iPhones. iPads. Android. Windows Phone 7. We've updated all of our essential apps lists to include a few forgotten favorites, some long awaited arrivals and, as always, even more amazing apps. Check them out!
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iPhone | Android | iPad | Windows Phone 7
The Best iPhone Apps September 2011
The end of the month is here, and that means it's time to do a little housekeeping on our list of the absolute best iPhone apps. Who will be inducted?
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Chef's Feed: A restaurant guide app that distills recommendations by only showing you what the best chefs in your city eat. It's like being friends with these star chefs and texting them for recs every time you want to eat somewhere! You can search by chef, search by dish, find dishes per your location, and more. Only supports New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago though.
Good Player: As awesome as VLC was before it got pulled from the app store, GoodPlayer is pretty much the same thing. It can play pretty much any video file you throw at it without the silly need to convert them. There's even Airplay support and it has the option to stream movies from the web. $3
Photo Academy App: Learn how to be a better photographer. The app covers the basics like how to hold your camera and what tweaking ISO and exposure do to more complex instructions like professional photographer tips and editing ideas. There's literally hundreds of different tips. If you're an amateur photographer, you're bound to learn something. $1
Filmic Pro: Like what Camera+ did for pictures, Filmic Pro does for video. The app gives you a suite of features typically reserved for the pros. There's controls for screen resolution, frame rates, and framing along with focus and exposure locks so you can get the exact shot you want. $3
Shadowgun: Like if Gears of War was on the iPhone. Yes, the graphics are console-quality, the game is a cover-based shooter and the main characters are outrageously huge. The game is as stellar a shooter you'll find on the iPhone. $8
Jetpack Joyride: A side-scrolling game where you play a character on a jetpack. You avoid obstacles, collect coins and is so terribly addictive that you won't be able to put it down. There's different weapons and vehicles so you'll never get bored. $1
Contre Jour: Describing Contre Jour as just a game is missing the point. It's so beautiful it looks like movable art. The soundtrack is uniquely crafted, created by David Ari Leon, and the controls are organic, you can transform the environment to get that eyeball thingy to your goal. There's puzzles that you have to figure out, various obstacles to overcome and more. $1
Visit our updated list of the Best iPhone Apps right here
The Best Android Apps September 2011
A pretty great month of apps for Android, we have a really early build of VLC, the awesome panoramic picture taker and Smozzy, a way to surf the web without a data plan, Flickr and more.
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VLC: It's only in super pre-alpha type stage but VLC for Android is VLC, our favoritest video player in the world. Play all the movies, tv shows and videos you've accumulated in your Internet career on your Android phone. Free
Smozzy: It only officially works with T-Mobile Android phones but with Smozzy you can surf the web without a data plan. You send a SMS to Smozzy's server from their 'browser' and you get a MMS picture file of the website you want. With links and pictures! Free
Flickr: Sure you may use Picasa but Flickr is like Instagram for Android. Not only can you scan Flickr photostreams, upload pictures, share photos to other social networks, you can also take filterized pictures and look so hip with it. Free
BeWeather: BeWeather is a drop dead gorgeous weather app that gets its data from Weather Underground. There's detailed forecasts, 11 different widgets in 6 different sizes, temperature notification in the status bar, radar and satellite maps and a TON TON TON of customization options where you can change the icons, fonts and colors of the look of the app.
Classic Notes + App Box: Classic Notes+ App Box is a note taking app that looks a lot like AK Notepad, but with a lot more features hidden inside. Seriously, there's nutty features like conversion options, tip calculator, weather, time, Wikipedia search, and a ton more bat-shit crazy options (seriously) that don't really belong in a note-taking app but are nice (?) to have as a backup.
Eternity Warriors: Made by the people behind Gun Bros, you play as a warrior armed with swords to chop up the bad guys. It's sorta action RPG-ish, loads of fun and you can play with friends too.
Samurai II: Vengeance: Absolutely stunning anime/comicbook-style graphics plus controls that actually make sense plus a ton of ways to slice dudes in half plus samurais plus swords equals a ridiculously engaging Android game. There's a HD game for dual core phones too.
Visit our updated list of the Best Android Apps right here
The Best iPad Apps September 2011
The headliner this month for iPad apps is KCRW Music Mine. It's an app that'll change how you hear music. Other apps like Dolphin Browser HD and a ton of network apps add to the awesomeness.
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KCRW Music Mine: The KCRW Music Mine app is more about the music of KCRW, the best radio station in the world by the way, than listening to KCRW itself. You can access the music of a 100 different musicians and bands, handpicked by KCRW DJs and updated daily to match the KCRW on air playlists. Pick and play as you wish. Free
Dolphin Browser HD: A web browser alternative that shines on the iPad. All the feature you want: tabbed browsing, porn mode, full screen browsing, gestures that can trigger actions and webzines that make websites look prettier and a super slick slidable sidebar for bookmarks. Free
NBC: NBC's new iPad app lets you watch the most recent full episodes of their shows (Community!) for free. Also, there's clips, trivia, game and galleries.
TNT: You have to be subscribed to the right cable company but if you are, you'll get full episodes of all the drama shows TNT knows. If you're not, there'll be video clips, photo galleries and a daily schedule to keep track of.
TBS: Pretty much exactly like the TNT app, if you have the unlucky fortune to be subscribed to the right cable company, you'll get access to full episodes of the network of Tyler Perry and Conan.
Good Player: As awesome as VLC was before it got pulled from the app store, GoodPlayer is pretty much the same thing. It can play pretty much any video file you throw at it without the silly need to convert them. There's even Airplay support and it has the option to stream movies from the web. $3
Visit our updated list of the Best iPad Apps right here
The Best Windows Phone Apps September 2011
It's a pretty busy month for Windows Phone 7 as Mango is out and everyone is updating their apps to take advantage of its new neatness. Make sure you update your apps as you jump to 7.5 and download these new games that've joined the best WP7 apps list!
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Pulse: Pulse takes a bunch of news sources and transforms them into a pretty gorgeous collection of tiles. All of the stories are laid out in a grid-it's all side scrolling, swipey fun. Scroll up and down to peek at different feeds, scroll left and right to scan different stories, tap on the tile to read the full story and share the story to Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Evernote: The do everything and anything note-taking app syncs with all your other Evernote apps and works just as you'd expect: write notes, keep notebooks, search notes, map notes, share notes, etc.
WhatsApp: A SMS replacement of sorts. It's cross-platform messaging serve that lets you can chat with all your friends without wasting money on the ripoff that is text messages. Friends who use Whatsapp will be automatically loaded to your buddy list because WhatsApp smartly uses your phone number as your handle.
Minesweeper: Dude, it's the minesweeper game you grew up on but ported to Windows Phone 7. Sadly, it's not as old school looking as it once was but it's still randomly strategic fun with 4 levels of difficulty and Classic and Speed modes. Xbox Live game too. Free
Sudoku: I would much rather identify myself as a Crosswords guy but Sudoku and its numbers are so darn addicting I can't step away from it. This version ties in with Xbox Live and has a Classic/Lightning modes to wrinkle your brain. Other than that, it's sudoku like you know and love. Free
Alchemic Phone 7: Like the 80's game Alchemy, you rebuild the universe with elements. You start with 6 elements and combine them to unlock 1600 more elements and 26 new realms. Addicting a game as they come by. Free
Visit our updated list of the Best Windows Phone 7 Apps right here