It seems like the opportunities for things to do on your cell phone are endless. Just when you are starting to get bored with the games or apps on your phone, new ones emerge to grab your interest. Whether you want to edit photos or videos, play games, get help in your travels, or just make your phone more convenient, there’s an app for it. Here are just a few of the more exciting ones. (Title image: Flickr by Johan Larsson)
1. Spylight
For the fashion junkies out there, Spylight now makes it easier than ever to dress like your favorite TV or movie characters. Spylight is an app that will tell you the brand or designer of an outfit worn on a show you’re watching, and tell you where you can get the same clothes. You no longer have to stare longingly at the perfect hoodie or that fabulous dress without knowing where you can get one for yourself. Since imitation is the highest form of flattery, there’s no reason you shouldn’t get the same style as your favorite television characters.
2. Microsoft Translator
Although many people tend to use Google Translate, Microsoft Translator is a strong competitor and certainly worth trying. The app is available for Windows, Android, and iPhones, as well as Apple Watch and Android Wear. With a smart watch, you can easily show someone the translation without handing over your smartphone, which is very useful when you’re traveling. You can even speak to your watch or phone and get an instant translation. The app can translate 50 different languages and will speak the translation for you. For those who get shy, or constantly butcher pronunciations, this tool could be invaluable.
3. Launcher
If you’ve ever wished you could access your apps from the lock screen of your iPhone, you’re in luck. Launcher offers a free version and a Pro version, and each version allows you to access your apps. While the Pro version obviously offers more features, the free version is also pretty handy. You can create buttons on your lock screen to do most of your favorite things. You can text your spouse instantly, call home, or open up your GPS system straight from your lock screen.
4. Wildcard
The newest trend is short blurbs of news that you can use quickly and easily. Newsletters such as The Skimm successfully tapped into this market, and Wildcard aims at doing something similar, but through a different medium. Wildcard breaks down news into easily digestible amounts in an app that is formatted for your screen. With its sleek, easy to use app, Wildcard promises to give you the news whether you have just a second or a lot of time.
5. Preload
For those who tend to run up their data usage, Preload has an answer. Preload automatically downloads videos to your device daily when you are connected to WiFi, so that you always have something new to watch without going over your data limits. And the A9 chip with 64-bit architecture on the iPhone 6s from T-Mobile, allows you to download your videos faster than ever. The app also offers different sections that you can subscribe to depending on your interests, so that you don’t waste all your data searching for videos.
6. VHS Camcorder
For $3.99 you can make all your videos worthy of Throwback Thursday. While many apps are trying to modernize videos, VHS Camcorder is taking a completely different route by allowing you to make them look like authentic VHS videos. They will have timestamps that you can manipulate to any date or time, and you can manually distort them as well. For those who remember the good old days of video cassettes, this app is sure to make you nostalgic.
While there are always new apps hitting the market, these six are particularly useful, fun, and easy to use. Whether you want to look for videos, stay up on the current news, or make traveling easier, you have plenty of options. Make your phone a lot more fun and convenient by downloading a few new apps.
