This week we saw an insane amount of new apps. Facebook Creative Labs revealed mobile-friendly message boards for iOS. Google wants completely reimagine your inbox. Even Skype had a doodle-centric tweak for Windows Phone. But there's much, much more to explore in the world of our three favorite operating systems, so let's take a look, shall we?
Android
HERE Maps
Here Maps is the well-known Nokia mapping application exclusive to Windows Phone. However, the app has slowly been colonizing other parts of the mobile world, even coming to Samsung Galaxy phones in the summer. This week, the Here team has released a free beta download for Android through their website. With accurate mapping tech and friendly user interface, Here Maps could very well replace Google Maps as your go-to GPS buddy. [Free]
Journeys & Notes
Earlier this week, Microsoft revealed its app-making project called Microsoft Garage, creating new software across many different mobile platforms. One is a customizable lock screen that's a lot more handy than other options out there, but Journeys & Notes is also a fun idea for the outdoorsy type or even an ambitious urban explorer. When traveling, whether to work or across the globe, you can take notes about what you see and experience, and also see the impressions of travelers who have walked the same path. It's a novel idea and fun way to document trips, but ultimately a service that will depend on a heavily engaged community. But for free, it's definitely worth a try. [Free]
iOS
Shortcut
Almost every day, some new app is described as "the Uber of something." Because ever since the dawn of that taxi-fetching app, developers have been recreating the model for every facet of our lives. Now, hair is getting attention. Shortcut is an app that brings a barber, specializing in men's haircuts, straight to you. Unfortunately, the recently launched service is only available in New York City, but the app promises more locations are coming soon. [Free]
TinType
It's easy to get so obsessed with picture clarity and color reproduction in modern photography that you miss what's so charming about those old-timey daguerreotypes and tintypes. Now, the Hipstamatic team, the developers dedicated to bringing the look of digital photography back a few generations, have created TinType. With a collection of settings, filters, and cropping options, users can recreate a kind of photography that has long been extinct. [$1]
Windows Phone
PhotoMath
At 26, there is a lot of technology around that I already wish I had as a kid. I honestly don't know what my 8-year-old self would do with a PS4. But PhotoMath might make me officially jealous of today's youth. By taking picture of a math problem, this Windows Phone app solves it and show you how. This is pretty much a math class game changer, and probably could have helped transform my less-than-stellar high school math skills into straight-A grades. [Free]
Tetra Lockscreen
Microsoft loosed a whole volley of new apps this week, and the most impressive for Windows Phone was the Tetra Lockscreen. Here's all the awesomeness this app can do without ever unlocking your phone:
Displays upcoming calendar events/visualizes the pace of your day with a single timeline/ shows your current location on a street map/displays nearby calendar events with identifiable locations/display activity in steps, distance or approximate number of calories burned/and more
Needless to say, for the price tag of free it's worth giving a test run. [Free]