It’s finally the weekend, and your smartphone has been faithfully by your side all week. Time to reward its tireless service with a gift — in the form of some shiny new apps!
Multi-Platform Updates
Pyrus
Most group organisation apps are an unintuitive mix of to-do lists and calendar items. Pyrus changes that with a smooth app that lets you delegate, communicate, arrange workflows, and plan meetings and status reports. Organisable by task, person or project, with Dropbox, Google Drive and Box integration, it’s a powerful on-the-go organising tool — and free to use for groups of up to 12 people. [Android] [iOS]
Android
Facetune
Formerly iOS-only, Facetune arrived in Androidland this week. The selfie-tweaking Photoshop Jr-style app lets you remove skin blemishes, whiten teeth, remove errant hairs and otherwise airbrush your photos, right from your Android device. [$3.79]
Skype
This week’s update brings Android users the ability to link your device’s address book, letting you search for friends and see who’s available to chat. The new feature is opt-in, as is your preference to appear or not appear in your friends’ Skype contact lists. [Free]
HTC Sense Input
This app may be limited to HTC devices running Sense 6, but if your Android fits that bill, you’ll want to download this for one major reason: now, updates to your keyboard will come over the air, not as part of a full system update. Sense Input’s learning feature, one-hand swipe typing, and handwriting mode make texting and emailing a breeze, and it comes with some international updates and dictionary tweaks already in place. [Free]
iOS
Runkeeper + Breeze
Runkeeper is a great app for tracking your exercise and monitoring progress toward goal whether you’re running, cycling or training in the gym. Breeze is a set-it-and-forget-it movement tracker that monitors your everyday movements and encourages you to be more active when you’re not at the gym or on the trail. This week’s update lets you link both apps, giving you wall-to-wall coverage so you know exactly how much you’ve exerted yourself, all day. Best of all, both apps are free — so you’ve got no excuse for being lazy. [Runkeeper] [Breeze]
Plotagon
Remember Plotagon, the delightfully off-kilter software that lets you write a screenplay and watch it acted out by CGI avatars? The only thing that was stopping you from writing an award-winning movie was that you couldn’t use the program on your iPad. Fear not — the brilliant software is now on iOS. Now go write the next Citizen Kane. [Free]
MapHook
This handy app combines navigation and journalling, letting you drop a pin wherever something cool, interesting or memorable happened to you. Make your pins public to share tips on great places to eat, drink, sightsee, or hang out, or share your pins privately with friends and family to mark. Or keep them private, just as a way to remind yourself how to get back to that perfect sunset or great sandwich. [Free]
Beauty Mirror
This 64-bit iOS app (sorry, that means iPhone 5S, iPad Air or iPad Mini Retina only) uses live 3D video face tracking to let you reshape and change the look of your face in real time. It’s a fascinating capability that’s doubly amazing because you can do it on your phone. [Free]
Windows Phone
Track Runner
With a Windows 8.1 phone, a Bluetooth heart rate monitor and Track Runner, you’ll have all the timing, cadence, heart rate tracking and GPS tracking info you need to stay on target and work toward your training goals. This app even has a feature to track the mileage you’ve put on your different running shoes — so you can quantify everything. [Free]
Uber
The car hailing app finally arrives on Windows Phone. Connect your credit card to the app, and you can hail a car to your location, compare fares, get an alert when your car comes, and pay your tab, all from the comfort of your touchscreen. Never rummage through your purse or wallet for tip money again! [Free]