes to a
lecture or meeting. It also saves your photos for syncing to other devices.
Kindle
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows
Price: Free
If you prefer e-books to paper, then Amazon’s Kindle store is the place to
buy and download them. And now you don’t need a Kindle Fire to do that
because virtually all tablets can get the Kindle app and you can have new
books within seconds of placing your order.
Around Me
Apple, Android, Kindle, Windows
Price: Free
Around Me finds your location then shows you where to find anything from a
coffee shop or a cash machine, to a hotel or a hospital, and how to get there.
Perfect for when you’re in an unfamiliar place and do not want to depend on
random passers-by for directions.
TV, art and hit movies - in the palm of your hand
CULTURE AND ENTERTAINMENT
Plenty of apps cater for culture vultures...
Dickens Dark London
Apple
Price: Free
This app uses a map of London in 1862 with superb, brooding illustrations
and brilliant narration by actor Mark Strong to bring extracts from Charles
Dickens’s novels vividly to life. An episode set in the Seven Dials area of
the city is free with the app: four more, each set in a different location,
cost £1.49 each.
Shakespeare’s Sonnets
iPad
Price: £9.99
There are apps in all formats that collect the Bard’s sublime poetry, but
this is by far the best: all 154 sonnets, read by star actors — including
Patrick Stewart, Stephen Fry, Harriet Walter, Sian Phillips, Dominic West
and David Tennant — with notes explaining every line. And it looks as
beautiful as it sounds.
Love Art:
National Gallery, London
Apple
Price: £1.99
The National Gallery’s finest masterpieces are discussed by scholars and
art-lovers who really care about their subjects. For example, Tracy
Chevalier, author of Girl With A Pearl Earring, talks about her hero,
the Dutch artist Vermeer. This beautifully illustrated mix of learning
and humanity brings great art to life.
The Tate Guide to Modern Art Terms
Apple
Price: £1.99
Here’s help for anyone who’s baffled by modern art. All the fancy words
used by critics and myriad art movements are covered, from American
Abstract Artists to Zero, with illustrations from the Tate collections.
Download this and you’ll be an instant art expert!
Wattpad
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire
Price: Free
Wattpad is a huge library of free books, with more than 20 million titles
from literary classics by Jane Austen, the Brontes and Conan Doyle to
the most featherbrained fan-fiction. So you’ll always have something to
read, and you can even upload your own literary efforts onto it, too.
Shazam
Apple, Android, Windows
Price: Free
There’s something miraculous about Shazam. Play even the tiniest scrap
of music and it recognises what it is and who recorded it. So now you
can track down that nagging tune that’s been in your head. It also links
to news about the relevant artist and concert ticket sales.
IMDB
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows
Price: Free
The Internet Movie Database is the perfect argument settler. It has every
detail of info on every film, every U.S. TV show, every actor, everything
Hollywood-related, not to mention providing reviews and rankings on all
new releases. TELEVISION
BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD
Apple, Android, plus Kindle Fire for BBC iPlayer
Price: Free
Imagine, even ten years ago, being told it wouldn’t matter if you missed
a TV show because you could see it online. Not only that, but you could
do it on your phone or tablet. Now you can, free, and it’s great.
Virgin TV Anywhere / Sky Go
Apple, Android
Price: Free to subscribers
If you subscribe to one of the big satellite/cable TV systems, you can
download their apps to keep watching on the move. For £5 a month
more, Sky Extra allows you to download shows to watch offline.
Netflix
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows
Price: Free to subscribers
Netflix started life as a subscription service for online movies — the
internet equivalent to the old video rental shops. In the past few years,
though, its branched out into original programming, with hit, hip series
such as House Of Cards and Orange Is The New Black.
Sky Plus
Apple, Android
Price: Free
This app makes your phone or tablet a portable Sky+ controller. Scroll
through TV schedules and set your Sky box at home to record. Or
download via Catch Up and On Demand facilities and they’ll be waiting
for you when you get home.
In January, Angry Birds passed 2 billion downloads, so the world now
knows about those crazy birds and their war against green pigs. The
Angry Birds games now cover land, sea, sky and space, plus there are
tie-ins with Star Wars and the Rio cartoon films. It’s the best app
game ever.
Minecraft Pocket Edition
Apple, Android, Windows
Price: £4.99
Minecraft is a gaming oddity. It has clunky, old-school graphics and
players collaborate to create their own worlds and keep them alive in
an endless game with no winners or losers. Yet Swedish schools use
it as a teaching aid and it’s so popular, Microsoft paid $2.5 billion to
buy it.
