It’s the weekend people, and you know what that means! It’s time for another Apps of the Week roundup! This week we have some great selections for you including a P2P mobile payment app with…sass, an AI video generator, and a new, retro social network. And as always, we’ve picked a great game for you to check out.
Vizme
Sometimes I come across an app so…unique, that I just don’t know what to make of it, so I serve it up to the people and let them decide. This is one of those apps. Meet Vizme, a P2P payment app that lets you send and receive money to/from your family and friends. What sets it apart from the [many] other players in this space? A sprinkle of sass. Seriously, it says that in the app description. Along with your payment, you can send emojis, gifs and other fun reactions to liven up the money exchange. That’s because with Vizme, it’s about making memories, not just payments. Yeah, it says that in the app description too. Ok, so I’m not 100% sure you should give these people your banking information but uh…maybe it will catch on some day?
D-ID: AI Video Generator
It may not seem like it, but I try to be really selective when it comes to featuring Ai apps on here. If it makes the list, I believe it’s useful, original, or at least somewhat interesting. D-ID, despite its awful name, fits in the latter bucket. It’s actually an AI video generator, that allows you to create videos from a single image quickly. It’s actually pretty wild: upon opening the app you choose an avatar character, an audio clip of a voice you like, type in what you want it to say, and D-ID does the rest. As you’d expect, you are quickly prompted to move to the Pro plan, but you do get a 15-day free trial if you want to check it out. I think this could be a fun app to mess around in, and it moves the needle just a little further in the direction of: shi*ts about to start getting really weird.
SpaceHey Mobile
Now HERE’s an app I can really get behind. SpaceHey is a retro social network, with a design that harkens back to the good ole MySpace days, when social networks were bubbly and fun, instead of dark, depressing hellscapes. Seriously, SpaceHey thought of everything here with bulletins, blogs, forums, IMs, and more. You can even customize your profile with custom layouts featuring HTML and CSS code—MIDI files and 8-bit graphics, here I come. There are no algorithms, no tracking, and no personalized ads, and your feeds are in chronological order, free from suggested content. I know it’s nearly impossible for stuff like this to gain traction nowadays, but the team does say it’s closing in on 1 million users. Cool!
Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal
In this latest mobile addition to the Hitman franchise, you play [duh] Agent 47, a trained killer caught in the crosshairs of a rival agency, “The Franchise.” You must embark on a daring mission to take out the shadow conspiracy’s lethal architects, and employ every tool at your disposal to get the job done while keeping a low profile. If you’ve never played a Hitman game, it’s very stealth-action-y. Agent 47 favors disguises, ingenuity, and improvisation over bull rushing with guns blazing. Typically, the cleaner the hit, the better the payoff. This a full-blown game worthy of a console, and it has a full-blown price tag of $15. I don’t usually like featuring paid games on here, as I want as many people to get to try them as possible, but I decided to for a few reasons: I rarely do it, the Hitman franchise holds some nostalgia for me, and if we don’t support bigger titles like this on iOS, they’ll eventually stop making them.
App-related news and tips from this week
- Here are the best App Store apps and games of 2023, including generative AI apps that exemplify the Trend of the Year
- How to let passengers play and control music in your car using SharePlay
- How to get a burner or throwaway email inbox on iPhone, Mac, and other devices
- How to get your Apple Music Replay playlist, milestones and insights for 2023