Viki, Nickel and other apps to check out this weekend

This was a pretty interesting week for iOS releases. We have a Siri-like voice assistant, a well-designed Wikipedia client, an app for sending out random messages, and a new money management app that helps teach kids the value of saving. Check out all of these, and a fun new twitch game in this week’s entry of Apps of the Week.

Viki

There’s no shortage of Wikipedia apps in the App Store, but if you’re looking for one with an abundance of features, powerful search and a beautiful design, the selection gets a lot thinner. That’s where Viki comes in. This app offers beautiful typography for a world-class reading experience, voice search with rich article previews, and the ability to return articles based on your current location. There’s really too many things to list here, but if you use Wikipedia at all on a regular basis, Viki is worth looking into. This app is available for $0.99.

Nickel

This is an interesting app that helps kids and teens learn how to manage their money. Part teaching app, part prepaid MasterCard, Nickel lets parents stay in control while their children gain real-world banking experience. Parents can send money to their kids’ Nickel Cards, either as a one-time or recurring transaction, and monitor how they spend it. Kids can save up by sending money to their Nickel Pocket, which can earn interest at a rate set (and paid) by their parents. This app is available for free. The service, after the free 2-month trial, is $5 per child per month.

Hound

Hound made a pretty big splash this week as a sort of third-party replacement or supplement to Siri. It’s a smart voice search and assistant tool that responds quickly to your natural questions and commands. You can ask Hound about the weather, ask it for directions, call an Uber, search for hotels, make phones calls and send text messages. You can even activate it hands-free by saying “Ok Hound…” and can follow up queries by adding additional information or context. This app is available for free.

Rando

Bored? Send a photo, GIF, or quote. You don’t have to pick one, just let Rando do it. If you’re really brave, you can even send it blindly. Rando is a sort of social network client that allows you to send random messages via Twitter, Facebook, text and other services. It picks from your iPhone’s Camera Roll, GIFs from Giphy, and quotes, and then you can send them to whoever you want, virtually however you want. It’s the ultimate conversation starter…or stopper. This app is available for free.

Push the Arrow

Looking for a new pick-up-and-play twitch game? Meet Push the Arrow. It’s a simple game where players are tasked with maneuvering a constantly spinning triangle piece through and around various obstacles. The key is to tap the screen when the triangle is facing the direction you’d like it to go. It supports Replay Kit, iCloud Sync, and multiplayer on Apple TV. I will say that the ads can get annoying, but if you stay away from the ‘Play Again for Free’ button, it’s not so bad. This game is available for free.