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"In a year that saw Apple finally pass the one million milestone in terms of live applications in the App Store, it's fair to say there's a deluge of file-managers, smart calendars, budgeting tools and funky cameras to sift through to get to the real gems.\r\n\r\nHere's a quick snapshot of some of the more notable apps and services to launch for Apple's mobile platform in 2013. For the most part, these are all available globally, though a handful are restricted to certain markets - these are clearly marked.\r\n\r\nSo, in no particular order...\r\nPRODUCTIVITY: GET THINGS DONE\r\nCal\r\n2013 may have been the year of the snake according to the Chinese calendar, but from an app reviewer's perspective it might just have been the year of the calendar itself. Well, the smart calendar that is.\r\n\r\nReaddle relaunched a fully re-imagined Calendars app that packed a punch, while Sunrise and Tempo had compelling propositions of their own.\r\n\r\nTo-do list startup Any.DO also spun out a brand new calendar app called Cal, which represented the \u201Cfirst in a suite\u201D of standalone apps from the Israel-based company. More to come from them soon, we expect.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nIt\u2019s worth noting that although it is indeed a \u2018standalone\u2019 app, insofar as it\u2019s a separate entity to Any.DO, there is actually a fairly tight integration between the two apps \u2013 so you will be asked to sign-in using your Any.DO credentials.\r\n\r\nCal syncs with all the major calendars on your iPhone, including Google, Exchange &amp;amp;amp; iCloud, but it\u2019s when you start adding items to your calendar where things get interesting.\r\n\r\nIt asks to use your current location, so it can deliver additional details for each entry. For example, if you enter a location name such as \u2018Concert at Finsbury Park\u2019, Cal detects it. It will even plot it out on a map for you and offer to help you navigate your way to any event.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Cal\r\nRecordium\r\nRecordium was one of my favorite iOS apps of the year, serving up a powerful audio-recording tool that lets you highlight, tag and edit clips on the fly.\r\n\r\nYou can \u2018edit\u2019 the audio as you go along \u2013 so as the recording is taking place you can click the little highlighter icon to mark specific segments that you may wish to revisit later \u2013 this could be a particularly intriguing quote, demo or anything. By hitting the little \u2018cross\u2019 icon, you can also choose to add notes, pictures or tags.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nYou can revisit any clip and see all your annotations \u2013 clicking on each one reveals its contents. You can also move each annotation to a different part of the audio, say, if you want to mark the beginning of a key announcement.\r\n\r\nRecordium also features a very easy-to-use trimming tool to carry out audio snips on the fly \u2013 you can create entirely new files based on these snippets, moving any associated annotations with it. Or if you want to trim out that annoying video demo or audience Q&amp;amp;amp;A, you can do so.\r\n\r\nA really terrific app.\r\n\r\n\u27A4\u00A0 Recordium\r\nMega\r\nFollowing the introduction to Android back in July, Kim Dotcom finally launched Mega for iPhone four months later.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nThe cloud storage service lets users manage and move files, as well as upgrade accounts with more storage space via a Mega Pro subscription, costing $10.99 per month or $119.99 per year. Mega Pro provides 50GB of storage and 1000GB of bandwidth transfers.\r\n\r\n\u27A4\u00A0Mega\r\nIFTTT\r\nIFTTT finally launched for iOS back in July, bringing a set of new channels specific to Apple\u2019s platform and a sweet mobile-focused service for building and using its automated actions.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nIFTTT, if you\u2019re unfamiliar, is a utility that you can use to hook multiple Web services together to perform automated actions for you. Want a text message every time you get an email from a friend? Care to have your photos automatically shipped off to SkyDrive as they\u2019re shot? There\u2019s a ton more stuff you can do too.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 IFTTT\r\nAtlas\r\nA Launchpad LA accelerator company, Atlas is geared towards helping users take control of time and be better at collaborating with their colleagues.\r\n\r\nAtlas makes it possible to display a person\u2019s calendar publicly (with key details hidden) and invite people to send up to three available slots when they could potentially meet. The invitee receives a notification on their mobile and can accept or decline as they see fit.\r\n\r\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY-WS9yGa84\r\n\r\nAtlas syncs with most calendar platforms (e.g. Google Calendar, iCal, Yahoo, and Outlook), including the native one on Android and iOS devices, and the newest ones like Tempo, Sunrise, and Fantastical. The company tells us that any calendar set up on the phone will have read and write privileges.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Atlas\r\nQuickoffice\r\nGoogle launched Quickoffice for iOS this year, making it available gratis for all its Apps for Business customers.s\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nGoogle\u2019s Quickoffice is meant for business users that have to share files and collaborate with users who don\u2019t yet use Google Docs. &amp;quot;From Word to Excel to PowerPoint, you can make quick edits at the airport or from the back of a taxi and save and share everything in Google Drive,&amp;quot; said Google.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Quickoffice\r\nComposite\r\nComposite might just be the ultimate iPhone app prototyping tool for Photoshop, which connects with your Photoshop mock-ups and converts them into fully interactive prototypes in seconds, with no need to do any exporting or anything else.\r\n\r\nWith Composite, all you need is Photoshop (CS5+ or Elements 10+), the $9.99 iPhone app, and you\u2019re good to go.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Composite\r\nWrite\r\nIf you own an iOS device, there\u2019s no shortage of apps available to help you jot down text-based notes; Evernote, Byword and Simplenote all do a pretty decent job. Write for Dropbox deserves to be added to that list though.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s an incredibly quick and elegant solution that uses natural navigation and extensive sharing features to optimize your productivity.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Write\r\nDocuments by Readdle\r\nIn January we called Documents by Readdle a lean but powerful file-management app for iPad, one that supports document-viewing and media playback. It later arrived for iPhone/iPod touch too.\r\n\r\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeWhyGNgUGI\r\n\r\nIn a nutshell, the app lets you read, listen, watch, annotate and download almost anything you want to your iOS device.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Documents by Readdle\r\nViz\r\nViz lets you create quick charts and graphs directly from an iOS device.\r\n\r\nThe app allows users to easily create charts by inputting data and selecting the type of chart they\u2019d like to use from a choice of Bars, Pie, Cloud, Scrapers and Parliament.