Welcome to this week’s roundup of the latest, greatest apps and games for iPhone and iPad. A summary of the last three weeks, in fact, since the last roundup.
As ever, prices are correct at the time of writing, with (Free + IAP) signifying that an app is freemium, using in-app purchases. If Android is more your bag, check the regular Best Android Apps and Games roundup.
APPS
One Drop: Diabetes Management App (Free)
This app has a very specific purpose: helping people with diabetes track their glucose, food, activity and medication. It works with Apple’s HealthKit technology, and includes social features to get encouragement and tips from your peers.
iPhone
Where to Eat London 2015 (£2.99)
London is a fine place to eat out, and this app wants to help you explore some of its finest restaurants. It includes reviews of more than 100 eateries by pro reviewer Chris Pople covering a wide range of styles and prices.
iPhone
Polyvore Remix (Free)
There have been a few slick clothes-shopping apps recently, but Polyvore Remix is more about choosing from the clobber you already own, and finding new items to go with it. Trending suggestions make it fertile food for fashion thought.
iPhone
Snapsolve (Free)
When I was at school, homework was generally fitted in during morning break or lunch before a lesson, usually in a panic. In 2015, students can simply take a cameraphone snap of their homework and get help from a remote tutor. The theory is that people will pay for harder solutions and mentoring. Give it a year or two, and I’ll probably be using it to keep up with my (eight year-old) son’s homework...
iPhone
LumiKids Beach (Free)
Developer Lumos Labs has millions of adults using its main brain-training app, but LumiKids is its spin-off brand for children. This second app in the latter series offers a mix of grey-cell-stretching mini-games around a summery beach theme.
iPad
Edjing Pro (£5.99)
As a freemium DJ app, Edjing has picked up millions of users. Now this pro version adds more features and manual tweaks for DJs ready to step up a gear – although like the existing version, it can still pull tracks from Deezer and SoundCloud as well as your local files.
iPhone / iPad
Golf Media: Tyler, the Creator (Free + IAP)
Many musicians have apps, and most aren’t that engaging. Tyler, the Creator (of Odd Future) is trying something fun, though: his own digital magazine gathering topics he’s interested in, with a monthly subscription. One for the fans, perhaps, but creative and interesting with it.
Hipstamatic DSPO (Free + IAP)
This is a brand new app from mobile photography startup Hipstamatic, armed with the slogan “Let’s shoot together”. It’s a group camera, then, where you invite friends to contribute shots and view your snaps, with chat built in too. Filters and Snapchat-style scribbles are also included.
iPhone
Dingo (Free)
Like Twickets, Dingo aims to help fans buy and sell unwanted concert tickets at face value – initially in London. It connects buyers and sellers with chat and handles the payment side of things – including delaying transfer until the ticket has been verified.
iPhone
Rhymeo (Free)
I am the world’s worst rapper: less Jay Z and more “JESUS will you stop rapping, it’s embarrassing”. But in more talented hands, Rhymeo looks fantastic fun: it gets you to choose a beat and a theme, then freestyle rap with the aid of images and rhyming words. Check my pretzel, makes me feel dreadful, gonna feel fretful, might make me tremble. For example.
iPhone / iPad
GAMES
Football Manager Classic 2015 (£14.99)
The Football Manager Handheld games are excellent, but if you want to go even further down the football management rabbit-hole, get this new version. An iPad-only release, it’s the full version of the FM Classic mode in the PC game, with a full match engine and bags of depth – but still accessible enough to play in short pick-up-and-play sessions.
iPad
Implosion – Never Lose Hope (£7.99)
A little bit Devil May Cry and a little bit God of War, this is a beefy action title that makes the most of your modern mobile device. It sees you facing off against a nefarious alien race on Earth, with neat touch controls and some impressive graphics.
iPhone / iPad
Halo: Spartan Bundle (£7.99)
Not one Halo game for iOS, but two – both developed by Microsoft, although they’re not first-person shooters like the console franchise that spawned them. Instead these are tight, playable top-down action games that offer a decent challenge.
iPhone / iPad
Letterpad (Free + IAP)
Tiny Tower developer NimbleBit is trying its hand at a word game, and very good it is too. More than 200 levels of nine-letter grids and clues to find words within them, with plenty of pop culture and games/tech references – and even an Apple Watch extension.
iPhone / iPad
Rainbow Ruckus - The Amazing World of Gumball (£1.49 + IAP)
Cartoon Network’s The Amazing World of Gumball is a treat on TV, and its new game is very fun too. It’s a colourful platformer where you have to restore the rainbow of Gumball’s hometown Elmore by guiding it through sewer pipes. Fun for fans and newcomers alike.
iPhone / iPad
War Dragons (Free + IAP)
Dragons are HOT! (Yes, literally if you get them riled, etc etc). Riding on the scaly back of Game of Thrones’ popularity comes this social game from Pocket Gems, less tower defence and more tower attack, as you try to scorch defenders with your dragon’s skills, while defending your own base from others.
iPhone / iPad
Does not Commute (Free + IAP)
A novel take on driving games, here, where you don’t just control one car: you control everything on the road. Often, frankly, to the detriment of established traffic-control procedures. Basically you have to avoid pile-ups, although it’s hard not to occasionally sit back and watch chaos unfold.
iPhone / iPad
Sorcery! 3 (£3.99)
If you grew up with the Fighting Fantasy game-books, you may already be aware of their digital successors from publisher Inkle. Fighting Fantasy co-writer Steve Jackson is behind this absorbing tale of gods, serpents and magic, where reading and playing go hand-in-hand.
iPhone / iPad
Lost Within (£4.99)
Just as Microsoft has brought Halo to iOS, now Amazon has brought its uber-creepy survival horror game Lost Within to Apple devices. Resident Evil-calibre frights are plentiful, with a storyline that lives up to the action.
iPhone / iPad
Spirit Lords (Free + IAP)
Can action/RPGs be as popular on mobile as they are on PC and console? Yes, it just takes the right games to come along. Spirit Lords may be one of them: a well-crafted game that sees you battling, looting and playing with guild-friends through an engaging story.
iPhone / iPad