Candy Crush Saga
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire
Price: Free
Candy Crush Saga is an utterly addictive puzzle game in which you
rise through 400 levels by clearing grids of brightly coloured sweeties.
There’s just one problem: it’s really hard to win without buying add-ons
to help you complete each level. And it’s just amazing how those 69p
purchases add up. Beware!
Wordfeud
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows
Price: Free
There is an official Scrabble game for £2.99, but Wordfeud is a near-perfect
copy of the classic format, and it’s free. You can play solo by challenging
the app, or take on friends.
Sudoku
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire and Windows
Price: Free
Sudoku’s a must for any game-lover, but there isn’t one dominant Sudoku
app across all formats. The top-ranked versions on Android and Windows
are both called Sudoku Free, but they’re not the same. The best Apple
version, Sudoku2, has particularly nice graphics.
KIDS AND TEENS
My First Numberjacks
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire
Price: £1.49
The Numberjacks are a set of colourful, animated numbers from the BBC’s
children’s channel CBeebies. There are three Numberjacks apps, all
designed to help infants learn their numbers and have fun. And with
lots of games and counting aloud, Mum and Dad can join in, too.
Dipdap
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire
Price: £1.99
Dipdap is a funny little animated man who goes for walks and has
adventures. You can draw his spaceship and watch it fly into the air,
or paint a lawnmower that chases him back across the grass he’s
just mown. As enchanting for adults as for children.
Revision App
Apple, Android
Price: Free
Revision App is a one-stop shop for GCSE, A-level and university students.
There are free flash-card tests on English, maths and the sciences, more
than one million downloadable Q&A cards and — for £4.99 — 56 video
tutorials on key aspects of core subjects. So now your bright young
things have no excuse for slacking!
Steller
Apple
Price: Free
Steller is like a much more sophisticated, creative Instagram (see front
page of Essential apps). Users take photographs and alter them with filters.
But then they arrange their images into albums, then publish them online
to share with their friends. The results can look fantastic.
Paper by 53
Apple
Price: Free
This onscreen sketchbook turns your finger into a pencil, pen or paintbrush
and was iPad App of the Year in 2012. A magical feeling when you draw
with it.
Crime Map England & Wales
Apple, Android
Price: Free
If you're moving to a new area, you need to know if it is safe. Crime
Map shows the location and category of every reported offence in any
given month. For 69p, an augmented reality feature shows you the exact
locations of crimes when you point your phone at the street in front of you.
Kirstie & Phil’s House Hunter
iPhone
Price: £2.99
This is the closest thing you’ll get to a private visit from Channel 4’s
intrepid house-finders. With lots of video clips from the stars giving
practical advice, it’s a comprehensive guide to working out how much
you can afford, deciding what kind of home you want, then finding
and buying it.
Zoopla Property Search
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows
Price: Free
For Zoopla, read Snoopla. This app shows you properties for sale or
rent in any area, what recently sold homes went for and what they
might now be worth. Indispensable to househunters.
Houzz
Formats: Apple, Android, Kindle Fire
Price: Free
A must for the stylish decorator or home builder. It’s packed with
countless stunning interior and exterior design photos, marked with
green tags that tell you what you’re looking at, who makes it and how
to buy it. Houzz even finds designers and tradespeople in your area.
IKEA catalogue
Apple, Android
Price: Free
See and buy virtually all Ikea products, with embedded videos and
pictures showing styles and colours. You can see how items from
the catalogue would look in your home, share ideas with friends and
scan pages in the printed catalogue to download even more ideas
and info.
Clinometer
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows
Price: Free
Turn your smartphone into a spirit level. You just hold your phone on the
surface or object you need to check and the app will tell you the
vertical, horizontal or diagonal tilt.
GARDENING
RHS Grow Your Own
iPhone
Price: Free
This Royal Horticultural Society app is filled with expert advice on growing
40 vegetables and fruits. But it’s available only on iPhone and to get
more plants you have to buy four packs of veg, fruit and herbs
at £1.99 each.
Garden Bugs
iPhone, Android
Price: Free
A guide to a gardener’s worst enemies: the pests and diseases that
attack your plants, from slugs and bugs to fungal infections and
blackspot. If something’s attacking your garden and you want to
know what it is and what you can do about it, this is a good
place to start.
Gardenate
iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle
Price: 99p to £1.49
If you want to grow your own veg, then Gardenate is well worth having.
It has a long list of vegetables and a few fruit, giving detailed instructions
for cultivating, tips on using them in the kitchen and a monthly calendar
to tell you what to do and when. Ideal for green-fingered beginners.
