TV, art and hit movies, in palm of your hand

CULTURE AND ENTERTAINMENT

Entertainment.ie Apple, Android Price: Free

THE brains behind the entertainment.ie website have turned all their music, film, restaurant, theatre and film expertise into an array of separate apps. Entertain Me!, Cinema Guide Ireland and TV Guide Ireland are all available on Apple and Android, while Apple users can also get a fourth restaurant app.

IMDB Apple, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows Price: Free

THE Internet Movie Database is the perfect argument settler. It has all sorts of detailed information on every film, every US TV show, every actor and everything Hollywood-related, not to mention providing reviews and rankings on all new releases.

Masterpieces, from The National Gallery Apple, Android Price: Free

THIS excellent app will improve a wander around The National Gallery enormously. It offers users an interactive experience and provides extra information and commentary – through nifty image recognition – on about 80 of the gallery’s masterpieces. Available in the English and Irish languages.

Shakespeare’s Sonnets

iPad, Price: €12.99

THERE are plenty of apps that collect the Bard’s sublime poetry but this is by far the best: all 154 sonnets, read by renowned actors including Patrick Stewart, Stephen Fry, Harriet Walter, Sian Phillips, Dominic West and David Tennant, with notes explaining each line. And it looks as beautiful as it sounds.

Wattpad Apple, Android, Kindle Fire Price: Free

WATTPAD is a huge library of free books, with more than 20 million titles from literary classics by Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters and Arthur Conan Doyle to the most featherbrained fan-fiction. So you’ll always have something to read and you can even upload your own literary efforts, too.

Shazam Apple, Android, Windows Price: Free

THERE’S something almost miraculous about Shazam. Play even the tiniest scrap of music and it recognises it and tells you who recorded it. So now you can track down that nagging tune that’s been in your head. It also links to news about the relevant artist and concert ticket sales.

TELEVISION

RTÉ, TV3 Player Apple, Android Price: Free

IMAGINE a decade ago being told it wouldn’t matter if you missed a TV show because you could see it online. Not only that but you could do it on your phone or tablet. Now you can, free, and it’s great – whether it’s the latest from Nidge and the Love/Hate gang, the Xposé girls or just catching up on the news, you’ll find them on these apps.

4oD Apple, Android Free

ALTHOUGH users in Ireland cannot access content from the BBC iPlayer due to geographical restrictions, we can easily get programmes from Channel 4.

Sky Go Apple, Android Price: Free to subscribers

IF YOU subscribe to Sky, you can download its apps to keep watching live television on the move. Catch up on Game Of Thrones on Sky Atlantic or reruns of Friends, which are broadcast every day on Comedy Central, all while on the bus into town.

Netflix Apple, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows Price: Free to subscribers

NETFLIX started life as an online subscription service – the internet equivalent to the old video rental shops. In the past few years, though, it has branched out into original programming, with series such as House Of Cards and Orange Is The New Black

Sky Plus Apple, Android Price: Free

FOR Sky subscribers, this app makes your phone or tablet a portable Sky+ controller. Set your Sky box at home to record programmes or download shows, films and box-sets via Catch Up and On Demand and they’ll be waiting for you when you get home.

GAMES

Angry Birds Apple, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows Price: From Free

In January, Angry Birds passed two billion downloads, so the world now knows all about those crazy birds and their war against green pigs. The games now cover land, sea, sky and space, plus there are tie-ins with Star Wars and the Rio cartoon films.

Minecraft Pocket Edition Apple, Android, Windows Price: €5.99

MINECRAFT is a gaming oddity. It has clunky, old-school graphics and players collaborate to create their own worlds and keep them alive in an endless game with no winners or losers. Yet Swedish schools use it as a teaching aid and it’s so popular, Microsoft paid $2.5bn to buy it.

Candy Crush Saga Apple, Android, Kindle Fire Price: Free

Candy Crush Saga is an utterly addictive puzzle in which you rise through 400 levels by clearing grids of bright sweeties. There’s just one problem: it’s really hard to win without buying add-ons to help you complete each level. And those purchases, typically around €0.99, add up.

Wordfeud Apple, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows Price: Free

THERE is an official Scrabble game for €6.99 but Wordfeud is a near-perfect copy of the classic format and it’s free. You can play solo by challenging the app, or take on friends.

Sudoku Apple, Android, Kindle Fire and Windows Price: Free

SUDOKU is a must for any game-lover but there isn’t one dominant Sudoku app across all formats. The top-ranked versions on Android and Windows are both called Sudoku Free but they’re not the same. The best Apple version, Sudoku2, has particularly nice graphics. Essentially, though, the game remains the same.

KIDS AND TEENS

My First Numberjacks Apple, Android, Kindle Fire Price: €1.79

THE Numberjacks are a set of colourful, animated numbers from the BBC’s children’s channel, CBeebies. There are three Numberjacks apps, all designed to help infants learn their numbers and have fun. And with lots of games and counting aloud, the parents can join in, too.

Dipdap Apple, Android, Kindle Fire Price: €2.69

DIPDAP is a funny little animated man who goes for walks and has adventures. You can draw his spaceship and watch it fly into the air, or paint a lawnmower that chases him back across the grass he’s just mown. As enchanting for adults as for children.

Leaving Cert Answers Apple, Price: Free (in-app purchases)

COMING from Edco – the company that produces the past exam paper books – is this app that boasts more than 1,000 questions and answers for six Leaving Cert subjects: English, Irish, French, biology, geography and business. You can search by year or topic and there are different pricing options. But all subjects and all answers costs €4.49.

Steller Apple Price: Free

STELLER is like a much more sophisticated, creative Instagram (see front page of Essential apps). Users take photographs and alter them with filters. But then they arrange their images into albums and publish them online to share with their friends. The results can look fantastic.

Paper by Fifty Three Apple Price: Free

THIS onscreen sketchbook turns your finger into a pencil, pen or paintbrush and was iPad App of the Year in 2012. It’s a magical feeling when you draw with it. This app proves, yet again, just how far we’ve come from the days of ‘drawing’ in Paint on the PC. Some of the possibilities with this app are breathtaking.