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nOnce chosen, the user can then tweak the color scheme before confirming the changes and being presented with the option to either share it via a social network (Twitter, Facebook or Instagram) email it to someone, or save it as an image file (JPEG).\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Viz\r\nCodecademy\r\nAll this talk about apps might make you feel like building one yourself - but to do so, you'll need to learn how to code, right?\r\n\r\nThe Hour of Code app by Codecademy targets total newcomers with the basics of computer programming. Its relatively short repertoire covers the absolute basics, such as how programs are written and a few examples of what can be achieved with just a few lines of code.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe lessons cover strings, operators, and many other building blocks associated with computer science. You won\u2019t be publishing an app once the 60 minutes are up, but it\u2019s a brilliant taster that should get students and teachers alike interested in the subject.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Codecademy: Hour of Code\r\n\r\n\r\nEMAIL\r\nMailbox\r\nMailbox was probably one of the biggest email-client success stories of the year. We loved it the moment we set our eyes on it - so did Dropbox, so much so it gobbled Mailbox up.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nMailbox takes advantage of three main actions - for every mail item, you\u2019re able to move it to your archive (check it off), delete it or postpone it until later. Much like a list of items that you can complete, remove or time shift until you\u2019re ready to deal with them. The time-shifting mechanism allows you to choose between general times like later today, tomorrow morning or this evening, or specific dates that you choose.\r\n\r\nAvailable initially for iPhone only, it eventually arrived for iPad too. And though it was Gmail-focused to begin with, it now also supports iCloud, me.com, mac.com, and Yahoo Mail accounts.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Mailbox\r\nYahoo Mail\r\nBelieve it or not, Yahoo is still one of the more popular email services in some countries - particularly the US. So its arrival for iPad this year will have been welcome news for many.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nAs you\u2019d expect from any tablet-optimized app, Yahoo Mail has a full-screen \u2018reading mode\u2019, meaning you can use the device\u2019s full real estate when reading emails or viewing photos. One tap, and you\u2019re there.\r\n\r\nYou can also scroll through email messages like turning the pages of a book \u2013 no need to exit back to your main inbox (via the gift shop).\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Yahoo Mail\r\nCloze\r\nCloze brings together all your relationships from email and social media into a single view.\r\n\r\nPrior to last February, it was only available as a web-client, but with the roll-out for iOS, it ramped things up considerably and broadened its appeal.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nThe basic premise behind Cloze centers on three core ideas: unite contacts, email, and social data under one area, create less noise through smart filtering of &amp;quot;non-humans and those you don\u2019t know well&amp;quot;, and place people first; the channel and time come second.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Cloze\r\nMolto / Incredimail\r\nMore than ten years after Incredimail first launched its email client for Windows computers, it finally moved beyond Microsoft\u2019s omnipresent desktop operating system and into the modern touchscreen, tablet-centric era, kicking off with the iPad.\r\n\r\nAs we wrote on its launch, Incredimail for iPad is more than an email client and could become the ultimate unified messaging app. It later rebranded as Molto and arrived for iPhone and Android tablets too.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe app is designed to deliver your messages from any of your existing email accounts with a social feel that emulates social networks and mobile messaging apps.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Molto\r\nSwizzle\r\nSwizzle for iOS promises to clean up all your email offers into one simple digest.\r\n\r\nDownload the app,\u00A0enter your email address and it\u2019ll redirect you to authorize Swizzle to scan your mail. It will identify the junk and offer emails, a process that\u2019ll take anything from a few seconds to a few minutes depending on how much email you have.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nOnce it has done its thing and picked up on all the senders that seem to contact you with newsletters, offers, vouchers and all sorts of other promotional content, you\u2019re then presented with a list of offers.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Swizzle\r\nSift [US only]\r\nSimilar to Swizzle, Sift turns your mass of email deals into a catalog-like magazine.\r\n\r\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztx6AbkEYqc\r\n\r\nSift also now includes a\u00A0Shopping Circles feature that lets users create a virtual wishlist from millions of items across thousands of stores. The appeal for consumers here is that the seas of offer emails become easy to browse and genuinely useful. On the downside, however, it is still limited to users in the US.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Sift\r\n\r\n\r\nMONEY\r\nDollarBird\r\nThis was actually one of my favorite apps to launch in 2013, and perhaps hasn't had the level of fanfare it deserves.\r\n\r\nDollarbird is what you get when you cross a smart calendar app with a budgeting app. Indeed, it uses a familiar calendar layout to help you track and forecast all your spending.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nAn absolutely imperative feature here too is the \u2018recurring\u2019 tab. This is often missing or well-hidden in expenses apps, and it\u2019s useful to be able to tap this when setting up an expense, so that it automatically populates your calendar for future weeks/months.\r\n\r\nThere\u2019s also a reminder/alarm function, which will ping up a message whenever you\u2019re due to pay something. This can be set for up to four days prior to it coming out of your account.\r\n\r\nTwo dollars well-spent.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Dollarbird\r\nBUDGT\r\nBUDGT is another beautifully designed app that helps you keep to a budget and manage expenses on a monthly basis.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nBUDGT automates all of the associated maths and routine calculations, while making the process of documenting expenses a little less soul-destroying. On both counts, it really does succeed.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 BUDGT\r\nBillPin\r\nBillPin is a handy little app for splitting bills between friends and tracking who owes what.\r\n\r\nYes, it's perhaps aimed primarily at social butterflies, those who regularly rack up bills eating out and getting merry, but it can be used for splitting accommodation expenses and generally manage cashflow between multiple people.\r\n\r\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5u5SD-vnaE\r\n\r\nThe app syncs a device\u2019s address book and uses Facebook to discover friends and tag them into bills, even if they haven\u2019t downloaded the app.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 BillPin\r\nLevel [US only]\r\nLevel is a real-time money meter app that wants to be your Fitbit for personal spending.