If you thought finding the best Windows Phone 7 apps was a tricky enough task as things stand, wait until the Ovi Store comes on board. The finer points of Nokia’s recently announced alliance with Microsoft might still be under wraps, but if the proposed app store merger comes to pass, Windows Phone 7 could be party to a veritable app explosion – or, at the very least, a mild bit of turbulence, akin to the morning after a dodgy takeaway.
Even on its own, Windows Phone Marketplace now boasts a total of 8,000 apps, which just might explain where all our spare cash has gone this month. Read on and take a look at our top picks for February.
Where possible, we’ve linked to the app’s page on AppFuze, a portal that’s similar to AppBrain for Android. Click through to get all your reviews, and if you’re browsing on your Windows Phone 7 handset, a quick install link.
TwitPic
Windows Phone 7 might not be short of Twitter clients – the official release and Beezz the most notable examples – but when it comes to posting pictures, reliability can be an issue. TwitPic, as you might expect, is an app dedicated to posting photos to your Twitter account, letting you upload those already saved on your phone, or even access the camera in-app to take fresh snaps.
As you might expect, it’s something of a no-frills purchase, but given it’s yet to let us down or error in any shape or form, TwitPic scores highly when it comes to sheer consistency.
2012 Apocalypse
If counting down the seconds until your own demise is the kind of thing that floats your boat, then 2012 Apocalypse might just be up your street. In truth, what’s on offer here is a semi-serious look at both the science and conspiracy theories behind the idea that the world will come to an end in 2012.
Delivered in some style, the app details the predictions – The Book of Revelation and the prophecies of Nostradamus both covered – as well as links to news articles and YouTube videos that, in some way, touch on the subject.
It’s not all doom and gloom, however, with plenty of the articles included offering a more humourous take on the cataclysmic events to come.
I Dig It
Already a hit on iPhone, I Dig It’s treasure hunt is yet another Xbox Live title worth a second look. Controlling a mini-digger, your job is to tunnel underground in an array of locations, spending much of your time either looking for hidden antiquities, or chasing down cash reserves buried beneath the soil.
The challenge is to manage your movements carefully. Seeing as your digger can’t tunnel back towards the surface, flight is instead your ticket back home, with I Dig It’s approach as addictive as it is amiable, making it surefire contender for our best Windows Phone 7 apps roundup this month.
Windows Phone Insider
It’s worth pointing out from the outset that Microsoft’s Windows Phone Insider isn’t much use to those who have already bedded down in the OS. For those new to the platform, however, the app acts like an instruction manual, providing step by step, pictorial guides to using the phone’s basic functions.
Everything from how to rate a game to how to alter your settings is covered here, and while the extras aren’t exactly compelling – additional wallpapers, the Windows Phone Twitter feed and some recommended apps to download – the Insider app is a valuable, and thankfully uncomplicated, first port of call for newcomers.
Polaroids
Another especially simple but super app to hit the Marketplace this month is Polaroids. The set up is straightforward: it takes your photos, shoves them inside a polaroid frame, lets you scribble all over them with a pen, before finally giving you the option of saving them or uploading them to Facebook.
The implementation is fairly crude, but is undeniably effective – the app letting you zoom in, or spin the photos round inside the border – and while there are no effects on offer, Polaroids is the perfect quick and easy photo doodler. Until they day Instagram gets a port, this is one of the best Windows Phone 7 apps for casual snappers.
If you thought finding the best Windows Phone 7 apps was a tricky enough task as things stand, wait until the Ovi Store comes on board. The finer points of Nokia’s recently announced alliance with Microsoft might still be under wraps, but if the proposed app store merger comes to pass, Windows Phone 7 could be party to a veritable app explosion – or, at the very least, a mild bit of turbulence, akin to the morning after a dodgy takeaway.
