TOP APPS & GAMES FOR 2-IN-1s
Lindsay Handmer helps you track down the best touchscreen-friendly apps for Windows hybrids.
We track down the best touch screen-friendly apps for Windows hybrids.
Windows 10 makes using just about any app or game possible with a touchscreen, but developers are increasingly including native touch support that can provide a much better experience. A good rule of thumb is that, if the app or game also has an Android or iOS version (or is ported across to Windows), the developer will have included improved touch control. While many desktop applications don’t focus on touch, Windows has the Universal Platform, where compatible apps will work across multiple devices, from tablets, PCs, Xbox and even HoloLens.
The Windows Store is a great place to start looking for apps — while you can’t filter results for Universal Apps, the description of each app does show what devices it works on and if touch is specifically supported. Similarly, touchscreen-focused games can be hard to find. Another good place to start is Steam, which has a ‘Touch Friendly’ tag, allowing you to search specifically for touch friendly games.
In general, though, simpler apps and games work better with touch, whereas highly cluttered or complex UIs lend themselves better to keyboard and mouse control. It’s well worth owning a stylus with a 2-in-1, as it adds a lot of extra capability, and fine control, to your touchscreen interactions. To help get you started, we’ve put together a list of our favourite Windows 10 apps and games with touchscreen support.
VLC (WINDOWS STORE)
www.videolan.org A media player is a must have on any PC, and doubly so on a 2-in-1. VLC, already our favourite, has a Windows Universal App. It’s fully touch ready, and you can easily swipe, tape and scroll to navigate and play your media. Compared to the desktop version, the icons are large and easy to press, the layout intuitive and the settings have been simplified. It also automatically finds your available media, including network shares, so you can jump right into watching. About the only downside compared to the desktop app is lack of DVD player support, which is a non-issue on 2-in-1s anyway.
MULTISWIPE
www.multiswipe.com Learning the built-in Windows 10 touchscreen gestures is a great way to make your 2-in-1 experience faster, more productive and more enjoyable. But there are limited gestures available, so MultiSwipe has a thirdparty solution to create your own. You can set custom actions, such as launching a specific app or adjusting volume, to up to 88 different built-in gestures, including ones with up to five fingers. The gestures also work on compatible touchpads, allowing you to streamline your 2-in-1 use. The app is free to try for 15 days, or around $7.50 to buy.
STREAMING VIDEO APPS
2-in-1 devices are great for media playback, but desktop apps or browser based video can be fiddly to use with a touchscreen. Streaming services Netflix ( netflix.com.au) and Stan ( stan.com.au) both have touch controlfocused apps available in the Windows Store that are miles better than using a browser.
Google hasn’t made a YouTube app for Windows, so our favourite thirdparty alternatives for getting your YouTube fix are Tubecast ( goo.gl/ BMS5Nu) and Hyper ( goo.gl/PfTGX5). Both allow you to log in, and give an excellent experience when using your 2-in-1 in tablet or laptop mode.
Many other popular streaming services have official or third-party
touch-ready Windows 10 apps available on the store.
VIDEO EDITOR MASTER
www.queenloftapps.com Once you get the hang of it, touchscreen-based video editing can be quite quick and intuitive. Unfortunately, our favourite Windows desktop apps don’t work too well with touch, but there are a few solid Windows Store alternatives. A good place to start is Video Editor Master (free with a paid upgrade to remove ads), which handles the basics yet still has a few more advanced features. You can trim multiple videos and merge them, create slideshows, apply filter effects, add text overlays, adjust brightness and sharpness, and attach different audio.
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP EXPRESS
www.adobe.com For on-the-go photo editing, it’s hard to go past Adobe Photoshop Express. It’s free (though needs an Adobe ID for the full features), and is specifically designed for easy touchscreen use without sacrificing more in-depth controls. Photoshop Express makes it simple to tweak and improve photos, with focus on automatic fixes and filters. Those who want the full on editing experience, the Adobe suite of desktop apps also supports touch use, including gestures and stylus use. Keep in mind, though, fine control is not really possible just using fingers.
FEEDLAB
www.clevlab.com Jumping between browser-based news sites is slow and not very intuitive via touch — fortunately, there is a range of
Windows 10 apps that give a much better experience. FeedLab (free, with in app purchases) is one of our favourite news aggregators, which can be set to grab the news you want from your favourite sites, and allows you to customise layout, size and even colour themes for your tastes and device. Flipboard (free, flipboard.com) is another similar app, but with more of a magazine feel and social media integration. For research, try Wikio (free, goo.gl/o9GqTO), which gives streamlined access to Wikipedia that suits touchscreen use.
XODO PDF READER AND EDITOR
www.xodo.com 2-in-1 devices have made PDFs into a much more versatile, editable, collaborative format. Xodo is free, designed for touch use, and is a fast and easy way to view PDFs. But it also allows you to edit and interact through touch — both with fingers and a stylus. You can zoom, search, highlight, jot down notes, circle important info, make bookmarks, crop pages, create new PDFs and more. You can even collaborate with others on the same file. Xodo also allows you to digitally sign documents, and has a solid built-in file manager.
STAR CHART
www.escapistgames.com Touchscreens are great, but 2-in-1 devices also have other tablet like hardware, such as cameras, GPS, accelerometers and magnetometers. Taking advantage of that is the augmented reality app Star Chart (free, with paid upgrades), which creates a virtual window into the universe. Simply point your device up at the sky and the app will orientate itself, and help explain what you are seeing. From identifying planets and stars, to tracking satellites and the International Space Station, it makes astronomy fun. You can also get close up looks at faraway planets.