APPLE MUSIC
Android/iOS
FREE
Apple’s music-streaming service was launched for the company’s own devices in June, but it’s now also available for Android, with the same catalogue of playlists, live radio stations and some Android-esque design tweaks.
YOUTUBE KIDS
Android/iOS
FREE
If your children love to watch YouTube but sometimes end up on inappropriate videos, this may be an answer – YouTube’s official app for children, focusing on age-appropriate channels – from familiar TV shows to Minecraft gamers like Stampy.
FITSTAR PERSONAL TRAINER
Android/iOS
FREE
Another new-to-Android app that’s won praise on iOS. It’s a collection of video workouts, useful if you’re exercising at home on your own. It tracks your progress and regularly adds sessions.
SHARETHEMEAL
Android/iOS
FREE
An app to do some good, from the United Nations. It allows you to “share your meals” with children in need around the world, giving money to feed a child for between a day (35p) and a year (£127.75).
GOLDILOCKS AND LITTLE BEAR
iOS
£3.99
UK publisher Nosy Crow makes beautiful apps of fairy tales. Great animation in this one comes with a twist: when you rotate the device, you switch between Goldilocks’s and Little Bear’s stories.
QUIZCHAT
Android/iOS
FREE
The company behind this is BuzzFeed and it’s a new way to persuade people to take part in its quizzes. You answer questions on pop-culture, then share them with friends via the Facebook Messenger app.
DISNEYLIFE
Android/iOS
£9.99/month
Brits are first to get Disney’s new subscription service, which costs £9.99 a month for a mixture of TV shows, films, apps, digital books and streaming music. Disneyphile children and adults alike can dig into the back catalogue.
FIREFOX WEB BROWSER
Android/iOS
FREE
Long available on Android, Firefox’s web browser is finally on Apple devices. There’s an emphasis on privacy, with easy controls to delete your browsing history and passwords, as well as the ability to synchronise it with the desktop Firefox browser.
THE WEEKDAY
iOS
FREE
This iPhone app comes from magazine The Week, gathering a twice-daily roundup of key news – a main briefing from 8am, then an “evening edition” from 5pm. It’s quick to scan the articles, with the ability to read offline.
NYT VR
Android/iOS
FREE
The New York Times is experimenting with virtual reality technology in its latest app, promising to publish a new video report “every month or so” to this app. It’s best teamed with a Google Cardboard headset, to slot your smartphone in.
THE ROOM THREE
iOS
£3.99
You’ll need a recent iPhone or iPad to play the latest version of The Room. This is a beautifully crafted collection of touchscreen brain-twisters. You tap and slide to rotate objects and solve the puzzles.
BENEATH THE LIGHTHOUSE
Android/iOS
FREE
Puzzles and platforms merge perfectly in this absorbing game, where you guide a cute ball-headed character through a succession of mechanical wheels, rotating each level to find your way through. It’s difficult, but well worth the effort.
STAR WARS: GALAXY OF HEROES
Android/iOS
FREE
This isn’t even the first mobile Star Wars roleplaying game this year, as The Force Awakens fever heats up. This combat-heavy game is great fun for fans though: build your team from famous Star Wars characters and send them out to battle.
NEKO ATSUME
Android/iOS
FREE
By some distance the best game about collecting cartoon cats ever made – although the field is limited. Originally released in Japan, this sees you placing gifts in your virtual yard to attract mogs of all kinds. Definitely super-quirky, but totally addictive with it.
REAL BOXING 2 CREED
Android/iOS
FREE
Boxing is a notoriously hard genre to get right in games, but Real Boxing 2 makes a good fist of it. Well, a pair of fists. Excellent visuals help you feel every thump, but there’s a really well-designed career mode around the in-ring action that will keep you punching.
SUPER BOYS – THE BIG FIGHT
Android/iOS
FREE
If you’ve enjoyed Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros games on that company’s devices, Super Boys might be the closest you’ll get on your smartphone. It’s a ridiculous – but also ridiculously-fun – beat ‘em up game, with plenty of nods to famous games of the past.
OCTODAD: DADLIEST CATCH
Android/iOS
£4.99
The most inventive game idea of the month, this: you play an octopus pretending to be a human, complete with a human family and a constant need to hide his eight-tentacled tendencies. Cue slapstick tasks and plenty of humour – and a genuinely original game.
BLOSSOM BLAST SAGA
Android/iOS
FREE
Another Saga game from the maker of Candy Crush Saga, here, and as the title implies this time round you’re matching flowers rather than sweets. Expect the usual mix of chain reactions and power-ups, which you can grind for free or pay to blast through.
CALL OF CHAMPIONS
Android/iOS
FREE
Finally, something for more hardcore mobile gamers: a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game that sees you building a team of fantasy characters then battling those of other players around the world. The fights last five minutes: perfect for mobile play.
FOOTBALL MANAGER TOUCH 2016
Android/iOS
£14.99
This is the latest tablet version of the popular football management sim, with the ability to share saved games with the desktop version. It’s an engrossing blend of tactics, training and transfers, with a separate Football Manager Mobile 2016 available for smartphones.
