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Check it out: Our top 5 Android and iOS apps of the week

Top 5 Apps COM
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Are you ready to check out our weekly Top 5 apps for Android and/or iOS that you should try out? Unlike our current selection of temporarily free apps, we have tried the apps out for ourselves and will inform you if there are any in-app purchases or other additional costs. So sit back, relax, and download the app(s) that you find exciting!

From mobile games to productivity apps, here are the five free and paid Android/iOS apps from NextPit this week. We publish this selection every week, you can also check the Top 5 apps of last week. This week, you will not only be able to figure out how to remember things better, but you can also let your hair down over the weekend bringing peace to the world of Traum in Undecember.

Brain Bump (iOS & Android)

You do not have to be a student or someone who is currently working on a doctorate to benefit from better memory retention, and Brain Bump is here to help. This unique edecation app attempts to 'solve' what most of us experience - quickly forgetting something that we have read in a book or heard on a podcast. How does Brain Bump do the seemingly impossible?

For starters, it recognizes that such memory lapses happen, and it takes key ideas from available content and delivers them to the user so that these ideas remain freshly imprinted in their minds. In fact, the app claims that as little as two seconds a day is enough to work its magic. I've tried it as I am currently doing a theological course, and I must say that it works brilliantly in helping me remember trivia that I would normally have consigned to my bulbous brain.

Merging the core functionality of a book summary app, a flashcard app, and a daily affirmation app, it will obtain highlights from the content and presents to you. You do not have to go through the hassle of launching the app, since passive learning occurs when push notifications happen. This app supports content from a variety of channels: books, blogs, podcasts, classes, and talks. While it is not the most visually attractive app, it does what it is supposed to very well.

  • Price: Free  / Advertising: None / In-app purchases: None / Account: Not required
Top 5 Apps of the week: Brain Bump
Do you know it takes just 2 seconds daily for better retention of what you have read? / © NextPit

Screen Recorder - eRecorder (Android)

I am quite sure that all of us have had at least one experience where we had an older friend or member of the family call to ask, "How do I use this app?" Verbally giving instructions without any visual aid can get exasperating quickly, so you know what they say—"a picture is worth more than a thousand words." Why not get video to help them out?

The thing is, there is no native screen recording app on your Android smartphone, so here is the Screen Recorder - eRecorder app that will hopefully be able to help you be the most beloved app troubleshooter in the family, instantly placing you in the lead to inherit the previous generation's possessions when the time comes. 

This simple tool is useful for recording whatever is shown on the screen for games as well as live shows, lessons and tutorials. You will be able to record up to Full HD resolution (1080p) at 60fps, although I do get rather irritated at the number of ads that interrupt the workflow. In fact, booting up the app itself will already present an ad. In order to get rid of ads, I would highly recommend paying the one-time fee of $4.99, where you will then also benefit from an optimized workflow.

Screen Recorder provides basic functions like video trimming, letting you remove the side and middle sections, and add a soundtrack for added effect. Audio can be recorded from internal audio files or external audio files, with the option of including a soundtrack that is available on your device to the recorded video.

You can also stress your point by using the facecam while recording, letting you share pointers and thoughts while showing how it is done. Pretty nifty for content creators, but please do pay to remove the ads if you really want to get productive with this!

  • Price: Free / Advertising: Yes / In-app purchases: Yes / Account: Not required
Top 5 Apps of the week: Screen Recorder - eRecorder
Now here is a nifty way of making those app tutorial videos... / © NextPit

Worldwide Walkie Talkie (Android)

You know when you are traveling in a convoy or are in the great outdoors with family and/or friends? While I know that calling one another is pretty much free these days, there is a sense of adventure when one takes on the walkie talkie as the primary communications device. The Worldwide Walkie Talkie app does just that, presenting a retro communications tool in the modern smartphone. Now, you can chat with friends and family worldwide from your smartphone!

There are 32 different channels to cycle through, and using it is pretty much the same—you press the virtual button to record your message (after making sure you are on the correct channel with someone else, of course), and release after recording your message to have it transmit.

It works as long as there is an Internet connection, and you also have the benefit of playing back previous messages through the app—something that the traditional walkie talkie lakcs.

Being free to use, there is a small banner ad at the bottom of the display, but it does not detract from the user experience in any way. While the graphics do look rather spartan, it works as intended, so I have nothing much to complain about.

