App Store Apps

This week's edition of our Apps of the Week roundup features a new picture-in-picture sharing app, an easy-to-use beat-maker, and a task manager app with a unique twist. And as always, we've selected two new games for you to check out.

ClippyCam is a new app that aims to make sharing photos and videos with your friends more fun. No, not with text or stickers or emojis—but with videos. Basically you record a video of yourself and it gets embedded in your photo or video in a picture-in-picture style. Think of it as a way to explain the photo or video you're sharing, or even as a way to brag about what you are doing. "Just hanging out in Hawaii, wish you were here!" The app itself is free, but you'll have to fork over $3 to remove the annoying watermark. ClippyCam is available for free.

Groovebox is a free, beautifully designed music studio app packed with inspiring synths and drum machines. In minutes you’ll be making beats, melodies, and playing with world-class instruments. Play with touchable instruments to quickly create your own beats and melodies, or draw in notes. Need inspiration? Groovebox has hundreds of patterns and sounds to get you started. I know there are a ton of these types of apps on the App Store already, but this one looks sharp and appears to have the features to make it worth checking out. Groovebox is available for free (with some IAPs).

Taskful is a smart to-do list and task manager app that helps you stay on track and meet your deadlines. It breaks down all of your tasks and only shows you what you need to do today, so you can stay focused and motivated. Whether you are trying to track your steps, drink more water, or read that book you haven't picked up in a while, Taskful is designed to help you get stuff done. This is another app that is competing in a super crowded space, but again I think the design and feature set here make it worth a look. Taskful is available for $2.

Unleash the power of your fists, spells and weapons in this pattern-based adventure game. Hone your reflexes and be one with the environment as speed and rhythm become second-nature. Play with powerful heroes and unlock all their abilities and secrets to help better dispense your foes. Reach new and faraway lands not yet discovered by fellow travelers. Be a Flipping Legend! The game does have some annoying IAPs, but it has a 5-star rating on nearly 300 early reviews. Flipping Legend is available for free.

For those who aren't familiar with it, forma.8 is a unique take on the proven Metroidvania action-adventure formula, with a striking visual style and a huge world to explore. As the small exploration probe forma.8 you're stranded alone on the surface of an alien planet. Separated from your companions by accident you have a life or death mission to accomplish: find and recover a lost, powerful energy source before it's too late. Ancient civilisations, great perils and dystopian visions await you. And not everything is what it seems... Forma.8 GO is available for $4 (sale price).

This week's edition of our Apps of the Week roundup features a new Instagram-based travel guide, an app for posting and accepting wild challenges, and a new social network for linking up with friends. And as usual, we've selected two great new games for you to check out.

Sherpa is a community-generated travel guide powered by photos shared on Instagram. It's actually a very clever idea: an app that scrapes Instagram for photos tagged in specific locations, organized into a travel guide. Sherpa allows you to discover over 15,000 cities, regions and countries through the authentic lens of world travelers, adventurers and locals. Save the places you want to visit, and put together the ultimate itinerary. There is one small caveat here: at the time of writing, the app requires an invite code. But it's pretty simple to download the app and request an invite, so this shouldn't be much of a problem. Sherpa is available for free.

Do you find your life bored or lacking direction? Would you like to step outside your comfort zone and discover exciting new people and adventures? Check out Trybeo. It's a social network based around challenges—you can either accept posted challenges or propose your own. These consist of anything from flipping water bottles to doing cartwheels down an isle at the grocery store, or trying to knock a cone off your friend's head with a football. Take on challenges to become the best player, or up-vote worthy opponents. Trybeo is available for free.

Use Beacon to signal your availability to your friends and family. Going to be in town for work or just general visiting? Send out a Beacon. Have an extra ticket to an upcoming Concert or want to go see a movie Thursday? Beacon. Post your impromptu event in Beacon and your friends will be notified immediately. When your friends join the event, you're notified immediately. Everyone can comment in the thread, and you can tell people where to go and what to expect. Bored? You're only two taps away from hanging out with a friend. Beacon is available for free.

The Cobi games, for me, are always a good time. The gameplay is accurate, fast-paced and easy to learn. Even if you don't like throwing darts in real life, I imagine you can find some fun in the challenge of Cobi darts. Features include 9 awesome game modes, including classic 501 and 301 games, custom darts and characters and even iMessage support. Cobi Darts is available for free (with some IAPs).

Looking for something a little different this weekend? Check out Art of Conquest. This new strategy game gives you full control in a world full of dwarves, magic and monsters in a perfect marriage of MMO and strategy. Besiege enemy strongholds to expand your kingdom, slay nefarious dragons with a band of legendary heroes, and challenge players around the world in epic real-time battles. Command, summon, build and explore. Art of Conquest is available for free (with some IAPs).