Headlining this week’s best iOS apps is American Idol Official, a mobile offering that celebrates the televised singing contest, now in its twelfth year. If you’re not into reality TV, we also have solid apps for the X Games, weird facts, grammar, and mathematical calculations.
American Idol Official (Free)
While it’s hardly my favorite show, it’s hard to dismiss the cultural impact of American Idol. Now Idol has an app to go along with its dominant TV presence. American Idol Official features cast bios, news, and videos of the performances you might have missed on the show. It also features a large social media component, so discussing your favorite singers is a breeze via Facebook and Twitter.
ESPN X Games (Free)
The ESPN X Games app received a mega update recently. For starters, the app shifted its focus to the Winter X Games, so the menus received a chilly winter makeover. Feature-wise, X Games now has a built-in game called HypeMeter as well as “Gamecast” functionality so users can follow the live results of X Games events. Just sit back and watch Shaun White shred the halfpipe and Roz Groenewoud curise the slopes.
Weird But True (Free)
National Geographic’s Weird But True, the app that brings users strange but true facts about everyday life, has updated with a bunch of new content. Its new design features 5 “Fact Packs” filled with 625 unique “weird but true” facts. You can also search across Fact Packs to find specific facts they want to share with their friends and family. In addition, you can rate each fact’s level of weirdness and compare with others.
Endless Alphabet (Free)
Endless Alphabet helps kids learn their ABC’s alongside some basic grammar with fun, silly lessons and adorable monsters. Kids can learn phonics via interactive puzzles and the app constantly updates with new words. Currently, Endless Alphabet has dozens of words in its database and more are delivered on a regular basis. The app doesn’t score users, as it’s only focused on learning, not competition.
MyScript Calculator (Free)
MyScript Calculator lets you solve serious math problems by simply drawing the problem out on your iPhone. Trying to find a square root divided by another number multiplied by another number? If you draw that problem on your iPhone, MyScript will solve it for you. MyScript Calculator solves basic operations like addition, subtraction and multiplication as well as more complex problems involving percentages, square roots, exponents, trigonometry, and logarithms.
