Top 15 apps of 2011
Android: Pulse News
Pulse News offers Android owners a visually pleasing way to catch up on current affairs and other web content, on and offline. Feeds are collated into a colorful and interactive mosaic homescreen.
Cost: Free Android: Glympse
New location-sharing service Glympse lets people know where you are whether that's a static location or on the road via email, SMS, Facebook or Twitter. With timing options addressing privacy concerns, it's a useful app for both work and play.
Cost: Free Android: AirSync by doubleTwist
Used in conjunction with the free doubleTwist desktop app, this app lets you sync your iTunes music, videos and photos from your PC to your phone, wirelessly over your home Wi-Fi network.
Cost: $4.99 Android: Camera ZOOM FX
This is a comprehensive camera app for the Android platform. As well as the cool filters, frames and vignettes we've come to know and love in such apps, Camera ZOOM FX takes functionality further with special effects such as tilt shift, distortion and composites.
Cost: $4.99 Android: Beautiful Widgets
One thing Android owners have over iOS users is tons more customisation options. This app makes the most of them with a huge variety of ways to personalise your phone.
Cost: $2.89 iOS: Flipboard
Combining content from websites, blogs and social networks, Flipboard has been a big success story. Available for both the iPhone and the iPad, the "social magazine" is credited for changing the way people access online content.
Cost: Free iOS: Snapseed
This post-process photo editing app is available for both the iPhone and the iPad, but on the tablet's larger screen it really shines. Awarded "iPad App of the Year" by Apple, Snapseed will help you get the most out of your images with auto-enhancement edits, the ability to enhance certain areas, special effect filters and more.
Cost: $4.99 iOS: Path
While major mainstream success is a ways off although Path has seen approximately 1.5 million downloads to-date the relaunch of this smart-journal-come-social-network late this year was well-received. Offering both a digital diary and a way of sharing with a limited group of close friends, Path appeals to privacy-aware, socially savvy consumers.
Cost: Free iOS: Instagram
Apple's "iPhone App of the Year" combines creative photography fun with social networking. Its great results and ease of use means it's responsible for too many shots of our breakfasts/cats/boring commutes. With Instagram you can snap an image, process it with one of the app's awesome filter effects, and then share to not just the Instgram community, but to your friends, family and contacts on wider social networks.
Cost: Free iOS: Stamped
Innovative startup Stamped is a recommendation service with a difference. You can "Stamp" anything from films to food, see your friends' Stamps and build up an archive of things you love, to refer back to later. Stamped takes the clutter and anonymity out of recommendations, while keeping things private to the wider public. Building affiliate programs for when people want to act on a Stamp is the clever business model behind this app, which we expect to hear more from in 2012.
Cost: Free WP7: Tango
Somewhat bizarrely beating Microsoft-owned Skype to the WP7 platform, Tango allows you to make free phone and video calls over cellular networks and Wi-Fi to anyone who has Tango installed on their smartphone, tablet or PC. With a great-looking UI, it's a great option for Windows Phone owners, although that Skype option should be coming very soon.
Cost: Free WP7: Metrotube
Although already as popular as the previous "LazyTube" incarnation, Metrotube, re-designed and re-developed for Mango, is an improvement and so much better than the native YouTube app. Definitely one to download if you want to catch YouTube clips on your WP7 handset.
Cost: $1.99 for premium version, free version available WP7: FeedWorm
While rival reader app Fuse brings good looks, FeedWorm is a no-frills Windows Phone application that syncs with your Google Reader account and makes it very simple to read RSS feeds on your phone. Offline support and a super-clean interface make it a must-have.
Cost: Free WP7: bubblegum
While Pictures Lab and Thumba Photo Editor still prove popular on the platform, new-comer bubblegum is the photo app du jour. Created by Microsoft programmers, bubblegum has all the cool filters and social options iOS and Android users have been enjoying with Instagram, but integrates beautifully into the WP7 platform.
Cost: Free WP7: Mixtapes
Powered by 8tracks, Mixtapes offers free access to millions of songs in thousands of playlists, or to "mixes" made by music lovers all over the world. The app lets you listen to "what real people are listening to," and is great for both themed listening sessions and music discovery.
Cost: Free
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