\r\n\r\nThe services inks up with your bank accounts to deliver real-time metrics on your spending, savings and general financial standing. Available for the US market only, Level gives a snapshot of all your available \u2018spendable\u2019 income for that day, week, and month.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nLevel isn\u2019t about sticking all your purchases in categories, such as \u2018travel\u2019 and \u2018groceries\u2019 \u2013 there are other apps for that. It basically analyses and calculates a user\u2019s total income, recurring bills and recommended savings each month. Based on this, it delivers the 'spendable' balance broken down by day, week and month. And every time a transaction is complete, these numbers are updated accordingly.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Level\r\nCurrency\r\nCurrency conversion apps exist in something of a saturated market, but that doesn\u2019t mean there\u2019s not room for one more. Indeed, a new app called Currency launched this year, and it's a beautiful thing.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nThe app comes replete with more than 160 currencies, so it likely has you covered. It also has an offline mode, but obviously for you to have up-to-date conversation rates, you will need to connect from time-to-time.\r\n\r\nHowever, Currency is all about the interface and usability - trust us on this one.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Currency\r\nGoogle Wallet [US only]\r\nGoogle Wallet\u00A0finally arrived for iPhone\u00A0this year, exactly two years to the day after it launched on Android.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nYou can scan your debit and credit cards into the app, and use them to send money to anyone in the US who has an email address, and you can store credit and debit cards, loyalty programs, and more. It can also be used to pay for things on Google Play, and shop on some mobile websites.\r\n\r\n\u27A4\u00A0Google Wallet [US Only]\r\nBillGuard [US only]\r\nLaunched\u00A0in the US back in April 2010,\u00A0BillGuard sells itself as the world\u2019s first \u2018people-powered antivirus system for bills\u2019. However, it was an entirely Web-based endeavor until it hit iPhone a few months back.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nBillGuard\u2019s predictive algorithms alert users of unexpected charges such as hidden fees, billing errors, scams and fraud on credit card bills. It also issues alerts when a similar dubious charge has been flagged by other users, or receives a complaint elsewhere on the Web. As such, the \u2018BillGuard brain\u2019 becomes more accurate over time.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 BillGuard\r\n\r\n\r\nTRAVEL, NAVIGATION AND LOCATION\r\nWhat3words\r\nAvailable for iOS, Web and Android, What3words lets you find and share very precise locations via Google Maps with just 3 words. Say wha'? Read on.\r\n\r\nIt sells itself as a new universal address system, designed to make it easier, and more accurate, to describe exact locations anywhere on Earth.\r\n\r\nThe UK-based startup has basically partitioned the whole planet into 57 trillion 3m x 3m squares, and assigned each square a unique 3 word address. This will work anywhere that\u2019s searchable on Google Maps \u2013 parks, monuments, buildings, residential addresses and everything in between. So, rather than saying \u201CI\u2019ll meet you at The Fox &amp;amp;amp; Hounds pub, 29 Passmore St, London, SW1W 8HR\u201D \u2013 or any shorter/longer variant \u2013 you would plug these details into What3words to learn that \u201CDimes Random Tunnel\u201D are the three allocated words for this precise location.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThese are the three words you would use to tell people where you\u2019re meeting, which could be over the telephone, by Twitter, Facebook or email \u2013 all channels What3words makes it easy to share through.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 What3words\r\nBanjo\r\nBanjo launched an iPad-optimized version of its location-based service to help people get involved in events happening around the world from the comfort of their own home.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe company kicked off by using the service during the National Football League (NFL) playoffs, for those who like or follow the sport, but it\u2019s not limited to sports \u2014 it can work with any live event. It integrates all the usual social networks to serve up an an on-the-ground view of what\u2019s happening at any time, and lets you see where your friends are and what they're doing.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Banjo\r\nField Trip (Google)\r\nGoogle launched its location-aware Field Trip tour guide app for iOS this year, having launched initially for Android back in September 2012.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nField Trip runs in the background on your phone, triangulating positions via cell phone towers, and only notifies you when you get close to something interesting. This can include local businesses, historical facts, landmarks, art, and any cultural artifact.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Field Trip\r\nBabberly (formerly Jabberly)\r\nBabberly (then called Jabberly) launched its iOS app way back in February, letting users ask questions about a particular location and get answers quickly from those on the ground.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nSo if you want to know what the top burger joint in your locale is, or where the best cocktail bar is Babberly's worth a shout.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Babberly\r\n\r\n\r\nGAMES\r\nAngry Birds Friends\r\nA new installment of Rovio\u2019s hit franchise arrived back in May with Angry Birds Friends, offering a Facebook-powered social twist on the game that pretty much every single person in the galaxy has played by now.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nAs with the version that has been available on Facebook since last year, the game lets you connect up your Facebook account to compete against friends to achieve the highest score on each level.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Angry Birds Friends\r\nAngry Birds Go\r\nRovio launched its Mario Kart-style Angry Birds racing game in December, hitting iOS, Windows Phone, Android, AND BlackBerry in one fell swoop.\r\n\r\nThe Angry Birds franchise is really growing arms and legs now, and based on our tinkerings with this game, it has another hit on its hands.\r\n\r\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xP12tpJrl8\r\n\r\nYou\u2019re best password-protecting this baby, as your kid could run up a fairly hefty bill through in-app purchases.\r\n\r\n\u27A4\u00A0 Angry Birds Go\r\nThe Croods\r\nBack in March, Angry Birds developer Rovio released a new video game, inspired by the then-upcoming DreamWorks Animation film The Croods.\r\n\r\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdF23AbGPtc\r\n\r\nPlayers take control of Grug, a prehistoric caveman who has to \u201Csurvive the wild\u201D by trapping and taming imaginative creatures such as the \u201CGirelephant\u201D and \u201CMolarbear\u201D.\r\n\r\n\u27A4\u00A0 The Croods\r\nQuizUp\r\nQuizUp is striving to be the biggest trivia game in the world, and judging by its inaugural app (for iPhone) it stands a good chance of doing so.\r\n\r\nFeaturing 100,000 questions across 300 categories, QuizUp follows the likes of Words With Friends by letting you pit your wits against both buddies and strangers from around the world. It also includes one-to-one messaging, discussion boards, and localized leaderboards by city, state and country.