It’s the weekend again, and once you get tired of playing Super Mario Run, you’re going to be looking for other new apps and games to try. Never fear, iDB is here to help. In this week’s Apps of the Week roundup, we have an awesome new black and white photo editor, a book-reading tracker, an app for buying things on-the-fly, and of course two new games for you to check out.
Darkr
Here is kind of a new take on the photo editor genre, with an old-school twist. Darkr is advertised as “a darkroom without the hassle,” and it allows you to create gorgeous black and white images. Find the best strip, crop/rotate your image, and use tools like dodge and burn to make selected parts of the image darker or brighter. There is also blur, tone and layers, and because the app uses OpenGL, drawing is very fast and fluid. Even if you already have a ton of photo editing apps, this looks like it’s worth checking out. Darkr is available for free.
Bookout
Do you enjoy reading, or would you like to read more often? Try Bookout, the app that helps you track and manage how and what you’re reading. With it you can track your library of books and your reading sessions, and use this information to gather insightful data like your total read time, total pages read, reading speed and more. You can get book details by scanning ISBN codes or searching online, and you can even add favorite quotes and thoughts for each book to review later. Bookout is available for free.
PRIMO
Ok so this is a super interesting app concept. PRIMO allows you to buy items directly from a TV commercial, picture, Facebook post, website, and basically anywhere you see a PRIMO Tag (QR code?). Just point your phone at the tag to add the item to your cart, tap the Check Out button, and that’s it. Purchased. There’s obviously some setup involved (payment method, shipping address, etc.), and a long up-hill battle to get these tags in enough places for this to be truly useful, but the end-game sounds awesome. This app is available for free.
Dawn of Titans
This game has been out for a little bit now, and if you haven’t tried it, it’s definitely worth checking out. Once you look beyond the IAP-nonsense, you’ll see a very capable MMO game with incredible graphics. Build your kingdom and fight enemies in a stunning fantasy world, equip colossal warriors with powerful gear and lead them into epic PvP battles, and go to war with thousands of troops under your direct control. Even if MMO titles aren’t really your thing, you’re going to want to watch at least one battle in this game. Dawn of Titans is available for free.
Highway Runners
Looking for something completely opposite of Dawn of Titans? Meet Highway Runners. This paid racing game has no IAPs and old-school 16 bit graphics. It features arcade racing action and 15 levels of 5 different environments, and in-game currency you collect to unlock content and driving styles. There is also CRT and Overlay filters; day, evening and night racing; and intuitive accelerometer gameplay. If you liked older games like Top Gear and Cruisin’ USA, you’re going to love this one. Highway Runners is available for $1.99 (sale price).
More apps to check out
- Download Super Mario Run in the App Store right now
- Apple’s free app of the week: Goat Simulator
- New Apple Support app lets you explore personalized support options in a straightforward way
Apps updated this week
- You can now play Lara Croft GO, Hitman GO and Deus Ex GO on your Apple TV
- Deliveries gains full iOS 10/watchOS 3 support & many new features in latest update
- Dropbox for iOS gains bulk renaming of photos, offline folders & recent save locations
- Google Drive becomes Android migration tool with contacts, photos, videos & calendar sync
- 1Password for Apple Watch is now a native app
- Instagram launches Saved Posts, expands live video to all US users
- You can now stream live video from Twitter app
- Snapchat update enables group chat, Shazam integration, sticker creation & more