This is the ideal app to install on an old and unwanted Android device, using it as a tool to communicate with others around the house just because you can. While it is not limited by range, it is limited by the presence of an Internet connection, so this is not something you want to bring with you to the great outdoors. 

  • Price: Free / Advertising : Yes / In-app purchases: None / Account: Not required
Top 5 Apps of the week: Worldwide Walkie Talkie
Think you are smart and all that? Give this game a...crack! / © NextPit

TouchRetouch (iOS & Android)

As the name suggests, TouchRetouch solely focuses on removing unwanted objects from any photo. This works much better than other more expensive software and apps. Of course, TouchRetouch is able to work reasonably well with general photos, but if you have a really complex photo from which you want to remove different objects, then using professional desktop software will be far more suitable.

Taking a photo of a swanky hotel lounge from above, I removed some items on a chair, but in lieu of it was some garbled mess that looked so obvious. Other items like a lamp on a table proved to be more up the app's alley.

This app is ideal for retouching photos where annoying power lines appear to interrupt the flow of the beautiful, clear sky during the day. Do take note that there is no free version, and the $3.99 asking price is a small fee to pay to obtain far more interesting and cleaner photos for your social media.

Apart from removing meshes, you can also retouch lines and perform pixel-to-pixel cloning, making it perfect to remove artifacts or fix any sort of distortions that appear int he background. Here is a hat tip: you can use this app to remove watermarks from other photos, how about that?

In fact, TouchRetouch is so good, we have even rated it as one of the best photo editing apps for Android! If you are interested in other alternatives, do check out our list of best photo editing apps here.

  • Price: $3.99 / Advertising : None / In-app purchases: None / Account: Not required
Top 5 Apps of the week: Worldwide Walkie Talkie
TouchRetouch helps spruce up your photos like magic! / © NextPit

Undecember (iOS & Android)

If you are sick and tired of games that do not inspire you or get your pulse racing, perhaps it is time to drop all that you are doing right now and download Undecember. This is an action RPG title that is currently available on both iOS and Android platforms, and I cannot stress how much joy I had when it transported me back to the days when Diablo II on the PC was the bomb.

Featuring a hack-and-slash combat system, you will be stunned by the graphics on the mobile screen, so perhaps now would be a good time to upgrade your smartphone to a flagship if you have been looking for an excuse all this while.

You step into the shoes of a Rune Hunter in a world that is known as Traum. Traum was the creation of a dozen gods who were living harmoniously. As luck would have it, the 13th god appeared—Serpens (how convenient)—, and began to cause chaos and confusion everywhere. It is now up to you, the Rune Hunter, to bring about peace and order to the world.

Runes were left behind by the 12 gods in their quest to rid Serpens, but this does not mean that the danger is over as Serpen's creatures still prowl around, dishing out their brand of wickedness.

Fast-paced in combat, you will use Skill Runes and Gear to develop a unique character that you call your own. There are no character classes to work with here, letting you go with the flow. In a nutshell, the possibilities are virtually endless as there are over 100 Skill Runes to collect, and each of them can be tweaked and upgraded, and I haven't even gotten into the amount of available Gear.

Taking a leaf out of Final Fantasy Tactics, there is a Zodiac system that works in tandem with your character's attributes and passive skills. There are 10 acts in total at first, with a slew of challenge modes to choose from.

The initial download is around 700MB+ in size, but upon installation, you will have to choose one of the three available servers, where a massive 4GB+ download is further required before you get down and dirty to free the world from evil tyranny.

There are in-app purchases to purchase if you would like to advance further in the game at a faster pace, but you will still have a rocking good time if you are a cheap bastard like me. Best of all is, you need a single FLOOR account to play on the PC as well as on your mobile device!

  • Price: Free (iOS and Android) / Advertising: None / In-app purchases: Yes / Account: Required

There you have it, our list of the top 5 apps of the week. It is a good time to let loose some steam and slash evil demons roaming in Undecember, just be patient with the download times for the initial setup. If you have something you would like to point out or want to share your own suggestions, leave a comment section right below!

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Edwin Kee

Edwin Kee
Freelance Editor and Forum Moderator

The love of writing and all things tech have proven to be the catalyst that has kept me going in this industry for the past decade. Here are to many more years ahead, at least until Android Vanilla Pudding is released!

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