Get over the hump of this week with a dose of new apps for your smartphone.
Android
Dormi
Dormi turns your old castoff Android device into a baby monitor that broadcasts to your current smartphone or tablet no matter where you are. Just set the listening device to “child” and leave it plugged in, and multiple “parent” devices can push-to-listen or push-to-talk. The free download gets you four hours a month, with $US1 a month, $US5 a year, or $US7 unlimited subscriptions available. [ Google Play Store ]
Samsung Power Sleep
This alarm clock app does more for mankind than just making sure you get to work on time: it uses your Android’s idle computing power to help University of Vienna researchers analyse protein structures to help find a cure for diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s. When you set your alarm, your device receives a data packet; when the alarm goes off, it sends its completed work back. Now you can feel accomplished the moment you wake up in the morning. [Free]
Eventseeker
Eventseeker gives you relevant, real-time alerts when the sports teams, musicians, artists and comedians you love are coming to your area. Getting its cues from your music library and the people you follow on social media, it suggests events and lets you invite friends and purchase tickets in-app. [Free]
iOS
Hop
Hop promises to make email as fun, casual, and easy as texting or IMing by doing away with email’s stodgy format. This week, the app adds iPad support, the ability to sync multiple email accounts, and sharing ability to apps like Dropbox, Evernote, Twitter, and more. [Free]
UpWord Notes
This app gives your iPhone a notepad worthy of iOS 7. With swipe gestures to create, highlight, and cross out list items, one-tap reminders, and formatting options far beyond what the stock notepad app has ever offered, UpWord Notes makes creating something as mundane as a grocery list a real joy. [$1]
Windows Phone
Pin.it
This full-featured Pinterest 3rd party app lets you do everything you can do on Pinterest on your computer. Plus, you can pin your favourite users and boards to your start screen, with four different live tile styles, and customise your view with a whole bunch of themes. Get ready to waste even more time on Pinterest. [Free]
Booklet (beta)
This handy newsreader app for Facebook groups your content by type or view, giving you a cleaner, smoother interface than the stock Facebook app. It’s still in beta, and a recent bug fix took care of some pretty basic glitches like notifications getting stuck on-screen, so standard beta caveats apply — it probably ain’t gonna be 100% smooth. But if you’re looking for a different user experience for Facebook on your Windows Phone, this free app is worth a try. [Free]