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nWhen you choose to play a stranger, it will eke out the most suitable candidate based on your playing history \u2013 so if you\u2019re a noob, you\u2019ll likely be put up against a fellow noob. From here on in, you\u2019ll be fighting against the clock to answer each question, for which you have ten seconds for every one of the seven rounds.\r\n\r\nIt also offers in-app purchases to let you \u2018level up\u2019 faster \u2013 these XP (experience points) boosters cost $1.99 (double boost), $3.99 (triple boost) and $5.99 (quadruple boost), and means you\u2019ll gain more XP when the boosts are on for each game you play.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 QuizUp\r\nPet Rescue Saga\r\nKing, the maker of the hit game Candy Crush, launched an iOS version of the popular Pet Rescue Saga that launched first on Facebook last October.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIt calls on players to save animals from two evil snatchers by eliminating colored blocks from the board. Much like King\u2019s earlier cross-platform titles, the game tracks progress and purchases between its mobile and Facebook apps.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Pet Rescue Saga\r\nDots\r\nDots is a highly addictive mobile game created by Betaworks, landing first for iPhone before arriving for iPad later in the year.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nThe idea of the game is rather simple in nature \u2014 which probably is what makes it so addictive. Players connect dots in a linear fashion, meaning that you tap a dot of a specific color and connect it with as many dots of that same color.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Dots\r\nFIFA 14\r\nAhead of the FIFA 2014 World Cup in Brazil next summer, EA launched FIFA 14 as a free download for iOS and Android.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThough this year\u2019s version is free (last year FIFA 13 cost $6.99), it\u2019s targeting revenue from in-app purchases such as unlocking game modes and buying points to form your fantasy team.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 FIFA 14\r\nStar Wars: Tiny Death Star\r\nDisney unveiled its first Star Wars-themed game for mobile in November, in collaboration with game studio NimbleBit.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nStar Wars: Tiny Death Star is an 8-bit builder game - players find themselves on the dark side of the force helping Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader build a fully-functional Death Star.\r\n\r\nOf course\u00A0Star Wars wouldn\u2019t be what it is without the Rebel Alliance, so players must prevent Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and others from escaping.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Star Wars: Tiny Death Star\r\nHatch\r\nFrom the creators of to-do list app Clear comes\u00A0Hatch, a Tamagotchi-like game bringing virtual pet cuddliness to your iPhone.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nHatch may exist within the App Store\u2019s \u2018Games\u2019 category, but it doesn\u2019t see itself as a game. Or an app, for that matter. It\u2019s a living, breathing animal that needs love.\r\n\r\nWe first previewed Hatch way back in December last year, posing the question: What does it take to make the iPhone feel alive? The answer, it seems, is to transform your iPhone into a cuddly creature.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Hatch\r\nDrawQuest\r\nHaving initially been iPad-only, DrawQuest finally made the journey to iPhone and iPod touch in November.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nDrawQuest is a social drawing app from 4Chan founder Chris \u201Cmoot\u201D Poole\u2019s startup Canvas, and launched for iPhone with new features, including a zoomable canvas and the ability to create your own drawing challenges.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 DrawQuest\r\nDrawp\r\nLaunched way back in February, Drawp threw its hat into the social drawing ring with a neat kid-focused iPad app that lets young \u2018uns share their doodles only with those in their parent-approved network.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe founders say they created the app to help address \u201Cthe need for parents, family, and friends to remain involved and responsive in all aspects of a child\u2019s life.\u201D\r\n\r\nThe app also works offline, which is good news for kids in transit or any scenario sans Internet connection.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Drawp\r\nTemple Run 2\r\nTemple Run 2, the follow-up to the massively popular Temple Run, landed in the App Store way back in January.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe game follows the same form as its predecessor, with the main characters traversing across all manner of landscapes as they flee the dreadful temple beasts that chase them. It\u2019s a simple concept but it\u2019s one that works well, as players use swipe-based commands to jump, slide, turn and move out of the way of objects in their way.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Temple Run 2\r\nFirst\r\nOkay, not a game as such, but if you're into gaming, then First is a slick, 8-bit inspired community mobile app for discussing video games. A social network for gamers, in other words.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nFirst is built around real-time conversations. Just like a traditional message board, it\u2019s possible for anyone in the community to start a video game-related thread by posting either a headline, photo, URL or YouTube clip. The post will then appear within the app for other users to read and comment on.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 First\r\n\r\n\r\nMEDIA &amp;amp;amp; WEATHER\r\n\r\nReadmill\r\nDigital reading platform Readmill finally optimized its app for iPhone and iPod touch, almost a year-and-a-half after it first launched for iPad.\r\n\r\nReadmill serves up a sweet, social way to read, letting you highlight quotes within a book and share these snippets across the social sphere. With that in mind, it also acts as a social network of sorts, letting you \u2018follow\u2019 other bookworms.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nIt supports most of the major ebook formats including ePub, PDF and Adobe DRM, and lets you buy and bring your books from stores such as Kobo and Feedbooks. Your whole library is stored in your personal cloud, with the reading experience synchronizing across devices, meaning you can pick up from where you left off last night in bed, while on the train to work.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Readmill\r\nReadQuick\r\nReadQuick has been helping iPad users read quickly for a while already, but following August's update, iPhone-users could get involved too.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nReadQuick taps the likes of Pocket and Instapaper to display your saved articles one word at a time \u2013 at a pace set by you. It also has a built-in browser that lets you access and save directly to ReadQuick, and tells you how long each article should take to complete based on the stipulated words-per-minute rate.