Here they are: Our top 5 Android and iOS apps of the week
Every single weekend, we at NextPit meet to check my selection of 5 free or paid mobile applications and games that caught my eye on both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.
Each week, I will try to bring you the best possible apps that are not data traps or microtransaction hells. In addition to my own discoveries, I also included apps discovered by the NextPit community and shared over our forum, which I invite you to check out.
From mobile games to productivity apps, here are the 5 free and paid Android/iOS apps from NextPit this week. We publish this selection every week, you can also check my 5 free apps of last week.
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Pikit with Friends (Android & iOS)
Pikit with Friends is a social network in which you share two images side-by-side and ask other users to vote for one of the images.
The basic idea is simply to make divisive polls with two options, like whether I should wear this blue shirt or the red t-shirt. But I could already see several accounts publishing memes and hijacking the original intention of the application. This application is not really great and it's still in its infancy in terms of community (it was recently released), but I do find the concept to be a funny one, so why not?
While there are no in-app purchases or intrusive ads, you do have to create a profile using your Google or Facebook account.
- Price: Free / Ads: None / In-app purchases: None / Account: Required
- Download Pikit with Friends from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store
Rekt (iOS)
When you visit certain sites from your smartphone's web browser, you may often see a notification "inviting" you to use the mobile app instead.
When you click on a link that you want to quickly check out, it can be annoying to always have to decline to switch to the app before you can do anything else. Rekt wants to remedy this particular issue by blocking those notifications.
The application works like an extension in Safari on your iPhone. Once activated, I didn't experience any notifications that asked me to switch to the app when checking the web version of Reddit or Twitter. In a nutshell, it works!
The app is paid and requires a one-time purchase fee of $1.99. It contains no ads and does not require you to create an account to use it. On Reddit, the developer mentioned that he was thinking about monetizing his application, with the possibility of including ads in the future (the servers to host all the images have a cost).
- Price: $1.99 / Ads: None / In-app purchases: None / Account: Not required
- Download Rekt from the Apple App Store
iNook (Android & iOS)
You may have heard of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, THE game that was widely played worldwide during the quarantine when it was released two years ago on the Nintendo Switch. It's a life simulation game, much like My Time at Portia which I reviewed several months ago. In this game, you have to work, socialize and improve your home.
In short, there are plenty of things to do and understand around this virtual micro society in which you are immersed. It's enough to discourage new players who don't have 10 hours a day to invest in a video game.
iNook is a guide developed by fans of the game and offers you a vast database to better understand the game as well as tools to interact with other players. The application is free, it has no ads, and the interface is very clean and faithful to the atmosphere and universe of the game. The only in-app purchase is a Pro version, known as iNook+, which costs $2.99 per month.
- Price: Free / Ads: None / In-app purchases: Yes (Pro version at $2.99/month) / Account: Not required
- Download iNook from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store
Inspod (Android)
Inspod wants to help you generate ideas and make them happen when you're listening to or watching a podcast. The idea is to allow you to create cards and notes whenever a passage inspires you, where you land a marker (timestamp) so you don't forget which passage has spoken to you and why especially.
For each excerpt, you can write a note, insert a bulleted list and even transcribe a 30-second audio excerpt. You can then find all your notes on the same episode in a single place. The application not only works with audio podcasts but also with videos on YouTube.
The application is free, without any ads or in-app purchases but you have to create an account to use it.
- Price: Free / Ads: None / In-app purchases: None / Account: Required
- Download Inspod from the Google Play Store
Hot Lap League: Racing Mania! (Android & iOS)
This racing game bears a very strong resemblance to TrackMania for those who are in the know. You have to complete the fastest lap possible on fancy circuits, using big jumps and loops to help you. Your car accelerates on its own, as you have to manage the braking and tackle corners as best as you can.
But the main goal, really, is time. You have to play and replay the same tracks until you memorize them by heart to optimize your driving and execute a flawless lap, in as little time as possible. The touch controls are quite good, while the graphics are nice and colorful.
There are lots of in-app purchases, which is quite excessive for a game costing almost $4.99, but they only concern cosmetic elements to spice up your car.
- Price: $4.99 / Ads: None / In-app purchases: Yes ($1.99 - $14.99 per item) / Account: Not required
- Download Hot Lap League: Racing Mania! from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store
NextPit's app central
What do you think of this selection? Have you already tested some of the apps on this list? What would be your Android and/or iOS apps of the week?
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