Skyscanner
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows
Price: Free
a comparison site that searches other travel sites to find the cheapest offers. There are separate Skyscanner apps for flights, hotel rooms and car hire. But all enable you to find and book the best offers for the dates and places you require.
Airbnb
Apple and Android
Price: Free
An online exchange for people with spare rooms or properties to rent, and travellers in search of a bed, Airbnb has more than 800,000 rentals (including 3,000 castles!) in 192 countries. The app shows you properties and puts you in touch with owners. A ‘Find a place tonight!’ facility suits spontaneous types.
XE Currency
Apple, Android, Windows
Price: Free
If you’re going abroad, you’ll need a good currency converter and this one is arguably the best. Rates are refreshed throughout the day and it’s easy to convert sterling into any world currency (and vice-versa).
TripAdvisor
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows
Price: Free
Bad publicity about the trustworthiness of some of the reviews on which its hotel and restaurant ratings are based has hit TripAdvisor. But it is still the best way to find a place to stay or eat and its ratings are, by and large, reliable. The app works well, particularly on tablets.
Triposo
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire
Price: Free
This World Travel Guide app harvests information from the internet to compile good-looking, fact-packed guides — including sightseeing, dining, directions and bookings — to more than 25,000 destinations.
WorldMate
Apple, Android, Windows
Price: Free
all-in-one travel organiser. Forward confirmation emails for travel and hotel bookings to WorldMate and it creates a detailed in-app itinerary with all your info. You can book flights and rooms, check in, track flight updates and there’s a currency converter and tip calculator.
Citymapper
Apple, Android
Price: Free
multi award-winning guide to getting around ten great cities, including London, Paris and New York, tells you how to get from A to B, when the next bus or train is due and sends links to friends to show them where and when to meet.
Duolingo
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire
Price: Free
The 2013 iPhone App of the Year, with a sky-high Android rating, Duolingo is a free course in six major European languages. Simple, entertaining tasks help you translate new words and phrases, while a points-scoring system makes you want to keep going. A bright, modern, effective way to learn.
Worth £6.4 billion, Expedia is the world’s biggest travel website. So if you want to scan flight and hotel options, compare prices, make bookings and keep a record of your trip, Expedia’s app is a safe choice. It’s well designed and bookings qualify for Nectar points.
UK TRAVEL
AA Lifestyle Apps
Apple, Android, Windows
Price: Free
The AA motoring organisation has made a bold move into apps by converting its familiar printed guides into seven separate free apps, for hotels, restaurants, B&Bs, caravan and camping, pubs and days out. So there’s no need to clutter up glove compartments with guides any more — just download an app and away you go.
Thetrainline
Apple, Android, Windows
Price: Free
If you want to make a UK railway journey, thetrainline will give you times of trains, details of changes, the cheapest ticket and the ability to buy it. It also has a neat ‘next train home’ function. So what it does, it does very well.
UK Bus Checker
Apple, Android, Kindle
Price: Free/£2.99
The days of waiting helplessly at a bus stop, wondering when the next one will turn up, are long gone. You can find the nearest stop, which routes use it, and when the next one is due.
Hailo
Apple, Android
Price: Free
Once you’ve set this up, you can forget waiting on the street and instead hail the nearest cab from the app, track its progress to the pick-up point, then pay automatically with your credit or debit card. So far, Hailo operates only in London and Manchester.
Recipe inspiration with mobile communication
FOOD & DRINK
Mary Berry Bakes
Apple
Price: £2.99
Mary Berry (pictured right) has become baking’s Delia Smith: the cook we all turn to for can’t-fail recipes. Here are 70 of her cakes, biscuits and buns, plus some general baking tips. You can transfer Mary’s ingredients to an in-built shopping list, so there’s no danger of forgetting anything, and there’s a built-in timer, too.
Jamie’s 20 Minute Meals
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire
Price: £4.99
JAMIE OLIVER is celebrity Marmite, but love him or loathe him, he’s a great communicator. This app has lots of easy-to-follow recipes for quick-to-cook food. But the real selling points are Jamie’s handy video guides to 17 basic kitchen techniques, from slicing an onion to cooking the perfect steak.
Ocado
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire
Price: Free
All the major supermarkets have apps, but Ocado, conceived from the start as an online delivery service for food and household goods, is arguably the best. Browsing and buying is simple, your earliest delivery slot is stated before you start and a one-click function allows instant purchases.
Supermarket Wine
Apple, Android
Price: 69p/99p
Hunt out the best wine bargains in your local supermarkets with this clever app. It offers a selection of special offers, lists wines recommended by other users and allows you to select and buy almost 400 chosen by colour, grape country of origin and price, all reviewed by experts.