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 ReadQuick\r\nOyster [US only]\r\n\r\nOyster launched\u00A0a limited preview of\u00A0its Netflix-style service for ebooks in September, offering unlimited reading of more than 100,000 titles for a set monthly fee. Launching initially for iPhone, it the all-you-can-read subscription service then landed on iPad too.\r\n\r\nOyster costs $9.95 a month and gives unlimited reading of its library - it removed the invite-only limitation of the service and added a 30-day free trial alongside its launch for iPad in October.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Oyster\r\nSpoiler Shield\r\nIf your favorite shows or sports are being ruined by Twitter and Facebook spoilers, try Spoiler Shield for iPhone.\r\n\r\nYou can choose from more than 30 pre-selected TV series including things like Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones, to make sure you don\u2019t read anything you\u2019d rather not.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Spoiler Shield\r\nParagraph Shorts\r\nParagraph Shorts is a curated iPad magazine, serving up a selection of hand-picked short stories in text, audio and video.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nEach week, the guys at Paragraph Shorts select seven stories from the likes of The Paris Review, The New Yorker, The Moth, The Guardian and others, and present them in a beautiful magazine for the public\u2019s consumption.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Paragraph Shorts\r\nLettrs\r\nLettrs turns your iPhone into a personal writing desk, transcriber and post office.\r\n\r\nThe Web-based incarnation of Lettrs serves up a virtual writing desk to write your letter, with a slew of handwriting-esque fonts and paper-types to choose from. When you\u2019re done, you can choose to deliver it digitally \u2013 email, Twitter, Facebook, or send as a physical letter.\r\n\r\nPhysical letters are dispatched from Lettrs\u2019 base in the US, so it costs slightly more for non-US users. But, you can also print it out yourself and send if you\u2019re so inclined.\r\n\r\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DDqct8R2cA\r\n\r\nThe iPhone app mimics much of the functionality of the Web-based version, letting you create and deliver personal letters anywhere in the world. It also has a built-in spell-check feature that corrects your spelling as you go-along. Users can also tap their iPhone camera to upload a handwritten letter and deliver it via the lettrs system, though you will need to ensure this is done in clear lighting sans shadows.\r\n\r\nFinally, there's also a microphone feature, letting users dictate directly into the app which is then converted to text \u2013 this feature is only enabled on iPhone 4S and iPhone 5/5s.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Lettrs\r\nTop of the Morning\r\nTop of the Morning is a minimalist morning assistant that tells you the time, date, weather and calendar events, not to mention a snapshot of the news and stock market data. And it\u2019s a really beautiful app to boot.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nYou can set event reminders to display \u2018all incomplete\u2019 or \u2018only today', and choose which calendars are displayed if you have multiple set up on your device.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Top of the Morning\r\nYoWindow\r\nYoWindow sells itself as a 'new generation' weather application, one that features a living landscape that reflects the actual weather outside.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nYoWindow is a pretty straight-forward weather app \u2013 as soon as you launch it, and give your permission to use your location, you\u2019re good to go. It not only shows you what the weather looks like, it plays a relevant soundscape too \u2013 and you\u2019ll be pleased to know it can be switched off.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 YoWindow\r\nYahoo Weather\r\nOkay, Yahoo Weather wasn't an entirely new app, but the refresh did bring in some big changes and a major overhaul.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe app taps Flickr (also owned by Yahoo) to bring beautiful, relevant images to its local weather forecasts. Users can also submit their own weather-related snaps to the Project Weather Group and see their handiwork appear in-app next time it\u2019s raining in their locale.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Yahoo Weather\r\n\r\n\r\nVIDEO &amp;amp;amp; PHOTOS\r\n\r\nVine\r\nLaunched way back in January, Twitter's GIF-like looping video app was probably one of the hits of the year.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nSeriously addictive, Vine is a great match for Twitter's short-form communications platform, and helps capture moments in time in a way that photographs simply can't match.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Vine\r\nConnecTV\r\nConnecTV launched a Vine-like iPhone app for sharing 6-second video clips from live TV.\r\n\r\nThe app works by detecting which program you\u2019re watching and grabbing footage from the show. You then select a six-second clip, add meme-style text commentary, and then share across the app and relevant social networks.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 ConnecTV\r\nDailymotion Camera\r\nYouTube-rival Dailymotion launched a standalone video-recording app this year, as it looks to encourage user-generated content on the platform.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nIt has a record/pause/resume button which does exactly what you\u2019d expect, and when you\u2019re done you click the \u2018tick\u2019 button. You can then trim the clip to your desired size, choose a filter (if you want), and then upload. You will of course have to connect your Dailymotion account, while you can also connect your Facebook and Twitter profiles too.\r\n\r\nThis is more about the significance than the functionality though. The Paris-based company claims to be the second biggest video-sharing service on the Web behind \u2013 you guessed it \u2013 YouTube. It was a notable move from the company, and brings it into line with YouTube with its Capture app.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Dailymotion Camera\r\nTakes\r\nTakes turns your photos into actual moving images - but it doesn\u2019t simply turn your snaps into a music-backdropped slideshow.\r\n\r\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnatqoYLkP8#t=11\r\n\r\nAll a video really is, is a collection of many single-frame images stitched together to make them move. But Takes doesn\u2019t require you to take 24 photos for a second\u2019s worth of video. It fills the gaps between images using the motion-sensing technology built into your iPhone.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Takes\r\nExplory\r\nExplory is a multimedia storytelling app from the creators of Flash.\r\n\r\nExplory is more than a photo-slideshow app. You can also add in video, text, audio narration, and music, throwing everything together into a massive multimedia melting pot. One killer feature is \u2018Story Ideas\u2019, which creates Explories on your behalf. It automatically stitches related content together from your device, saving you the hassle of handpicking the various media elements.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Explory\r\nPicLab\r\nPicLab notched up more than 100,000 downloads in its first two weeks of launch, and even became the top photo app in Indonesia. In a nutshell, it lets you easily add typography, masks and other effects to your photos and share them across the social sphere.