Nightly, Jot, Planny, and other apps to check out this weekend

This week’s edition of our Apps of the Week roundup features an app that promises to help you sleep better, a no-fuss note-taking client, and a beautiful, intelligent task manager. And as always, we’ve selected two great new games for you to check out.

Nightly

Nightly is an interesting app that claims to help you fall asleep easier, stay asleep longer, and have fewer bad dreams. To do this, the app utilizes AI tech that detects critical moments during the night and reacts with relaxing audio. Other features include a timeline that allows you to easily track your sleep history and progress, intelligent alarm to wake you up a just the right moment, Apple Health integration and a beautiful dark-colored interface. There’s a subscription fee of $5 per month, but you do get a 2-week free trial, so you can figure out if it’s really going to help or not. Nightly is available for free (with some IAPs).

Jot

Jot is the no-fuss way to take notes. The app promises to help you get all your big ideas and little ‘things to remember’ into a simple, stripped down format. Easy swipe gestures keep your list of notes short and orderly. Remember anything by searching through your full archives. Use quick and easy todo lists, and basic reminders to stay on top of daily life stuff. Jot leaves out all the fancy, distracting stuff you don’t need: formatting, drawing, tags, categories, shared lists, sync, stickers, etc. It’s just as simple and straightforward as using a piece of paper. Jot is available for $1.99.

Planny

Planny is a new take on the old task manager/todo list/planner application. I know there are a ton of these out there already, but I really feel like this one differentiates itself enough to make it worth checking out. The UI is sharp and modern and the app intelligently learns your behavior and serves up smart reminders throughout the day to ensure you are on top of your tasks. It also has a full-blown Apple Watch app and a Mac client. The app itself is free, but if you really like it you’ll want to fork over the $4 to unlock all the features. Planny is available for free (with some IAPs).

Halftime Live

Get excited sports fans! Halftime Live is a sports trivia game show with cash prizes. So yeah, it’s essentially HQ but without the bearded host and savage geography questions. The premise is pretty much the same though: players tune into a live stream of the game show where you are asked 12 questions. You get 10 seconds to answer each question, and if you get it right, you move on to the next round. If you make it through all 12, you split the cash prize with the other winners. You can acquire extra lives and the game show takes place during halftime of the biggest sports event of the day. Halftime Live is available for free.

My Tamagotchi Forever

Tamagotchi is back! Remember those little egg-shaped digital pets from the late 90’s, early 2000’s? Well now they are invading our phones. My Tamagotchi Forever is exactly what you think it is: basically a modern day version of the popular pet simulator. You can raise, take care of, customize, evolve and collect pets, and even view them in AR. You can also share and compare your characters with your friends. I believe this game has been soft-launched for a few months now in select locations, but now it’s available everywhere. My Tamagotchi Forever is available for free (with some IAPs).

Other app news to check out