Vivino
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows
Price: Free
Open up Vivino, take a picture of a wine label and instantly the app will tell you all about the contents of the bottle, with factual information and drinkers’ reviews. It’s perfect if you’re out at dinner and want to know more about what you’re drinking, and it helps you track your purchases.
EATING OUT
The Good Pub Guide 2014
Apple
Price: £4.99
If you're looking for a good pub serving decent food and proper beer, this app will find one near you, give details of food, facilities and child-friendliness, then show you how to get there. For Android and Kindle Fire users, there’s a Kindle e-book of The Good Pub Guide (£6.99).
Urbanspoon
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows
Price: Free
This is a worldwide guide to more than one million eating places rated by more than 20 million users. Search for eateries by cooking style, price and time of day, check out the newest or most highly rated places, or use the Slot Machine function: shake your phone and let the app choose somewhere for you to go to eat.
FASHION
Gilt
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire
Price: Free
Gilt is a shopping site with a difference. It sells upmarket clothes (for men, women and children), home accessories and furniture, and stylish hotel stays at bargain prices. But the offers are strictly time-limited and first-come-first-served. So it’s deliciously tempting to dive into the action.
Asos/Net-a-Porter
Apple, Android
Price: Free
These two apps both present all the latest fashions as enticingly as possible, making them all too easy to buy. Asos is younger, more mainstream and aimed at both men and women. Net-a-Porter is aimed at the woman who’s ready to spend £1,000 on a killer pair of Gucci boots.
Pinterest
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire
Price: Free
Pinterest is part scrapbook and part social medium: a moodboard of ideas and images from fashion, design, cookery, gardening, health and personal philosophy, all posted by its 70 million, mostly female, users. Create your own Pinterest board, interact with other users, or just browse the collection of inspirational ideas.
EALTH AND FITNESS
NHS Health and Symptom Checker
Apple, Android
Price: Free
This app doesn’t beat going to a doctor, but if you feel poorly, it’s a good place to start. Symptoms are listed under more than 40 headings, from ‘abdominal pain’ to ‘wounds’. Click the relevant link, enter personal details then answer questions to determine what might be wrong and what to do next.
FoodSwitch UK
Apple, Android
Price: Free
Created with the help of several medical research centres and backed by Bupa and the NHS, Food Switch aims to help users eat more healthily. Scan barcodes on food packaging and it will show green, amber or red scores for fat, saturates, sugar and salt. The greener your food, the healthier you’ll eat.
Another NHS recommendation, Nutracheck’s database contains calorie counts for more than 10,000 food items, so you can scan food barcodes to get instant calorie information, then plan meals, track your calorie intake and also work out how much energy you’re using through exercise. It’s a real aid to any weight-loss campaign.
Echo 112
Apple, Android
Price: Free
Field-tested for two years by Swiss emergency services, Echo 112 links you to the emergency services wherever you are in the world when you press its red SOS button. It provides peace of mind for travellers in the back of beyond, or the infirm and elderly alone in their homes.
Sleepbot
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire
Price: Free
Sleepbot watches over you when you’re in the Land of Nod. Put your phone under your pillow and the app logs when you move around while asleep or snore, tracks your sleep patterns and calculates your ‘sleep-debt’ — the difference between the amount of sleep you get and the amount you should aim for. Its ‘smart-alarm’ wakes you when you are sleeping lightly to avoid the shock of waking from deep sleep.
Relax Melodies
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire
Price: Free
Testing this app was a tricky business, as it’s so blissfully snooze-inducing it’s hard for eyes to stay open. A selection of natural wind, water and bird sounds can be mixed with gentle music to create the perfect relaxing background to ease that stress away and bring on the deepest sleep.
Accupedo
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire
Price: Free
Walking is one of the best forms of exercise, and we should all take 10,000 steps a day. Accupedo is a pedometer that counts every step you take, records how far you’ve walked and how many calories you’ve burned. It even links to your music library to keep you entertained as you stride along.
SPORT
BBC Sport
Apple, Android
Price: Free
If you download only one sports app, this should be it. Every major sport is covered, with latest news, live text commentary and video interviews and highlights. If you’re out and about on a Saturday afternoon, this is the perfect way to keep in touch.
Sky Sports/Sky Sports Mobile/ BT Sport
Apple, Android
Price: Subscription only
These apps let sports addicts watch the biggest games and events on the move. But there’s a catch. Sky Sports and BT Sport are reserved for existing subscribers to the respective TV channels. And an app-only subscription to Sky Sports Mobile costs up to £9.99 a month.