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nPicLab won\u2019t take you long to figure out. You can snap a photo there and then, or pull content in from your camera roll. With your desired base-picture in place, you then double-tap the screen to edit the text.\r\n\r\nYou can select font type, color and position, including alignment. There are many different masks to choose from, and you can get as creative as you like.\r\n\r\nAll in all, a really nice app and one that has proven uber-popular around the world.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 PicLab\r\nFacetune\r\nFacetune is an intuitive and easy way to touch up and tweak portrait photos.\r\n\r\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swSXmzjvgfU\r\n\r\nEditing tools available include whiten, smoothing, details, reshape, patch, tones, red eye, defocus and filters. You can pull from your photo gallery, take a new photo, or hone your skills with a demo photo. When you\u2019re done editing, you can share to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr, Mail and Instagram, or save to your camera roll.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Facetune\r\nLevitagram\r\nIt may be a bizarre art-form, but levitation photography has become a minor phenomenon in recent times - one that Levitagram for iPhone is capitalizing on.\r\n\r\nIn a nutshell, Levitagram offers an easy way of editing photos to make the subjects appear like they're, well, levitating.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nOf course, this isn\u2019t revolutionary. Apps such as Juxtaposer already enable such trickery, but for a dedicated app that focuses on one thing, and does it as well as it does, it\u2019s really not a bad effort at all.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Levitagram\r\nSktchy\r\nIf you\u2019re an aspiring artist looking to get your handiwork out there, Sktchy for iPhone could be for you.\r\n\r\nAnyone can upload a portrait photo of themselves, and all the sketchers of the world are invited to transform it into a work-of-art. Though it\u2019s worth noting here, artists can\u2019t create their piece within the app itself \u2013 they must create it by hand or through another piece of software, and then either snap a photo of it with the app, or import it to their library.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Sktch \r\nTouchCast\r\nTouchCast is an iPad-optimized video-authoring tool, delivering a Web/video cross-breed replete with navigable apps superimposed directly atop the footage. Huh?\r\n\r\nYou can create what are unsurprisingly known as TouchCasts \u2013 a recorded video skit on anything you like. There are templates to get you going, such as News Cast, Business Cast, Sports Cast and more. Or, you can just build your own one from scratch. The templates are great though, featuring a customizable, scrolling \u2018Breaking News\u2019 banner. It really would work a treat for citizen (or professional) journos.\r\n\r\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyLK8N4ovdg\r\n\r\nThings start to get really interesting with video apps (vApps). TouchCast lets you create videos that are layered with live Web pages, video clips, maps, Twitter streams and other facets of the digital world.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 TouchCast\r\nLandcam\r\nWhen the good folks from Brooklyn-based Simple Simple \u2013 the same guys who produced the beautiful Currency app \u2013 got in touch about their latest offering, we couldn\u2019t resist checking it out.\r\n\r\nIt's an all-in-one camera and photo editor, featuring more than thirty movie-centric filters, a myriad of fonts, and other creative effects.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nLandcam is the second app out of Simple Simple\u2019s labs, and although it doesn\u2019t bring anything groundbreaking to the iPhoneography table from a feature perspective, it does follow the same beautiful design approach followed by Currency.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Landcam\r\nPIP Camera\r\nPIP Camera is a lovely app dedicated to photo-in-photo effects.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nThere's a pretty extensive selection of effects to help you create a photo-in-photo look, that are really quite realistic.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 PIP Camera\r\nBubbli\r\nBubbli is a recently-launched iPhone app that lets you create and share impressive 360-degree photospheres.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nTo get things going, you will need a little guidance to learn how to hold your iPhone camera properly, but it\u2019s fairly simple to figure out. By tilting the camera and pivoting in a circle around your phone, you\u2019ll capture a bubble-shaped panorama of your surroundings, which should look a little something like this.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Bubbli\r\nSeene\r\nObvious Engineering\u2019s Seene app launched back in October to let you create and share 3D photos on your iPhone.\r\n\r\nSeene records an image from four different angles to generate its 3D images. The recording process has a steep learning curve, but the results are quite cool. If you\u2019ve captured your subject properly, you\u2019ll be able to rotate your phone to view the scene from different angles.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Seene\r\n\r\n\r\nMUSIC &amp;amp;amp; AUDIO\r\n\r\nGoogle Play Music\r\nMore than four months after Google launched its on-demand music streaming service, All Access, on the Web and as part of the native Google Play Music app for Android, both Google Play Music and All Access was launched for iOS\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe free version of the app provides access to your existing library stored through Google Play Music. This can either be done by purchasing singles and albums through Google\u2019s digital storefront \u2013 only available on Android and the web \u2013 or by syncing your local library with the Music Manager client.\r\n\r\nYou can upload up to 20,000 songs this way, either from iTunes or another designated folder. It\u2019s a long-winded workaround, but an inevitability of getting Google Play Music into the App Store.\r\n\r\nHowever, Google Play Music for iOS also supports All Access, the company\u2019s $9.99 per month on-demand streaming service. You can\u2019t upgrade to All Access within the app though. Again, you\u2019ll need to head over to the Android or the Web app to sign-up. As soon as it\u2019s been activated though, it\u2019s just a matter of diving into the settings menu and refreshing your account credentials.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Google Play Music\r\nSoundwave\r\nSoundwave offers a way to share what you\u2019re listening to in real-time. Listen to a song on your device\u2019s native music player, or through Spotify, Rdio, YouTube, Deezer or 8tracks, and it will add it to your profile, complete with cover art.\r\n\r\nHowever, discovery is the main thrust of what Soundwave is about. Users can follow one another and see each other\u2019s activity in a feed as they listen to music. In most cases, you\u2019ll be able to get an instant 30-second preview of songs that other people are listening to. Tap on any song and you can browse related content on YouTube and SoundCloud, or buy a download if you\u2019re particularly moved by it.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nYou can also pull up a map view. Users are geo-tagged via their device\u2019s location, meaning that they can draw a circle around an area on a map and see what Soundwave users have been listening to in that area. Don't worry, it\u2019s anonymized.