This week’s favourite apps have you covered for a lot of different scenarios. You need to book a flight for cheap? Check. Or maybe you’ve got some down time and want to watch a bunch of great videos that were picked out by professionals — there’s an app for that. We’ve also got an old favourite that’s finally being beta tested on a new mobile OS. But OK, that’s enough of an intro, time to check out the apps.
Android
Hopper
Hopper has been available on iOS for a while now, but only recently graced the Play Store with it’s presence. If you’re familiar with Google Flights, the idea behind this app won’t seem new to you, but rest assured, Hopper isn’t just a flight cost prediction app. Hopper lets you identify the week you want to fly and keep tabs on prices as they change, but rather than only setting that type of alert through one airlines’ rewards program, you can have it set for all the airlines and — this feature is new for iOS too — purchase your ticket using the app. [Free]
Ninja Snap
The Ninja Snap app’s sole purpose is to trick your friends. Specifically that one friend who likes to go through your pictures in a frenzy after only being invited to see one image. If you create a prank album before giving the phone to that friend, after a few swipes, the phone’s front facing camera will snap a picture of them. Those pictures are then inserted into the album as they swipe. If nothing else, this one is good for a laugh. [Free]
iOS
Hyper
Hyper for the iPad is basically a video magazine. Each day about 12 videos are hand picked by people who are video experts to be included in the day’s “edition.” Those picked range from 1 minute to as long as 20 minutes and tend to cover anything from tech to global issues. And videos actually come from hundreds of different sources, not just YouTube. Videos found in — let’s say — today’s edition would be no more than two days old. But the app will still let you look at older editions throughout the week. [Free]
Rizon
Photographers know that there is a perfect time of day, or night, to shoot really awesome pictures, called the “golden hour.” Rizon knows when those times are and allows you to set alarms so that no soft light photo opportunity is missed. Rizon is especially useful when you’re in an unfamiliar time zone because alarms can be accurately set without having access to data. It’s a very simple app, with a striking UI and is extremely easy to use. For that it’s getting high marks and a glowing recommendation. [$2.49]
Windows Phone
Google Translate Beta
Google’s translate app got a lot of updates this year and this beta version for Windows has all the same features as the Android and iOS versions of the app, though they might be a little buggy at the moment. The app translates 90 different languages total — 26 of those languages (when written) can be scanned and translated through your phone’s camera. The app also supports language packs for travelling abroad. [Free]
Receipt Tracker
This app came out of the Microsoft Garage Project not too long ago and its goal is to help you out with those pesky, easily lost receipts. Receipt Tracker scans your receipt, using your phone’s camera, and then extracts the information. Once the info is in your phone, you can categorise, even visualise, expenses and send the info to OneNote. It makes sense to have something like this for a work trip, but it might also come in handy for more casual use too. [Free]