One Football
Apple, Android
Price: Free
Launched as The Football App, One Football has all the latest news, fixtures and results from around the world, so you can follow leagues and cups from Albania to Uruguay. A ‘My Club’ function will also keep you up to date with whichever club you support and alert you to any breaking news.
Official F1
Apple, Android
Price: Free
If the hours of TV coverage aren’t enough for you, this app — and its paid-for add-ons — will provide analysis of every turn of every wheel, lap times, exclusive team radio transmissions and live commentary. Vrooom!
Cricbuzz
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows
Price: Free
The number-one app for anyone who can’t live without the latest news of every form of cricket around the world: scores, live text and audio commentaries, player profiles, tables, rankings stats . . . and more stats. If someone, somewhere hits a ball with a bat, Cricbuzz will tell you about it.
Hole 19
iPhone
Price: Free
Hole 19 is a golfer’s best friend. It tells you where every shot you’ve struck has gone, calculates yardages to greens and flags, tracks all your scores and provides data to improve your game. More than 20,000 courses around the world have been mapped and yours can be added on request.
THE GREAT OUTDOORS
The National Trust
Apple, Android
Price: Free
A handy guide to the hundreds of National Trust properties. It finds nearby properties by showing you pins on a map. Touch a pin and a full guide to a property appears.
National Trust Gardens
Apple
Price: Free
This app concentrates on the Trust’s wonderful gardens and suggests which ones look best at specific times of year. There are six video guides to improving your own garden, from attracting wildlife, to saving money and water.
Star Chart
Apple, Android
Price: Free
We’ve all gazed in wonder at the stars, now Star Chart tells us what we’re looking at. Open the app, point your phone or tablet at the sky and it’ll describe the stars and planets above you.
RSPB Guide to British Birds
Apple, Android
Price: £4.99
Hundreds of birds that are either native to Britain or migrate here are listed, described and illustrated, along with maps showing where to find them. Listen to their calls and compare them with other birds. A must for bird-lovers and ramblers.
Map My Hike
Apple, Android
Price: Free
This is one of several ‘Map my . . .’ apps for fitness. All show you where you are, provide coaching tips, then record distances covered and calories burned.
OS Mapfinder
Apple, Android
Price: Free
If you’re planning a walk, you need a proper map. Use this app to buy ‘tiles’ — or sections — of full Ordnance Survey maps for 69p or £1.99 for greater detail. Plus, for safety, a GPS link will tell you exactly where you are.
ORGANISE YOUR LIFE
Online banking
Apple, Android
Price: Free
The convenience of online banking is irresistible. You can manage your money how you want, when you want. But for ‘where you want’, you need a phone or tablet app. Your bank almost certainly has one, but most work only with Apple or Android; Window users can’t bank on the move yet.
English Letter Writing
Android
Price: Free
Gives you tips on effective letter writing, plus templates for business and personal letters from job applications to personal condolences. There’s also an Apple app called eLetters, which has 3,000 templates. But it costs from £6.99 to £12.99.
HMRC
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire
Price: Free
Many apps calculate how much tax and national insurance you should be paying, but this one comes from the people you’re paying them to: HM Revenue & Customs. The app also has information about various benefits and tax credits and access to HMRC forms. It works best for employees, not the self-employed.
30/30
Apple, Android
Price: Free
This organises your time so you can stick to tasks that need doing. Set up a timetable, allotting time for various tasks or breaks — 30/30 times each item on the schedule and tells you when the next one is due to begin.
Expensify
Apple, Android
Price: Free
Business travellers can keep track of their expenses with this app. It scans, annotates and stores receipts; creates files for different trips or clients; and links directly to your online banking and credit card accounts, so spending is automatically synced with your Expensify account.
Evernote
Apple, Android, Windows
Price: Free
This business tool is equally handy for multi-tasking mums or busy students. You can create written or spoken notes, add pictures, compile notebooks and synchronise across all your devices. So if you write a note on your phone, it’ll also be on your tablet, PC or laptop.
MONEY-SAVING APPS
Check Car Value
Apple, Android, Kindle Fire
Price: £2.99
Want to know if you’re being charged a fair price for a used car or just curious what a vehicle you’ve spotted would cost? Enter the registration number and seconds later you’ll know what it’s worth. You can search by model, age and mileage.
Local eBay Deals
Apple, Android
Price: Free
The first app from Martin Lewis, the Money Saving Expert, is based on the idea that eBay items requiring collection often sell for bargain prices because most buyers won’t travel miles to get them. It finds such items in your area. Low price plus low mileage equals bargain!
