Apps of the week: Newsy, Pocket Trains, gMusic, and more…

iPhone 5 appsSo, you’ve had iOS 7 for about a week now. What do you think of it? Most people, including jailbreak fans, have had positive things to say about Apple’s newest mobile operating system. Not everything is perfect though. There have been security issues, complaints of motion sickness, and there is sure to be more problems in the future.

This weekend, forget about what everyone else is saying about iOS 7 and sit back with this list of apps to help you enjoy the next two days off…

Newsy

NewsyOne of the App Stores most popular video news aggregator services just got a major update with a completely redesigned look, faster load times, and a cleaner user interface. Editor’s picks are now at the top of the page. Videos can now be sorted by category and users can subscribe to be notified about new posts. Thanks to background downloading in iOS 7, videos will be available for you immediately. No more waiting for the app to refresh. Browse through current stories while you are watching a video to have the next one waiting in the queue. You can even watch news clips from your favorite categories using autoplay. This app is available for free.

Crowd Tilt

Crowd TiltWhenever it is time to pool money together for a big purchase, do you find yourself having a hard time asking for your cohorts to pay up? If you want to have a well-organized group purchase, use Crowd Tilt to help you keep track. You’ll be able to collect money from friends and family, find out how much each person’s share of a split will be, and even start a fundraiser to buy an island. Make your Crowd Tilt public and try to get others to support your cause, or keep it private amongst you and your friends. This app is available for free.

Tower of Fortune 2

Tower of Fortune 2 1If you are longing for some mono-color RPG action circa original Gameboy, this little adventure will have you glued to your nausea inducing iPhone for hours. Mixing RPG battle gaming with slots-based luck of the pull action, you won’t be able to separate gambling from adventuring. Take down dozens of different monsters with mini bosses and bosses on each level. Upgrade your hero’s stats, armor, and weapons to become the strongest fighter to make it through the evil tower. Replay the game over and over to discover nine different endings. This game is available for $1.99.

Pocket Trains

Pocket Trains 1Simulation gaming on iOS just got a new railway addition. Build train stations around the world and ship goods and people across nations. Earn money for transporting items and use the money to open new stations. The more your empire grows, the more money you will make. Upgrade your trains by adding more fuel cars, increasing speed with additional engines, and making it possible to carry more cargo with extra cars. Turn your small train business into a railway empire as you build and grow, laying down tracks across the globe. This game is available for free.

Vesper: Elegant Notes

VesperNothing feels better than a good note taking app. We always have something on our minds and need to write it down somewhere. This app makes simple note writing smooth and comfortable without the muss and fuss of complicated note apps. You can organize your notes by adding tags and group them into related items. You can add photos to notes, drag and drop items to place them somewhere else in the list, move important notes to the top, and hide notes that you are done with by sending them to the archive section. This app is available for $3.99.

Shadowrun Returns

Shadowrun ReturnsThe popular crowdfunded role-playing sequel to Shadowrun that was on the lips of hardcore gamers all summer long has finally made its way to iOS. Explore a dystopian future where the 1800s meets the future and fantasy creatures have joined the cyberpunk world. Travel the grim streets where magic meets machine as a mercenary, earning your living by any means necessary. Customize your character from six different archtypes, discover and use more than 350 weapons, and fight to stay alive in this epic single player turn-based tactical RPG. This game is available for $9.99.

gMusic 2

gMusicGoogle Music is one of Apple’s biggest competitors for capturing the digital music-buying world. There are not a whole lot of apps available in the App Store that are designed exclusively to support the service. gMusic is one of the best and the company has just launched a sequel to the popular music player. This new app is the only iOS Google Music player that lets you discover artists, create radio stations, add music to your library within the app, edit playlists, and more. It features 10-band equalization, Last.fm scrobbling, and a built in sleep timer. This app is available for $1.99.

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