Need some apps to keep you entertained, informed and generally amazed this week? Try our latest batch of favourites.
Multi-Platform Updates
Airbnb
Thoroughly revamped, the new, free Airbnb app allows hosts to post listings, respond to inquiries, and manage calendars directly in-app. The guest side boasts streamlined communication, booking and payment functions, and a handy nav button to get you to that secluded cabin in the woods. [Android] [iOS]
Android
Camera Awesome
Newly landed in Androidville, SmugMug’s photo app gives you Burst, Interval, Timer and other shooting modes, composition guides, and the ability to fiddle with all the exposure, white balance and ISO settings that probably already befuddle you on your dedicated camera. And of course, there’s social sharing. [$3]
Dayframe
Turning your tablet or phone into a 21st-century picture frame, Dayframe scrolls through your existing photostreams, or taps into your Instagram for a live photo feed if you’re having a party or doing some other cool thing. Great as a screensaver of sorts for your current device, it’s even better as a way to repurpose that old tablet gathering dust in a bottom drawer. [Free]
iOS
Mustbin
This cloud-based storage setup uses your iThing’s camera to capture important documents, encrypting them and syncing them across your devices. Once captured, you can organise your documents into categorised bins, and securely share them with people you trust. Much better than that heavy sheetmetal filing cabinet you’ve been lugging everywhere. [Free]
Already well-loved among read-it-later types, Pocket 5.0 brings streamlined navigation, unified search across all your lists, and Highlights, which pulls up the most relevant content among the things you promised yourself you’d read. [Free]
Gmail
Visual updates across the board are nice, but this revamped app brings big changes for iPad users. Full screen portrait view, full screen compose, a slimmed-down navigation bar and improved scrolling make this feel like more than an overgrown iPhone app. [Free]
iBooks
After all the flat-this, antiskeuomorphic-that of iOS7, iBooks finally sheds its IKEA wood shelf. Now, books just sort of float on a ceiling-tile-coloured background. Maybe it’s a glass shelf, like the glass staircases in the flagship Apple stores? The app leaves it up to you to decide. [Free]
Windows Phone
Vine
Yes, now you Windows Phone folks are in the six-second loop. We shouldn’t have to explain this one to you — if you’ve got a smartphone, you know what Vine is. But just in case, this lets you take a little six-second video, loop it, and share it on the social medias. Like making your own GIF. [Free]