It seems like hundreds of new iPhone apps pop up every week, but which ones should you bother trying? We explored the App Store and found five apps actually worth downloading.
Wildcard
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For those who have grown impatient with iPhone’s finicky Safari app, Wildcard is a new, easy-to-use web browsing app. Not only does it give info on breaking news and allow users to shop online, but its layout is visually appealing and streamlined for mobile use. The content itself is processed through Wildcard’s interface, which means Wildcard doesn’t simply deliver links, but reformats them.
Wildcard is available free in the App Store.
The Economist Espresso
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Fans of NPR’s morning news briefing may like The Economist’s Espresso. It comes with a daily update from the magazine’s editors, as well as new content every weekday. Non-subscribers can access one article per day, but subscriptions to Espresso are affordable at $3.99/month. The app will give you updates on world news in the style of The Economist, but in an easily-digestible briefing to thumb through during breakfast.
The Economist Espresso is available free in the App Store.
Slated
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Although translation programs have long been problematic, gaffe-prone pieces of technology, Slated has proven itself useful for simple tasks. It offers on-the-fly translations as you type out a text message by allowing you to write in English and choose from alternate text displayed in another language. It’s perfect for faking your way through cutesy text messages or when you’re trying to impress someone, but equally useful in high-stress moments when language barriers have started to feel insurmountable.
Slated is available for $4.99 in the App Store.
Code School
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Perhaps one of the most useful skills one can have today is the ability to put together something on the Internet. Whether it’s struggling through a programming project for your office or developing a website of your own, programming is the final useful frontier of tech-literacy. Code School streams videos on Java, CSS, and even iOS, which means Code School may be your key to a multi-million dollar app project. In short, we all have good ideas, but Code School can help you learn how to make them a reality.
Code School is available free in the App Store.
Deadline
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Over the last few months there have been apps, programs, and even watches trying to tell you when you’re going to die. It’s not clear what the fascination is, but for the first time we have basic technology that can make estimations like that. Deadline is particularly interesting because it isn’t as random as the other apps; it takes data from your iPhone healthkit app—yes, that newfangled health app that helps you revolutionize your physical activity and turn your health around—in order to get an estimate. Deadline may just be dark enough to get you motivated in ways Healthkit can’t.
Deadline is available for $2.99 in the App Store.
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