APPS SPECIAL..... Simplify your digital life with these utility apps

Simplify your digital life with these utility apps



Harness the power of your Android phone to make your life simple with these apps

Memory Helper Free + $0.99

If you fe el to do lists and calendar reminders are not enough at all times, Memory Helper can help. It appears whenever you wake up your phone, which you are probably doing about 2,000 times a day. It displays a simple list of tasks or reminders, which you can swipe away once you've completed. You can also customise the colours and layout.

Desygner Free + $7.49 subscription

Desygner lets you unleash the graphic designer in you on your phone or tablet. With an intuitive interface and thousands of templates, it's simple to use. You can combine text, shapes, images, stickers, backgrounds etc, to create logos, posters, adverts, presentations, postcards or any other things where images and typography are important.

Pause $1.99£1.49

We all need a little help relieving stress sometimes, and Pause promises that assistance by making you follow a dot around the mobile screen with your finger. As you do so, soothing sounds play, and a coloured blob gradually grows around the dot. Within a few minutes, the app promises to lessen your stress and increase your focus.

Drivvo Free + IAP

While there are many general purpose apps for monitoring expenses, Drivvo is designed to monitor the costs of running your vehicle. You can track fuel costs, mileage, gas consumption, maintenance costs and more, and build charts of your fuel efficiency.

8Bit Photo Lab Free + IAP

It is a photo filter app that takes you back to simpler times of the '80s. Simply snap or import a picture and pick a colour palette from over 40 options. Your photo will then instantly transform into something you might have seen on a screen from that era.

Talon for Twitter $2.99

Talon for Twitter isn't new, but it's recently been over hauled. It's a good-looking app, but more importantly, the amount of control it gives you is great. It adds stunning layouts, animations, and takes the ads out of Twitter. It also has powerful mute options, tweet filtering on profiles as well as `do not disturb' and night modes.

NordVPN From $5.75 per month

There are any number of reasons you might want to use a VPN, but whatever your reason, NordVPN is a strong option. You can use it not only on Android, but also Windows, iOS and Mac, all with a single subscription, and the app is nicely designed, with a world map from which you can tap on the country you want to access a server from.

IF by IFTTT Free

IF was formerly known as IFTTT, which stands for `if this then that', concisely summing up what this app does. It powers up your Android device in all new ways, letting you automate various functions. You can create simple statements such as `if my location is home, turn on WiFi', or `if I snap a screenshot email it to me'.

techradar.com