Apps of the Week

Our highlights this week include a sequel to Beach Buggy Blitz, a fantastic YouTube app for Windows Phone and a way to create your own photo filters.

Tubecast

One of the cooler YouTube apps around, Tubecast is both a YouTube client and a casting app – and it’s got quite a few features. Not only is the app compatible with DLNA, Airplay and Chromecast, it’s also capable of playing and casting 60 frames per second video. I’m pretty sure YouTube’s official apps don’t support that yet. The only downside is that the higher resolution clips can take an absolute age to load at times though.

Tubecast is available for free on Windows Phone, with the free version being limited to 20 casts (watching on the app is still free though).

Shift

Sure, Shift is a photo filter app, but there’s a reason why it’s received quite a bit of attention upon its release. The app has preset filters, but its real strength is in the ability to customise filters completely, changing colours, brightness and more. And you can save your customised filters for later use as well.

Shift is free on Android and for R12 on iOS.

MX Player

I prefer VLC media player but MX Player is a fantastic player too – and it’s just received a major update. The update overhauls the visuals, bringing it in line with Android 5.0’s Material Design theme – but all the great video functionality is present nonetheless.

The new version of MX Player is available for Android, with a beta available for Windows Phone 8.1 too.

Biz Builder Delux

Coming from simulation game wizards Kairosoft, Biz Builder Delux is the latest title from the prolific Japanese developer. Biz Builder Delux charges players with becoming entrepreneurs, as you build a successful store or chain of stores. Be it a videogame store or fast food eatery, there are plenty of choices to make.

Biz Builder Delux is R48 on Android.

Evil Apples

Inspired by Cards Against Humanity, Evil Apples is a card game with a similar twisted vibe going for it. This nifty game features 1200 black cards and 250 red cards (the red cards essentially being question cards) – Android Central reckons it’s not quite as good as Cards Against Humanity but remains fun anyway.

Evil Apples is free on Android and iOS.

Beach Buggy Racing

Most mobile gamers know about racing game Beach Buggy Blitz, standing out thanks to its lush visuals at the time. But a sequel was also released a few weeks ago, bringing 15 tracks (thank goodness) and six different game modes.

Beach Buggy Racing is available for free on Android, iOS and Windows Phone.

Apps of the Week

As promised, herewith our second edition this week… Our highlights include a Flappy Bird clone made in Unreal Engine 4 and a Nintendo DS classic coming to mobile after seven years.

FLAC Player SD

Windows Phone 8’s default music player isn’t too shabby, but if FLAC playback is your thing, then you’ll need this app, as recommended by Nokia’s blog. FLAC Player SD isn’t the most visually striking app out there, but its sole purpose is to play FLAC tracks from your microSD card.

FLAC Player SD is a free download on Windows Phone 8.

Tappy Chicken

We’ve covered this game last week, but it just missed our apps feature then – however, Epic’s Flappy Bird clone stands out nonetheless. It may be a clone, but it was designed with the cutting-edge Unreal Engine 4, as proof of the engine’s ease of use. Crazy.

Tappy Chicken is free to play on iOS and Android.

Drawn to Life

Another Nintendo DS classic has finally been launched on mobile devices, in the form of Drawn to Life. This adventure title has a rather unique premise, as you’ll be required to draw everything from your player character to weapons and items. Think Scribblenauts but with more action.

Drawn to Life is available exclusively on iOS for R55.

AcDisplay

The Motorola Moto X stood out for its active notification system, showing alerts even when the screen was off.  As seen on Reddit, AcDisplay is the Android community’s take on this system, showing notifications without the user having to turn the screen on.

AcDisplay is free to download for Android users – but you’ll need a device running Android 4.4.

What’s Up

Spotted by the cool people over at Crackberry, What’s Up is a nifty stargazing app that has recently been released for BlackBerry 10. The app makes use of your phone’s sensors to display the locations of stars, constellations, planets and more. In other words, point your phone up at the sky to see what you’re looking at.

What’s Up is available to download on BlackBerry 10 for R8.

Secret

Social network apps are a dime a dozen these days, so we’re glad to see a network trying something different. Secret, as the name implies, is a social network that gives everyone an anonymous identity, allowing you to share your thoughts and secrets. Additionally, while you can add your contacts to Secret, their identity is… a secret.

Secret has been available on iOS for a while now, but it’s just been released for Android.

Black

Most users have at least one photo app on their phones, such as Instagram – but Black is another intriguing example. Black is marketed as a “black and white analogue film simulator, making it a good choice if you’re after that retro look.

Black is available for free on Windows Phone 8.