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Soundwave\r\nBloom.fm [UK Only]\r\nBloom.fm first emerged back in January with a stunning iPhone app that offers listeners both on-demand streaming and randomized, infinite \u2018radio\u2019 playlists similar to Pandora and Last.fm.\u00A0Available only in the UK, the app is restricted through a trio of subscription packages set at \u00A31, \u00A35 and \u00A310 per month. It recently launched for Android too.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe app sports a very quirky-yet-beautiful design, consisting of geometric shapes that merge to form flowers, petals and bees which users can interact with to play themed radio stations, individual tracks and records, custom playlists and anything stored in their local library.\r\n\r\nBloom.fm is a treat of an app, and yes, it\u2019s a shame it\u2019s only available in the UK for now.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Bloom.fm\r\nEarbits\r\nWe\u2019ve previously called Earbits a new breed of artist-focused Internet radio. And it recently moved beyond its Web roots by launching its very first iOS app.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nEarbits is an ad-free music-streaming service that\u2019s funded via labels, bands and promoters who use the platform to buy airtime in targeted channels. An in-house team hand-pick independent artists (there\u2019s no Rolling Stones on there) from around the world and, besides music, they also serve up photos, live show information, merchandise and more.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Earbits\r\nShowScoop\r\nWhile Songkick lets you find live music based on your music collection, ShowScoop fills the gap afterwards, letting users rate how a band or artist performed.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIt also integrates with Instagram for users to illustrate with photos on both ShowScoop and Instagram simultaneously.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 ShowScoop\r\nRadical.FM [US Only]\r\n\r\nRadical.FM launched an iOS app [US only] in August, marking the company\u2019s first foray into native app streaming. It differentiates itself from others in the market by offering access to its 25 million song catalogue on a \u2018pay what you can\u2019 basis.\r\n\r\nUnlike rival services like Spotify or Pandora, it uses human-curated suggestions, rather than leaving it to pure algorithms.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nThe feature set does try to be different, including things like \u2018Custom Genres\u2019, which allows a 30-second snippet of a track to be heard before adding it to a station. Once added to a custom station it will then play back the entire track in the selected order.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Radical.FM [US only]\r\nSwell Radio [US/Canada only]\r\nSwell is focused on podcasts and talk-based radio, and it really is a nice app/service - though it is only available for users in the US and Canada.\r\n\r\nhttp://vimeo.com/69039206\r\n\r\nLeveraging content from NPR, American Public Media, ABC News, and from podcasts such as the BBC, CBC, Comedy Central, TED Talks, ESPN, and more, Swell's programming depends on the listener\u2019s preference \u2014 the more they listen, the more fine-tuned the recommendations become.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Swell Radio\r\nTraktor DJ\r\nBack in March, we brought you news on Traktor DJ, noting that it\u2019s an iPad DJ app you\u2019ll actually want to use.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe app represented the latest in a long line of Traktor-branded products, which includes software, mixers and other accessories. Costing $20 (later reduced to $10), it was no gimmick either, and we noted that Traktor DJ is very much in keeping with other Traktor products. It later arrived for iPhone too.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Traktor DJ - iPad/iPhone\r\nPiano Mania\r\nJoyTunes, an Israeli-US mobile gaming startup hopes to become the Rosetta Stone of music education, and as such it debuted its new piano practice app called Piano Mania.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe app covers single notes and fully-fledged musical masterpieces, and is designed to help you read sheet music, progress up the ranks and, well, learn to play piano. But it's not the only one out there...\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Piano Mania\r\nShapes\r\n...Shapes Music is also a fun and interactive way to learn the keyboard on your iPad.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nTapping music videos from YouTube, Shapes Music promises to help you learn your way around the ivories\u2026directly from your iPad screen. The keys are overlayed across the video as it plays, and features interactive narrations too, to guide you through the learning process.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Shapes Music\r\nJukely [US only]\r\nJukely, an app that recommends nearby concerts based on the music tastes of you and your friends, emerged from its New York City beta this year to launch in ten cities across the US.\r\n\r\nhttp://vimeo.com/78056577\r\n\r\nAustin, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle were the inaugural launch cities, but the startup promises to add more conurbations soon.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Jukely\r\nRormix\r\nRormix helps you find new music videos from unsigned artists based on bands you already like. So, a search for \u2018Beyonce\u2019, for example, will turn up artists that sound similar to the iconic singer.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nThe team at Rormix hand-pick the bands included to ensure a certain level of quality, and future plans include incentivizing users to become influential tastemakers within the app by offering tickets and merchandise.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Rormix\r\nMoment.us [UK only]\r\nMoment.us wants to play you the right song for right now.\r\n\r\nWhat is the right music to listen to on a rainy Wednesday afternoon in London or Chicago? Open the Moment.us iOS app and it will generate a playlist of music for you based on factors like your\u00A0location, the weather, the time of day, day of week and data from other users of the app. The app is currently only available in the UK due to music licensing issues.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Moment.us\r\nNowplaying\r\nNWplyng (or Nowplaying) lets you identify and share what you\u2019re listening to with friends on the app\u2019s own network, and on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, awarding you badges en route.\r\n\r\nUsers list tracks by searching manually, or by letting the app\u2019s music recognition component hear and identify the track from any audio source, similar to what Shazam does. You can also share more of your musical moments by attaching comments, location data and pictures to the tracks.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Nowplaying\r\nSerendip\r\nSerendip connects users with potential music soulmates \u2013 those who share similar musical tastes and, on the back of this, creates a continuous playlist based on the music they\u2019re sharing.\r\n\r\nIt identifies your existing Twitter/Facebook contacts already using Serendip, and automatically follows these friends within the app, unless you choose not to. The onus is now on you to tell Serendip what your favorite artists are \u2013 this gets the ball rolling, and lets you connect with like-minded music fans.