On the hunt for the best Windows Phone 7 apps? Then you’ll know that Microsoft’s app store is no easy beast to navigate. With everything from apps, games and even MP3s popping up in an especially jumbled up fashion in any search results, even trying to find a Twitter app can bring up everything from the genuine article to obscure album tracks by random artists you’ve never heard of.
Until Microsoft comes to its senses and partitions Windows Marketplace a little more ruthlessly, however, Electricpig’s monthly rundown of the best Windows Phone 7 apps does the hard work for you, separating the wheat from the chaff and keeping any tracks by unsung bands firmly off the radar.
Check-in
As swish as the official Facebook app for Windows Phone 7 is – and you won’t find many apps that better showcase the visual prowess of Microsoft’s new platform – on a practical level, it’s somewhat behind the curve. Missing from the current version is the Facebook-does-Foursquare Places tab, meaning Windows Phone 7 owners are presently unable to check in at the trendiest bars, most expensive restaurants, or – if you’re like me – the local Spar while on a 2am munchie hunt.
To the rescue, therefore, comes the aptly named Check-In. With little frills or fuss, this is the kind of app that does exactly what it says on the tin, letting you check in anywhere you happen to be and automatically posting it to your Facebook account. If you’re keen to keep up with your “trendy” iPhone friends, this is one of the best Windows Phone 7 apps to have.
Birdy Bounce
Given Mod Monkey’s Birdy Bounce is best known for recently having to change its name from Doodle Tower (presumably to avoid rubbing Lima Sky up the wrong way), to find what is essentially a Doodle Jump clone in a line up of the best Windows Phone 7 apps might surprise you. However, it’s the game’s similarity to Doodle Jump – combined with the aforementioned title’s current absence from Windows Marketplace – that is the very reason it’s worth a download.
Indeed, the only real difference the majority of players will spot is the fact that, instead of guiding a doodle man up to the game’s lofty heights, you take charge of what resembles a fat guy with a bag over his head. It can safely be presumed that said character is actually a rather chunky bird of some sort, but all such decoration is essentially meaningless. Most important is the fact what made Doodle Jump so appealing – the ability to use the phone’s accelerometer to tilt your character from one platform to the next – remains firmly intact in Birdy Bounce. Check it out on video below:
Link Me In
The appearance of Link Me In – a third party app for the business-focused social network LinkedIn – in this best Windows Phone 7 apps line-up marks something of a theme. While some popular sites, apps and tools are yet to launch any official presence on Microsoft’s platform, developers haven’t been slow in serving up unofficial alternatives.
Indeed, apart from offering an upgrade to the UI, it’s hard to spot just what LinkedIn itself could bring to the table that Starznet’s app hasn’t already mopped up. Though the app essentially limits interaction to viewing your profile, those of others on your friends list and a feed of everyone’s activities, it also comes with a direct link to the website, automatically logging you in to your profile so you can respond to any friend requests or edit your own content. Think of it as an extra ‘People’ tile, then – albeit one exclusively designed for work related connections.
Discover
Sporting its own bespoke version of the search tool, Bing’s implementation within the platform is undoubtedly a bonus and a key selling point for Microsoft. For fans of rivals Google and Yahoo!, however, Discover is the perfect compliment to Windows Phone 7′s native set up, combining the search results of all three search engines in one simple app.
Each engine’s results are displayed in their own feed, with Wikipedia also included to ensure all bases are covered in one fell swoop. As you might expect, a simple tap on each listing enough to open up the corresponding link in Internet Explorer.
Wiki Bee
Regular Windows Marketplace visitors will likely have already spotted a somewhat more official looking Wikipedia app doing the rounds on Windows Phone 7, but Hekool’s Wiki Bee comes with one major advantage: speed.
It’s certainly a rather clunky looking piece of software – any app designers amongst its audience will more likely consider its style somewhat amateur – but Wiki Bee without question serves up pages at a quicker pace than its more prominent rival, Wiki App. Add in the fact that its competitor Wiki App often has a habit of failing to load anything beyond the initial info-bar, and Wiki Bee almost becomes the best Wikipedia app on Windows Phone 7 by default, its succinct delivery far from pretty but always immediately accessible.
On the hunt for the best Windows Phone 7 apps? Then you’ll know that Microsoft’s app store is no easy beast to navigate. With everything from apps, games and even MP3s popping up in an especially jumbled up fashion in any search results, even trying to find a Twitter app can bring up everything from the genuine article to obscure album tracks by random artists you’ve never heard of.
