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Best iOS and Android smartphone apps May 2015

Alex Yau
April 27, 2015

Tell a tale simply with just three images using our app of the month, plus the best of the rest reviewed.

Nutshell

Free (iOS)

Nutshell is yet another photo editing/storytelling app for iOS, but there’s more to it than meets the eye. Created by the team behind Prezi, the slideshow program that actually makes presentations interesting, Nutshell asks you to take three images. It then stitches them together to make a semi-animated story, which you can annotate with all sorts of text and animated icons. Quick, simple, and cute.

Voltz

Free (iOS, Android)

Do you like apps? Of course you do! How about shopping around for home energy tariffs? Probably not so much. So how about using one to make the other more bearable? Voltz allows you to change your energy supplier on the fly, with one touch. It automatically finds the best deals for you from all major (and minor) UK suppliers and notifies you should a better deal become available.

Booking Now

Free (iOS)

Booking Now, the latest app from the web’s number one accommodation site Booking.com, is designed to help you find a room. Not a room for your big, no expense spared summer holiday though – more like a room for your last minute, spur-of-the-moment night out. The app only shows venues in your immediate vicinity so that you can find somewhere to stay right now. The app also offers step-by-step directions to your hotel of choice, too. It may seem a little niche€¦ until you really, really need it.

miDrive

Free (iOS, Android)

miDrive is a massive resource for those looking to pass their driving test. Within it is just about everything you need to learn about driving without having to be sat behind the wheel. Enter the date of your test and the app will create a schedule for you so that you can cover all the bases in time for the big day. It even has a registry of qualified instructors who, should you choose, you can pay for lessons directly within the app.

Letterspace

Free (iOS)

If you’re a regular writer on your iPhone or iPad, Letterspace is all set to claim pride of place on your home screen. Not only does it have a clean, streamlined interface, but it also does organisation better than any other note-taking app out there. You can assign hashtags and @mentions to your documents to make sorting and finding a breeze. There’s also a wide array of colour schemes and formatting options to choose from – including web-friendly markdown syntax compatibility.

Opinion

Free (iOS)

Opinion finally offers a simple, reliable, and fully-fleshed solution to podcast creation on iOS. Simply record using your iPhone or iPad’s built-in microphone and the intuitive touch-based interface allows you to edit to your heart’s content. You can instantly share your finished product to Soundcloud, Dropbox, e-mail or iMessage. You can also import clips from iTunes, iCloud and Dropbox.

copyop

Free (iOS, Android)

copyop acts almost like a crib sheet for those looking to get into financial trading. It understands that playing the markets can be a scary concept, and presents you with trading strategies and models from over one million traders. It gives you access to the histories of its top traders and allows you to copy them or do business directly with them. If you’re looking for a reliable, accessible in-road to capital management, copyop could prove invaluable for you.

Good.co

Free (iOS, Android)

Nowadays, many companies ask their employees to take something called a Myers Briggs Personality Test. This test reveals hidden aspects of one’s personality, such as extroversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness, and creates a detailed analysis of your traits, attitudes and emotions. Good.co allows you to take this test, before then matching your results up against the values of a host of major companies. This way you know whether the job is right for you before taking it! You can also compare your results to friends and coworkers.

Microsoft Outlook

Free (iOS, Android)

Exactly one year ago within this section we mentioned an app called Acompli. A lot has changed in the past 12 months – so impressive was the mailbox app that Microsoft actually purchased it. It has now officially been rebranded as Microsoft Outlook for mobile, and it’s still one of the best email apps available. It’s beautiful to look at, easy to use, and its searchability is a real highlight. If you’re still looking for a messaging centre that’s right for you you would be crazy not to give it a go.

#TileArt

Free (Windows)

One of the coolest things about the Windows mobile interface is its trademark Tiles app – this is something we can all agree on, regardless of personal preferences in format. So why has Microsoft made it so difficult to customise the thing? #TileArt does the hard work for you by allowing you to choose an image, before applying it over all your home screen tiles. The resulting effect is a striking mosaic which instantly transforms your device. Simply a must have for Windows users.

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