App:roved
FOR SPUDS IN SPACE Spaceplan
Clickers are barely games, but Spaceplan transcends the genre through being bonkers. Clicking (well, tapping) propels you through a story about space/ time travel, and a surprising amount of tech powered by potatoes. The basics might be familiar, but the off-the-wall humour and gorgeous soundtrack keep you enthralled. And, unlike similar titles, it has a conclusion. Keep it running over a couple of days and breathe in its weirdo spuddy goodness.
Stuff says ★★★★, £2.79 / Android £2.99 / IOS O
FOR SCRIPTS IN SCRAWL Untitled
If you reckon you’ve got a good screenplay or three inside you, and what’s really stopping your Hollywood breakthrough is pesky formatting, try Untitled. It aims to magically transform written notes into fully formatted screenplays. The app doesn’t quite match that ambition, in that you still needing to commit to memory a few bits of shorthand (such as adding > before a transition), but it’s a good starting point if you’re not quite ready for the likes of Final Draft.
Stuff says ★★★★, £4.99 / ipad
FOR PAINTING IN PIXELS Pixaki
Fancy yourself as a retro artist, distilling everything from classic gaming fare to Susan Kare’s Mac icons? If so, Pixaki’s your app, with a streamlined, elegant interface for crafting images where every dot’s precision placement is of utmost importance. This major new version adds loads of features too, including animation, tracing layers, and export to sprite sheets for gaming folks. Crucially, it feels much nicer making dinky pixel art images on an ipad than on a PC.
Stuff says ★★★★★ £8.99 / ipad
FOR MAYHEM IN MUSIC Infinite Music
The idea behind this one is to “rediscover your itunes library” through smart remixing and mash-ups. What this means in practice is the app hurling your on-device music collection at a wall and playing the smashed pieces. The result’s a bit like if your uncle was on speed and had access to the skip button, such is the chopping and changing. But it certainly does provide another take on your music. A pity it doesn’t work with streaming service downloads, though.
Stuff says ★★★,, £free / IOS