\r\n\r\n\r\nSerendip also recommends some DJs to follow, based on the artists you indicated you like. You\u2019ll see a stream of people with similar tastes to you, and the idea here on in is that you\u2019ll discover new music, or rare/career-defining performances from your favorite artists.\r\n\r\nIt also taps YouTube and Vevo to serve up video delights. So if someone has a penchant for a particular performance from Jools Holland twenty years ago, you can watch within the app for yourself.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Serendip\r\n\r\n\r\nHEALTH, FOOD &amp;amp;amp; FITNESS\r\nNike+ Move\r\n\r\nIn the same month that Nike launched its all-new Fuelband, the sports giant also rolled out its brand new Nike+ Move app, to take advantage of the iPhone 5s\u2019s M7 chip, a motion coprocessor that tracks the accelerometer, gyroscope and compass.\r\n\r\nThe Nike+ Move app uses the M7 chip to convert your movement into NikeFuel \u2014 a metric created by Nike to tell you how active you are.\u00A0More specifically, Nike+ Move measures when, where and how you move and lets you compare these stats with your friends or other Nike+ Move users around you.\r\n\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Nike+ Move\r\nNutrino\r\nNutrino is a virtual personal nutritionist - you tell the app your exercise level and eating habits and it offers up suitable meals.\r\n\r\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr89Bnh9ISk\r\n\r\nThese meals are added to a shopping list, and if you\u2019re in a popular chain restaurant or cafe, the app can offer up recommendations tailored to the menu on offer.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Nutrino\r\nWhisk\r\nWhisk incorporates &amp;quot;advanced semantic and linguistic analysis&amp;quot; to interpret recipes and automatically add them to an online shopping basket which can then be delivered direct to the consumer\u2019s door. It\u2019s an interesting concept for sure.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nYou can save recipes as your favorites, or go straight to the checkout. Here, you can tell it exactly how many folk you\u2019re catering for, which serves up (pun intended) the exact amount of ingredients required. You can adjust your shopping list if you already have certain ingredients, or \u2018let whisk choose items for you\u2019.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Whisk\r\nArgus\r\nArgus is a unified health app tracking app for your daily exercise, diet, sleeping pattern and more.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe service supports all sorts of metrics in a single interface, and by tapping the plus symbol in the upper right corner of the home screen you'll surface a dizzying list of activity types, including popular forms of exercise such as running, cycling and walking.\r\n\r\nHowever, it\u2019s the addition of body weight and heart rate monitoring, as well as water, coffee and food intake that makes Argus a much broader tool for improving personal health and wellbeing.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Argus\r\n\r\nBONUS APPS\r\n\r\nHere's a selection of other random apps that make it into our top 2013 apps based on their general look and feel.\r\n\r\nMap of the Internet\r\nThis makes it in purely because it's cool. Map of the Internet is the handiwork of the good folks at hosting provider Peer 1, and it does exactly what it says on the box.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe app visualizes the myriad of networks that constitute that thing known as the Internet. It shows Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Internet exchange points, and organizations that help route traffic across the online sphere, such as universities. If this sort of thing floats your boat, it's a beautiful thing.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Map of the Internet\r\nTimeless\r\nOkay, Timeless may be a timer app, but it's beautiful, simple and a joy to use.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nIt lets you set multiple timers using nothing but taps and swipes. This could be for if you\u2019re cooking a meal, waiting for something to come on TV and everything in between. Timeless is really all about the usability and the \u2018look and feel\u2019, and on this front it delivers.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Timeless\r\nKonvert\r\nKonvert for iPhone is a\u00A0beautifully-designed app\u00A0that includes most of the units you\u2019d ever need, covering angle, area, base, length, distance, mass, pressure and more.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nIt\u2019s all about flips, taps and swipes and it\u2019s easy to switch between centimeters and miles, or inches and yards. It\u2019s a gem.\r\n\r\n\u27A4\u00A0Konvert\r\nWake\r\nWake is a beautiful iOS alarm clock app that lets you slap, flip, shake and swipe yourself out of bed. And it's a beautiful thing.\r\n\r\nhttp://vimeo.com/65187429\r\n\r\nWake is the handiwork of Toronto-based design agency Tiny Hearts, the same folks behind another app we covered a couple of years ago called Pocket Zoo.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Wake\r\nThe Animator\u2019s Survival Kit\r\nIt may be a little on the niche side, but the Animator\u2019s Survival Kit is a spellbinding iPad app for budding animators. The opening title sequence will have you hooked from the start:\r\n\r\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7M3Eu8wrSA\r\n\r\nThe app is the handiwork of Richard Williams, the genius behind the original 2009 print version of The Animator\u2019s Survival Kit - a book that brings techniques, tips and tricks to budding animators. He has also won countless awards across his career, including Oscars, but he\u2019s perhaps best known for his work on 1988\u2032s Who Framed Roger Rabbit.\r\n\r\nIf you\u2019re looking to check it our for yourself, the free incarnation gives you two full chapters from The Animator\u2019s Survival Kit \u2013 \u2018More on Spacing\u2019 and \u2018Dialogue\u2019 \u2013 and incorporates 14 animated examples.\r\n\r\nThe full version is available to download now for $34.99, but there is a free 'lite' version to let you try before you buy.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 The Animator\u2019s Survival Kit\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nTydlig\r\nTydlig is a funky take on what a calculator perhaps should look like on smartphones.\r\n\u00A0\u00A0\u00A0 \r\nIt lets you return to, highlight and edit any number in your sequence \u2013 when you change that number, the result updates automatically. Also, with a result selected, you can hit any operation \u2013 e.g. divide, subtract or add -\u00A0 and create a linked number beneath it, which lets you kick-off a new sum related to the original one.\r\n\r\nTydlig is a beautifully designed app that brings a rich array of features to the table \u2013 the only real downside we see is the $4.99 fee. That\u2019s not a lot of money for what this is, but without a free incarnation, it may be too much for those who prefer to suck-it-and-see before laying their money on the line.\r\n\r\n\u27A4 Tydlig\r\n\r\nMeanwhile, be sure to check out our top Android apps from 2013 too.\r\n\r\nFeature Image Credit \u2013\u00A0Kim White/Getty Images\r\n\r\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://thenextweb.com/apps/2013/12/28/best-ios-apps-2013/saga/>